Delivery ON!!!! - 7:13 PM, Mar. 26, 2007

Had news from Bormes les M this morning, Sirius has arrived, and should be ready to sail next Tuesday, April 3. Bit of a shame that the delay means we won't be doing the naming ceremony on April 1 (our wedding anniversary) but that's life.And the good news is that son n° 1 can come, and the "ageing mum" problem of another crew member is OK - so a full  crew, all extremely motivated. 

So plan B into action for logistics:

This Friday - pick up new car (with roof rails, so can get the skibox on again, after 3 years without)

Saturday/ Sunday , provisioning, running in of car

Monday - transport of 4 crew to B-L-M, and collection of son n° 2 from Toulon station

Tuesday - pick up 5th crew from Toulon, naming ceremony (still haven't found an appropriate Queen Mum hat, so it might have to be the Tilley with a flower stuck on), then shake down return trip to Porquerolles. Pick up 6th crew from Toulon.

Wednesday - Sirius sets off for Corfu, where it (sorry, Belgians have sexless boats) will be based for 4 seasons.Me and son n° 2 come back to Belgium.

Route : Corsica, straits of Bonifacio, Sicily, straits of Messina, Corfu. Two stops,maybe 3, 120 hours sailing, touching wood and all that.

Back at home, I will be constantly checking weather and their progress, and if all goes well, booking their return transport. Current options are 24 hr ferry from Corfu to Venice, then Ryanair to Charleroi, with Ryanair prices varying daily / hourly. However, a middle of the night inspiration has revealed a shorter option, Corfu - Bari ( 7 hours), then scheduled flights to Brussels.

I sometimes think the delivery skipper option would have been preferable, but got to keep Popeye occupied somehow! Talking of whom, he's popped off for a couple of days skiing, leaving me to the the admin, like getting old car repaired, picking up new car, purchase of last-minute stuff; eg extra chart for the GPS.....

Am I excited  or overwhelmed - both, I think.

And to cap it all, received a letter from the ministry of pensions today - they want confirmation of data to put me out to grass in 2012 - can't wait that long!