“Splash Day” is on target for early next week. Our Dash will go in the water Tuesday or Wednesday, we’ll have the engine survey and sea trial, and then we’ll be staying on board for the first few days while a captain helps us learn how to keep the thing upright. If the weather is nice, we’ll bring our boat home to Port Washington by the end of the week. (Please let the weather be nice.)

With that in mind, we’re buying some necessities. The mattress that was on the boat was as old as at least some of our kids, and the bedding was original. So today we ordered a “bed in a box” that should arrive by Monday. Since the mattress rests on a wood platform, we also bought a moisture barrier to protect the wood and the mattress from mold and mildew. Ew. We think we’ll be able to get by without cutting the mattress to size, but we’re not sure. We’ll be asking to borrow an electric knife, just in case.

We also bought a line cutter. We’ll see how we like it and decide whether to get a second one or try something different.

Life jackets were on sale a few months ago, and they were the first boat-related items we purchased. If you ever see these in the water wrapped around someone who looks like us, please notify authorities. We will be ever so grateful.

We can’t wait for next week!