My first time as a blogger

As we continue to prepare for our adventure, I have also decided to begin a new career as a blogger. This blog will be dedicated to our Sabbatical. As most of you know the next chapter of our life (or the pause in this chapter of our life, depending on how you look at it), will start on October 1st 2008.

Sébastien and I are currently in the preparation stage of this adventure. We have the boat, we have the ok from our employors, and so now we are getting down to the nitty gritty. We spend alot of time perusing boat catalogs and the web for those "necessary" little items which will make our life seem a little more like the life we are going to leave. One of our last purchases was a "poupe"(pronounced POOP) lamp, which will be placed, appropriately, on the butt (uh, stern) of the boat. I think that Sébastien may have bought it just because he wanted to get me out of the store - I think that he was a little embarrassed by my laughter when he told me we needed a poupe lamp. Apparently with this little light, the other boats will be able to see us from far away and therefore won't run into us in the middle of the night (I guess that this seems like a pretty good idea).

We had our sea survival course a few weeks ago. The biggest lesson I learned is that I should not fall out of the boat, because I will probably not be able to get back in. They put us in the water in these big orange suits. We looked like big orange Barneys. They were 100% waterproof, and we floated in them - it would have been fun to have a video, but I'd probably be too embarassed to show it to anyone. They showed us how to deploy the life raft, how to turn it over if it is right side down, and how to get back into it if we fall out. Like I said, I'm better off staying in the big boat and waiting for the help to come. We also learned how to plug leaks, put out fires and basic first aid.

As I said, we are now in the process of buying all those little things that we think that we will need. I'm starting to get worried that there may not be enough room for all of us, as well as all of our stuff. I have put a vacuum on my wish list. I have decided against the washing machine and air conditioning....more out of practicality, than because I really want to....

Anyway, I'm getting very excited and promise to keep you up to date on the advancement of our future adventure....