Fortunately it is only three months since I drove on the 'wrong' side of the road, so getting back in the driver's seat was not the learning curve is had been in February, after a break of two years.

First order of business, after the car pick up, was to re-acquaint ourselves with the Marina and the people we had been e-mailing with in regard to docking the boat for the next month.

Next stop was the boat. She was back where we had left her. In the interim, she had been fitted with Forward Sonar, new zincs and assorted other essentials, at the Seabrook Marina, and returned to the sales dock we bought her from. Having been closed up for a while, she was a bit 'ripe' on the inside but the weather wasn't conducive to opening her up to the 'fresh' air....there simply was none and it was hotter than hades.

The number of 'jobs' to do is pretty daunting, but I guess a list is easily conquered, if you have one.

First order of business is usually food shopping. we went back to Target, only because we could get other things there too. Not the best selection of anything, but it meant we had food for at least two days, and fresh produce was the order of the day. Cant live without LOTS of fruit and veg. We will miss the quality of both, in NZ. We haven't found any 'loose' carrots in our two food shopping forays, but are hopeful we will find them somewhere.
We found a Randalls supermarket that gives a much better selection of produce et al but is further away.

Friday am: I was determined to get rid of the stale smell in the boat by opening the windows and doors to let the breeze flow through. We had set the alarm for 7am with this in mind, to make the most of the early morning temps. before it got too hot and the aircon was required.

It appeared that the smell wasnt just the stale inside air. One of the aircon units was in desperate need of cleaning, so that required a fine brush and vacuum cleaner. The former was easily accomplished, but the latter not so. We had bought a shop vac. before leaving Houston for NZ, in March, but it is no longer on the boat...no sign of it. We can only presume, rightly or wrongly, that one of the people working on the boat in our absence thought it belonged to them or their company, and took it home/to work with them. This necessitated yet another trip to Home Depot~! It's not  a huge purchase, dollar-wise, but is another $40, if you know what I mean.

By 11.30am today, it was evident that we needed to put the aircon back on, smell or no smell, as we were leaving the boat to go 'shopping'  for goodness knows how long. At 11.30 the outside temp. was 90F, but by the time we got home at 5.30pm, it was 97F. Phew, was it hot! and the humidity must have been around 70% at least. We wont go out tomorrow without half a dozen bottles of water in the cooler !
Today's purchases included bins for storage. I needed to be able to contain winter clothing etc under the guest queen bed. As luck would have it, there are Ziplock brand bags that are big enough to contain such things. These bags are excellent for any number of soft storage items, and there are now three of them under the bed, along with the suitcases (soft duffles) and overnight bags.

We found a Lowes store not far away in Webster, and armed with a lengthy shopping list for the hardware store, we ventured forth. We purchased most of the items on the list before asking for help with the remaining ones.
Tools were also on the shopping list, and the gentleman (a former Marine, it turned out) who accompanied us around the store couldnt have been more helpful or knowledgeable. We are still looking for a 12 volt chest freezer for the cockpit hold, but know where to find that now. It will have to be an online purchase.

I also ordered my new computer! With such limited space, it isnt possible to house a desk top computer, so we have to make sure we have similar capabilities in a laptop. I dont remember all the details of the computer I ordered from Costco, but you can be assured it is what Warren wanted:) I guess it has all the bells and whistles. I just know I will have to learn to use Windows 8!

We are making the most of the delicious summer berries, cherries, peaches and nectarines. Fresh fruit salad with our meusli and Greek Yoghurt for breakfast is fantastic. The blueberries went into the dinner salad tonight, along with baby tomatoes, sugar snap peas, baby carrots, apple and some blue cheese and walnuts. I cooked a couple of turkey breasts which were succulent and left enough over for another one or two meals. I am enjoying cooking on the induction cooker with one pot, a tall sided Analon frying pan with cover. No fat is needed and nothing sticks, but cooks perfectly.
We finished the day, after the dishes had been washed and put away, with a cup of English Breakfast Tea, sitting topside on the fly deck, and watching the 20 mins of Fireworks at the Kimah Boardwalk. We had almost front row seats, interrupted only by the Kemah Bridge. Looks like we will have the same show tomorrow night too...apparently there is a fireworks show every friday and saturday night through June and July! woohoo!:)
And so, to bed.