After a long hiatus, we are finally ready to start up with our blog again. I am almost fully recovered from a bout of cancer and ready for the rigors of sailing once again. We are back aboard the Debonair on the island of Curacao, preparing the boat for a voyage across the Caribbean. Boatyard work fills our days. Sanding and painting the hull has been the activity for the last week. We have a checklist, and every system on the boat must be tested out. Rust and dirt are everywhere on the boat, but it has weathered our absence with remarkably few failures (so far).