Leave before you’re ready!

The first lesson I learned from the ocean is that you will never be fully prepared, so you might just as well embrace uncertainty and get going.

Getting Falkor ready for an Atlantic crossing proved to be a titanic feat, but she’s ALMOST there and that will have to do for now.

Day -1: We are allegedly sailing from Barcelona tomorrow. I have been running like a madman for the last two weeks, getting the boat ready, and the to-do list has shortened. This is what is still left:

List of preparations:

• Get distilled water for the coolant

• Pick up spare parts at the UPS point

• Grease the screws on the rig

• Examine rodkicker

• Sow the leather on the rudder

• Check diesel and change filters+pre-filter

• Change oil

• Empty diesel cans

• Get groceries

• Check the electric wiring

• IG-post for final crew member

• Install the halyard guides on the mast

• Hoist Genoa

• Get an extra paddleboard

• Activate inReach

• Install AIS

• Fix the red navigation lantern

I have probably forgotten a few things, not that it matters—I won’t have time to finish everything. It is futile. We will have to fix what’s left as we go. The boat has never been in better condition since I bought it over three years ago, and that must suffice. There are plenty of stories of sailors who get stuck with endless preparations and never leave port.

Glimpses from the two last weeks prior to departure and the turbo-charged preparations we went through.