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.  

Now I remember Why I like Mexico! Here is the three fish I shot today. Life can't be all work.  We took a couple hours this afternoon to kill some fish.  Hmmm dinner sure was good tonight!

For the first time in history, a boat project is actually getting done ahead of schedule!  We had planned on being out of the water and working on Boreas for two weeks. However, I have finished the bottom and we are getting ready to put her back in the water on Monday!  I painted to bottom in a record two days!  The nonskid is also done on the deck.  Mandy and I will get her all cleaned up and ready this weekend and we will be moving on board once we are in the water.  We should be up and running next week.