Twas the night before race day.....

and all through the house..... there was panic & mayhem ;-) No - not really. Marc is did bed time with Mia....he's going to be away from her/ us for a very long time, well, it's a long time to be without contact at all.
I think we'll be able to chat once or twice on the radio comms & possibly an email here & there but I'm not going to hold my breath.


I can't believe it's here though! There have been so many "speed bumps' to put it mildly on the road to getting here that it almost feels surreal to think we're here now..... By this time tomorrow My love is going to be a couple of 100 Miles out into the Atlantic ocean & I'm going to just have to have faith that he's OK. Gulp.


Mia is of course completely oblivious to it all....I keep having flash backs of holidays when i was a kid - how easy it was for us.... for kids! Get woken up at 4am - put on the back a nice soft mattress & the parents drive you to where ever you're gonna go & Holiday......... She know we're going on a BIG ship & that Daddy's going on a little boat but I sill don't know if she really thinks it's gonna happen :-)

Well...it's a few last minute preparations now & then it's time to hit the sack! BIG day tomorrow.....BIG.
Chat soon!

LIVING LIFE NOW
xxGxx

Let the festivities begin!

As we reach our final leg of the pre-Gov Cup build up I can't believe how much I need to do & I can't believe it has to be done by next week! Eeek!

Marc & I took a short break from our hectic schedule on Friday, 19 Nov 2010 to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary :-) In keeping with our tradition of going to a new Island every year...well almost every year Marc found the only island we could possible get to & back from in 5 hours.... Robben Island. Not exactly your top spot for romance & passion but I love the thought of it & the trip was such an awesome experience!

Then on Saturday evening was the Blue Peter Dinner - which is the 1st of the pre-race build up..... The meaning of the Blue Peter is such a cool story...well I think so -

blue peter (plural blue peters)

‎

1. (nautical) A blue signal flag with a white rectangle in the centre, signifying "P". When flown alone, indicates that a ship is ready to sail, requiring all crew members and passengers to return on board.  [quotations ▼]
   • We lay out in the stream for another whole day, with the Blue Peter flying, to show that we were ready for sea, and to summon any passengers who might yet remain on shore. — W.H.G. Kingston, "Peter the Whaler", 1851

I'm sure there will be a whole bunch of people that might have know that the Blue Peter is the name for the P flag...but I didn’t so I thought I'd share it....

What it does make you realise is that a voyage really is about to begin.... They really are going out there....What an incredible adventure....

In the end the evening was a very merry one & The team looked really good in their team shirts...



Team "Our Dianne": Marc, Julie, Billy (Skipper), Aaron, Spook (Navigator)& Rian



Not too long now & they are going to be spending allot of time in very close proximity with each other....

While we have been out & about on this Little Binkie Bow has been playing with Wonderful Daisy, with no real idea of what she is about to take on either....although - I'm sure sure won't really be phased.....

Pulling sill faces in her new summer outfit :-)

We liked the beads so much we had to bath with them....all of them :-)

Kiddies are so much more adaptable that us "grownups" we should take our lead from them...

living life right now.xxGxx

Practice makes perfect....

With literally a few hours gap in the weather....gotta love the Cape - when a sunny 'summers day' can be colder than the winter.... we took the chance to get a few underwater shots of the boat.... Waldo & Matt were in the Water & Marc was directing from above....

X marks the spot...
dropping the anchor with the Buoy attached to it to help the Divers/ Cameraman mark their spot...

With the high level of shark activity in the area recently I'm wondering if the 2nd cameraman is more of a decoy than an ASSISTANT ;-)  Heehee

My kind of sailing ;-) Just another day in the office....

Waldo & Matt....ready for the next shot....

Getting the shot.....
The water was a little milky after the SE'ter came through here but it still looks like a swimming pool...

After Marc & Waldo were happy we had the shot the team went of & got a little practice in...

And up she goes...

This really is a sport....

The love of my life...... in his "very happy place" xx

And there you have it..... just another day in the office ;-)

Living life right now.

xxGxx

Da Saints arrive....

The Saints finally arrived last week...Julie George & Aaron Legg. They will be sailing back to the Island on "Our Dianne" with Marc..... we picked them up at the Sea Farers in Table Bay... exactly where Mia & I will be leaving from...Eeeek!
We managed to get a good look at the RMS on it's way in.... she looks small :-/


There she is....RMS St. Helena.... yes, I know she's small!




I keep imagining being on her.....

My December Holiday home :-)

Hard at work :-) Just another day in the office....

 We have had some fun taking them around.... I do think Marc & I might have exhausted them...we do tend to live in 1st gear ;-) But they've been here before so we really just filmed them looking at a few Cape Town landmarks for the show & then has some lunch.....


Hout Bay....of course :-)



The one view they hadn't seen! :-)

We've been bombarding Julie & Aaron with all sorts of questions of the Island & I have a feeling we are really going to love it there!

But, only time will tell.....

xxGxx



Life in Fast Forward....

It really feels like someone has hit the fast fwd button on my life at the moment....that days are blurring into one & so much has happened!

We are really trying to get Mia excited, so I've made her a chart with a picture of the ship on it.... I think she understands that we're going on one but she might also think it's just another of Daddy's adventure bed time stories....

The count down to going on the BEEEG SHIP!! and Daddy is on the Lickle one :-)

But excitiement is brewing! The swimming lessons are going very well! She's only had 3 but we've made such progress! I think the pool on the boat is going to be SUCH FUN!

Lesson 1:

Off to a slow start...Teacher Roxy convinces Mia just atleast have a look at the toys...

By the end of the lesson Mia is sitting on the 1st step & loving it!

By Lesson 3 Mia just can't get enough!

weeee!

Ready to jump....

Kick & Splash!

So cute!

Well if everything goes as well as the swimming lessons I'm really looking forward to this trip! :-)

xxGxx

The final Countdown....

1 month exactly & then we're off..... I can't believe how quickly the time has gone & how much we still have to do! Mia starts swimming lessons on Monday & I hope they go well. She wasn't that impressed with Nana's pool when we went for a visit last week but hopefully she will get sued it....since that was my plan A for her entertainment on the ship - hours in the pool follwed by early nights & solid sleep....mmmmm sound more like a dream now :-) Hee hee.

But we are really getting excited now! Marc did his 200 mile qualifying race out to sea & it was as tough as expected - from his side & from mine - not being abe to just send him a text or knowing that he is ok is a little insettling....

xxGxx