Annnnd In Other News ...

Other fun things have been happening for us in April that I didn't get to write about while I was blogging my way from A to Z! (image from here)

The A to Z blog challenge in April was fun and intense and I'll probably do it again next year if I'm somewhere with reliable internet, but, lots of other things were going on in our lives while I was busy AtoZ-ing. We rented a car to drive to West Palm Beach to visit friends, and to meet up IRL with a fellow boating blogger over the unlikely quest for a can opener with no moving parts. I think it was this post that started the conversation.  We learned that Dan had torn his rotator cuff (again!). Most likely this happened when we were hoisting the dinghy getting ready for our annual visit to Aruba last February, but he hadn't wanted to admit it for fear of impacting our diving trip. When we got back, though, and checked with the doctor it was confirmed. The size of the tear, 1 cm, is right on the dividing line -- any larger and surgery would be recommended, any smaller and physical therapy would be sufficient.  Of course, we opted to try the less-traumatic approach first, and he's spent the last month doing physical therapy to help strengthen it. Progress is slow, but it is happening.

Our minds are really a-swirl for our summer adventure on El Galeon Andalucia.  This year, we'll be participating in the Tall Ships Challenge again and touring the Great Lakes. We're looking forward to getting back to our old stomping grounds, and seeing some new-to-us cities in the region as well. We've got friends and family in several of the ports and are already planning meetups in Portland, Toronto, and Chicago.  And through the magic of the internet, you can follow us and the entire Challenge fleet on Vessel Tracker.  But just now, we're still in the getting ready stage. We have lists of logistics and items to pack.  We spent several hours researching and downloading metric units conversion apps and Spanish-English apps to our phones and ordering EU-US charging adapters.  Almost all the clothing we'll be taking with us has been laundered and packed.  We used the magic words "vacation override" at the pharmacy to get enough of our prescription meds to last the voyage. We've set up schedules with the friends and neighbors who will be keeping watch over our boat while we're gone, and taken down the headsail and bimini in case of high winds.  Monday with the rental car, all the valuables that we won't be taking with us, and anything that would be harmed by Florida's summer heat while we're away, will be moved to our secure storage unit. After all the getting-ready scramble, the actual work of sailing and tourguiding on the Galeon will feel like a vacation!