San Francisco Day 8

Laura Penhaul By

San Francisco Day 8

So today was the day that Doris got to see sunlight for the first time in 2 months!

Tony had it down to a tee how to co-ordinate getting her out of the trailer and onto the slings, but instead of the container being on the ground she was up on the chassis, so Doris looked like she was flying! I must admit, there was definite mixed emotions as it was great to get her out in the sunshine but my heart was in my mouth! Seeing her hang up in just 2 slings I had visions of one of the straps snapping and her falling to the ground – the thought alone makes me feel sick to my stomach. But thankfully this didn’t happen and as usual, Svendsens boatyard were extremely slick in their operations and had Doris parked up in no time (thanks Tim!).

Stickering Doris

First port of call was to prep Doris for a good scrub down and preparation for some fresh anti-foul.

Then 2 sets of parents arrived; Sara and Keith (Emma’s folks) and Jean & John (Izzy’s parents). It wasn’t long after saying our hellos that they got put to work and with a rag in hand they were all polishing Doris to revive her pretty pink coat.

Luckily it has been an amazing blue sky , sun filled day, so all of our kit onboard was laid out on the floor ready for the beady scrutineering eye of Tony. It wasn’t long before things were being cut down and removed as we’d taken too many spares for spares, for the ‘just incase’ rare possibilities (however I still believe you can never have too many cable ties!).

We also got to meet the amazing Sarah Moshman! This wonderful woman who is investing so much of her own time and money into following our journey by film and making a documentary ‘Loosing Sight of Shore’. We have spoken prior on email and met via skype but it was so lovely to meet properly in person, she’s exactly as she appears to be, warm, friendly and enthused by our project – it’s so exciting to see.

The great timing of Sarah’s arrival was also whilst Emma and Nats were finishing up with applying the ‘Buy A Mile’ named stickers to make our inspiration wall in the cabin. It looks amazing and it’s overwhelming to see how many names we’ve already got on there. We know already that we have many more to add when we arrive in Hawaii, which is something in itself to row towards and look forward to.

We worked on until we lost light by which point we had to call it a day around 9pm this evening. So it was off to Super Duper burgers again for a take away feed and final emails and reflections of the day. Now that is all complete we are ready for a snooze in preparation for an early start tomorrow and getting Doris on the water for a row! Plus a little bonus for me is that I get to see my parents and aunt tomorrow and look forward to showing them Doris all laden with our kit!

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