Back in the US, Back In the US, Back in the US...A

Well after three long wonderful years in Mexico, we have finally arrived back in the US, sailing in to SanDiego on Friday evening and clearing customs. Why US Customs always has to be pricks, I'll never know. But it was painless enough and we are here safe and sound. Ryan Flew, my long time best friend (might as well be my brother), flew to LaPaz and helped bring our new boat Radio Flyer back north. OH, I suppose it has been months since I've up dated this thing. We'll as most our friends and family know we have a new boat. I posted some picts on Facebook, and we have been on board for about 6months. Radio Flyer, is a 50 ft New Zealand build Farro Cement cutter built in 1977. She's a completely different sailing boat then Boreas, but I think we are happy. We certainly have more room, and I'm surprised at how much easier it is to sail something larger. On the down side, we are looking at a complete over haul, which means money and work. Which leads us to returning to the US.

We have been fortunate though in that our trip up the coast wasn't too bad, and accept for a beating up around Cabo, we didn't suffer too badly. I do get tired of always sailing into the wind though. We had the opportunity this time running north to see areas of the Pacific side of Baja, that we didn't three years ago sailing South on Boreas. I'm thankful for that. Also, now that I can speak the language much better, it made the trip more enjoyable then when we came down, being able to talk with locals.

We stopped in Mag bay and anchored over night, we needed fuel and met the local authorities. The local Sheriff was the first to offer to pick up diesel for us, so I bought it from him. Later the Port Captain stopped buy and wanted to know where we got the fuel. When I told him, he was furious at the sheriff, and said that only the Port Captain has the authority to sell diesel. Weather it's true or not, I don't really care. But I certainly wasn't going to pay more then I did. After filling out the Port Captains paperwork that he wanted, we hoisted anchor and were on our way.

We re-fueled in Turtle bay and Vianne had the opportunity to play with some local kids, one named Angel. We waited a couple days and re-couped, also dried out the boat a bit. Leaving Turtle bay we had a wonderful calm day to the north end of Sedros and wound up spending several days waiting for weather. We toured the small fishing village there and traded for some fish. Our last stop was Encenada for a final re-fuel before crossing the border. We tied up late at night, near the fuel pier. In the morning, while drinking coffee in the cockpit and waiting for the fuel pier to open, Vianne spotted the only playground with in five miles, and insisted that Mom take her. She deserved it, she was a real trooper and very easy to have on board.

Now,Back in San Diego, we are getting settled in. We are very thankful for all our wonderful friends who have been helping us out and looking for work for us as well. We really don't know what is in store for the future, but that's part of the adventure????

Sailing against the wind is stupid! It seams to me at first that pushing on a rope, trying to swim up river, and most things that defy common since or the laws of physics would be natural to follow. However, spending time away from society and in nature is starting to show me just how often I have tried to brake laws of physics, simply because they are not convienient for me! We spent a good week or more beating our heads against a brick wall sailing up wind trying to make as much distance north and reach Santa Rosalia. All because I want to go there! When in reality it's much easier to simply wait, or go the other direction! Perhaps someday I'll learn?
We were trying to catch up to our friends on Moonhunter, Bill and Miriam, which I'm glad to say we have. Although, we never did reach Santa Rosalia. Early November we made radio contact with Moonhunter Near Mulije toward the mouth of the Bay of Conseption. Summer in Baja ended and the North winds had started racing down Baja. Which means we will have several days of good weather with several days of winds up to 35 knots blowing from the cold north. The frustrating part of this is that it forces the water temperature to change quickly and also makes a short, sharp wave that literally stops the boat when trying to head into it! When the winds here kick up there is nothing to do but go with it. We turned into Conseption and spent a few days waiting to the Norther to die. The water was a beautiful turquoise, however no fish.
Over the past month we have been living off the ocean spending good chunks of time in areas which are havens for seafood. We spent about a week anchored of Punto Pulpito where we lived on Yellow tail, snaper, Cabrilla and Ruster fish. So far my ruster is the biggest fish that I have shot. It's funny how a 30lb fish can drag a 160lb man through the water....skipping!
Vianne, and us all, have been enjoying Bill and Miriam, and has taken to calling to Aunty Mirium and uncle Bill. She got pretty excited when she recognized Moonhunter for the first time,and who was on board.
The water is getting colder so swimming has become more infrequent. However Vianne, Mandy and I have all jumped in. Vianne is getting better with her water wings and I'm hopping that when we get to warmer water we can persue swimming more actively. In the mean while we have been taking few shore excersions and exploring beaches and some local trails. While anchored in Juanico we hiked over to the next bay to the north. Vianne thought the small caves were neat and expressed that she could live here. Mandy made a contribution to the local sailing schrine and we tried to find the rock, which Moonhunter placed there eight years ago, no luck.
Running low on supplies we decided to make our way to Coronados and wait till the weather was calm in order to sail to Loreto for supplies. The water turned to absolute crystal clear blue. While snorkeling on the east side, there were times when the visibilaty was about 100ft. Our last day at Coronados we took Boreas around to the north east point, and we all took turns snorkeling and exploring the reefs. Bill and I were able to swim out to two ridges which were about 80ft deep and at the bottom, huge grouper and snaper would swim with in 10 ft. On one of my dives a grouper that was as big as big as I swam up, almost with in arms length. It is an unforgettable experience being in absolute quiet holding your breath at 80ft while a monster fish is looking at you, hovering. The only thing I could think of was. "Is he wondering if he can eat me or not?" At any rate a beautiful place. We restocked in Loreto by anchoring and dinging ashore, returned to Coronados for a couple more days and then made our way back to Puerto Escondito for fuel, water and e-mail.
Each day is the same, yet completely different at the same time. With out the ability to spend money, value changes and the realization that so many things are not needed. I think I'm learning to value my family more. At least I'm trying to. Some days I think I'm more trying then others.
We are continuing to get Boreas more and more ready to cross the Pacific. I have just about finished all the little projects that I wanted to get done while in the sea. However, when we return to LaPaz I have a whole new list ,which will take me several weeks to get done. Included as, adjusting the windvaine/autopilot (I want to build a longer rudder for better leverage), I want to build lockers in the laz for better storage and I'm going to have the high pressure fuel pump on the main re-built. I've been able to trouble shoot some problems and have determined that it needs to be fixed, I was hoping it was just filters. Plus there are a number of other small projects.
I think right now one thing that amazes me more then anything is how much work it is just to live! It takes so much energy now just to eat, clean play. There is no room for anything else!
After I clean the bottom of the boat, we will start making our way slowly toward LaPaz. We will try and spend some time on Monserrat Island and checkout the hot springs near Agua Verde.
Unfortunatly it's amazing how quickly time rolls by. We will be back in LaPaz before the 19th as Mandy's mom is joining us for Christmas. We are also looking forward to that.

Not wanting to test superstition and leave on a Friday, we departed LaPaz Sat Oct 24th. After over a year in LaPaz working on Boreas and saving money, we are finally away on our own adventure. It's funny, but this actually marks the first (quote) "Cruising" (unquote) that we have done as a family. Mandy and I did a bit in the San Juans, before Vianne was born. And we cruised down to Mexico. However, we always had crew aboard. This is our first time away from the docks and adventuring as a family. Scary!
It's hard! I think that many friends/ family think that we are off and away in sunny Mexico and playing all day. Yea, I wish!
OK, here is the nitty gritty of what a day for us really looks like.
First Vianne wakes us up just and the sun is barely turning the sky and she promptly announces, "look Mommy, it's not dark blue! It's light blue! Shall I have a smooothy?"
Mind you, Mandy and I would both rather be sleeping. Thankfully, I have a wonderful wife and she usually gets up to feed Vianne and start making coffee, allowing me to sleep fifteen more minutes. If we are going to transit anywhere, it means trying to come up with creative ways of entertaining Vianne and also getting the boat moving at the same time. I can say it's hard enough just to get the boat to behave and work with the wind, but try doing it when the two year old wants to play with the steering wheel right at the moment when you need to tack. Then in the nicest way you can, you have to quickly explain that the wheel turns the boat an we don't want to hit those rocks right over there! Then the joys of arguing over whose steering wheel it is....."it's mine. I bought it, I cleaned it I fixed it....it's mine. Accept for when Vianne wants to play with it. Then it's hers." Oh the joys of kids on boats! I have been trying to time our transits such that we have time to play on the beach either before we leave or after we get to our anchorage. So far we have been doing well. Mandy has been doing wonderful with Vianne and started school for her. This entails changing cloths and getting ready for school first. Which is really quite practical and will help make a distinction in the future. Mandy has been teaching Vianne about letters and teaching her what words start with A and B. So far we have had two actual days of school on board and they have been, I would say, good. Vianne has been very excited to show me what she is learning. A very good start.
I have been thankful to do a bit of spear fishing. However, not as much as I would like. I did shoot a very nice Cabrilla two days ago. It was big enough that it will feed us for several days. The bulk of my time this week has been catching up on more projects. I finally finished re-building the small 2h Suzuki outboard and it's now running good. I also services the other outboard, which I'm hoping to sell, or trade for a wind generator.
I spent one day repairing all the instruments for the main engine and installing actual gauges. We are all very excited. However, I'm just stoked to have lights on the gauges! The generator is now serviced as well, and treating us good. I'm a little disappointed at how much power the frig requires. However, I figure we are spending about two dollars a day to run the generator and have a frige. You know that's a lot less then rent and commuting to work every day, and I get cold drinks! I'm happy. I would say the hardest thing is that it's HOT! When you have a grumpy kid and small quarters, temperature makes a huge difference. We often have to douse each other with water just to cool our heads. At night when it's time to put Vianne to bed, we have our ritual arguments of brushing her teeth and going potty. Mommy always wins, (yeah Mom)! And eventually we get Vianne to bed. Every night though is hot, muggy and sticky. It's hard for any of us to get to sleep. In the late evening however, the wind will finally pick up and give a breeze through the boat making it comfortable again. Every day is different, yet they are all the same. The one thing I can say is absolutely true. It's just as easy to get too busy and not enjoy where your at here as it is there. There is a certain mind set that has to change to allow you to not only get things done, but also enjoy where you are at and who your with.

Officially over,

Norbert has passed and we are still alive.  The affects of the hurricane here is LaPaz have been pretty small.  I'm thankful that the full force of the storm has passed more to the north.  We did receive wind and rain, however every time I went out side to get a decent picture, nothing through the leans looked impressive enough to blog about.  I mean, not that I'm complaining in the least. However, if your going to go through all the trouble of securing your boat for a hurricane, you'd think that I would get one decent picture out of the deal? I'll have to check on line and see if there is photos worth showing.  At any rate I think the biggest trouble we have encountered is boredom.  I am thankful though that we don't have to worry about it any more.  

The weather forecast is better, but we are not out of the woods yet.  Norbert is supposed to pass to the north and has been downgraded to a category one.  Much better then a a category four with 150mph winds.  We have Boreas in Marina Palimra and everything is mostly secure.  Today We will be finishing up the last bit of prep.  When I transited Boreas over to the Marina, I was stopped by the Mexican Harbor patrol.  They closed the harbor and were making sure no one was leaving.  I think it was because there had been some talk on the radio by some gringos about trying to outrun the hurricane, dumb!  Now that there is not as much concern, we will be continuing to get Boreas ready to head north, hopefully next week.  I hate Hurricanes! 

Crap! It would figure that two weeks after we get back to Mexico that we get hit by a hurricane.  Well at least it looks like that is going to be the case.  Norbert has been gaining strength and is pushing catagory four.  I found a slip to secure the boat and we will be staying with our friends at Casa Buena for the duration.  We are all just praying that Norbert does not make a b-line for LaPaz.  We are stocking up on food and fuel. I will move Boreas in the morning, pull the sails and everything off the deck.  Once in the Marina I will double all lines and put chafing gear.  It's going to be a long couple days. 

 

WooHooo, the boat is finally in the water!  Ok, it's taken a whole lot of work bet we are getting there.  We still have lots left to do, but we are well on schedule to take off for the Sea in another week.  I started working on the instilation of the refrigeration, I need to install the compressor.  Mandy has been feverishly cleaning and trying to purge the boat from the infestation of cockroaches.....Yuk! 

We are almost done though.  Vianne has made her announcement that "we need to go sailing"  frankly I think we are all in agreement.