It’s amazing how many decisions must be made before someone can go float around on the ocean.  I’ve come to the point where I’m putting all my energies and thoughts into setting sail this fall.  Feel just about like I did when I decided to set off on my road trip two summers ago.  Back then I had a “classic” old jeep, and a million great ideas of what needed to be done before hitting the road.  Now I have a “classic” old sailboat and even more ideas on what needs to be done before I raise the sails.  Fear for my own safety was never a factor when leaving on my road trip, and I feel the same about leaving on the boat.  Certainly there will be moments at sea when fear and terror will over take me, and I look forward to living those moments out.  The ultimatum of death is not my decision to make, and if it happens at sea I want to be confident I made the right decisions leading up to that point.  Catastrophe at sea is a long ways off and the amount of issues to work out before then are many.  I have some of the necessary gear on board, some old, some new, most serviceable, but could probably use a bit more.  I feel I could spend forever trying to figure out what I need to sail south, but I’ll never really know till I get there.  I’ll spend this summer taking care of everything that pops into my head, for instances right now I’m thinking of the manual bilge pump I have yet to attain.  The list is long, and not everything will make it.  But just like when I left Oregon it’s going to require a lot of faith.  Seeing where I’ve made it to today, I’m glad I didn’t have everything I thought I needed when I hit the road.  Plus I can’t wait to get a little closer to being free from the rules, regulations, and most importantly expectations of civilized folk.