Greetings from the marina at St. Mandrier Sur Mer, France

I had written my debut post ahead of my actual leaving Calgary. In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined the love that was about to greet me, the overwhelming joy, and sadness that followed.

Between the most wonderful retirement party ever, a weekend full of country music with some of my favourite people on the planet, my last night in Calgary spent with my girls (including us all getting matching tattoos), a sendoff day completely supported by the two best sons a mom could ever ask for, and countless goodbye messages and thoughtful gifts...well let's just say, there were tears. And all I can say is thank you. I am a very lucky girl to have so many incredible friends.

But what was on the other side of that emotional roller coaster was finally getting to see my person, who had been waiting (im)patiently for 49 days for me to join him. And seeing his face at the Barcelona airport after so many days apart made it all ok.

And so, the adventure begins...sort of.

The whole point of Ron leaving before me was for him to complete, or at least significantly progress, all the boat set up projects. The plan was I would then arrive, and we would get sailing. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans. As many of you know, our shipping container was one month delayed arriving in France and all of the stuff needed to complete the set-up projects was in that shipping container. So, Ron (joined by his great friend Pete for a week) mostly got to hang out in the south of France and play tourist. I know, poor Ron :)

Anyways, between the delay, and the entire country of France being on vacation for the month of August, we are likely not leaving the marina until late September.

So, no big sailing stories or pictures to share, yet. But soon!

In the meantime, we get up each morning. Take the dogs for a walk to the little outdoor market. Buy our baguette and whatever else we need for food and wine (OMG, the food here - fruit, vegetables, fish - everything is so fresh, even the colours are brighter, and the flavours are I think what food is actually supposed to taste like). We come back to the boat, tackle items on the 'to-do' list, and then spend the evenings drinking French wine (for 3 EU a bottle), strolling through the town, going to the beach and pinching ourselves because we still can't believe we are actually doing this.

Speaking of the dogs, they are doing great. Now Zooey did decide to jump off the boat on the first night (inspired immediate purchase of netting for the sugar scoops and a gangway) but they are settling in. In fact, Tucker (a.k.a. 'bitey') must have gone through some sort of portal when we flew over because he is now the friendliest dog ever...doesn't even bark when trades dudes come onto the boat. ????

I will post again in two weeks. By then we are hopefully either setting sail, or really close.

Also, Ron will be posting our debut YouTube video at that same time. It will include the naming ceremony and a tour of Maelstrom - so please check it out.

Until the next time, may you have fair winds and following seas.

Charity

Current count of donations to Triton (IYKYK) =1: dog lead because Charity is both very clumsy and much shorter than she thinks she is.