As i sit here reading a plethora of blogs from others living our dream sailing the oceans, I, as they probably did, wonder if we’ll ever leave. The reason we’re still here is we still have some major jobs left to do, one being the Water Maker and the other the Hydrovane, both of these are quite expensive items and will take a while to save for. Plus we need to save a big lump of cash to put in the bank, to use as a buffer until the mortgage finishes and we can solely live on the rental income. So all in all we are still probably a good while off yet.
However this doesn’t stop the gadget buying, aided by this weeks Selfridges sale! As mentioned earlier i read a selection of blogs, which i check in on at least once a week, sometimes more if they’re covering a long leg. Reading the blogs and emails not only transports me on deck with them for a brief moment, but gives me a real insight what life is like in many different places around the world, whats hard to get, whats easy to get and whats complexity impossible to get, from water to washing power, instant coffee to cat food, toothpaste to toilet paper, along with essentials there are always nice to haves, some you an if pushed live without, others just seem to difficult not to. With me its Gin & Tonic, i couldn’t bare to think of not having a G&T at sundowner.
As you probably have already read, I bought an ice maker for this exact purpose. In my opinion you can struggle without a lemon or lime, but defiantly not ice! Anyway another thought that crossed my mind recently was carrying tins or bottles of tonic in sufficient quantities to quench our thirst most evenings afloat, would take up space required for real essentials, so there was a real danger of a Tonic shortfall, particularly trying to obtain replenishments in some of the far flung places we were going to visit, not only that, i can’t have full fat drinks i have to have diet versions, including slimline tonic. I’m not too anal about it being schweppes, especially with the introduction of Fever Tree recently and I’ve actually been known to enjoy the occasional Britvic now and then when pushed.
So back to the gadget, Sodastream were doing a demo in the shop this week. Oh ok i hear you all laughing already, but seriously i tasted it, its ok, their version of Diet Coke actually tastes like diet coke, there Diet Orange has a similar if not slightly more orangey taste than Diet Fanta, and their Diet Tonic is somewhere between Schweppes and Fever Tree, if anything slightly more quinine, but hey I can live with that and it’ll help with the mosquitos!
But the real deal is it makes 12l out of a 500ml bottle, SUPER STORAGE! and not that it matters that much in the quest for the perfect G&T, but its cheaper at 50p a Litre!
Sodastream is worldwide and being a US product, with the exception of the small french polynesia islands, we should be able to pick up supplies wherever we are, should we ever run low! I think not!