Happy July 4th!

Well, we're hoping we would be underway on Independence Day. But once again, the paperwork challenges continue.

Quick update...the boat registration had another error and once again had to be resubmitted. We THINK that part is now good. All that remains is customs clearance for us to depart. Once we get it, we have a few more fresh provisions to get, then move onboard and set sail. Realistically we hope to set sail on Sunday.

We feel bad for the boat owner who has had little sleep coordinating these issues with his lawyer who is 12 timezones away, and who has spend a lot of extra money on expediting fees.

The top picture is from an app called Predict Wind. It's a popular app used by sailors to get predictions of wind and seas on forecasted track. This is a picture of predicted conditions in about 36 hours. See the cyclone in the middle? That will be clear by the time we sail through there, but it's typhoon season so we will need to be vigilant about weather conditions on the journey, especially in the first couple weeks of sailing while transiting the cyclone latitudes.

For the past few days, Jen and I met with my friend Thaison again for dinner, and we visited another market. And yesterday we finally went out on the boat for a 4 hour crew training sail with the builder.

Here are a few more pictures from the last few days. Next blog we HOPE is from out at sea!