Sailing Recap 2008

Jill joins boat in Victoria, BC, Canada - July 15
Leave Victoria BC, Canada – Aug 1
Otter Bay, Pender Island, Canada – Aug 1 – engine breakdown
Vancouver, Canada – Aug 2 – 4 With Terry and Lynn, Matthew & Annie
Orcas Island & Stewart Islands, USA - Aug 5 – 7 With Jess & Tracy
Victoria, BC, Canada – Aug 7 - 14
Port Angeles, USA – Aug 15
Neah Bay, Washington, USA – Aug 16 - 22
Eureka, CA, USA – Aug 23 - Sept 13 w/ 2 overnight passage
Emeryville (SanFrancisco), CA, USA – Sept 15 – Oct 15, 1 overnight passage, visit f/ Doug & Lucy
Santa Cruz, CA, USA – Oct 17 – 20 w/ 1 overnight passage
Morro Bay, CA, USA – Oct 22 - 24
Monterey Bay, CA USA – Oct 25 – 26 w/ 1 overnight passage
Santa Barbara, CA, USA – Oct 28 -Nov 1 w/ 1 overnight passage
Long Beach, CA, USA - Nov 3 – 6 w/ 1 overnight passage
San Diego, CA, USA – Nov 7, 2008 – Jan 7, 2009
Map also shows Mexico portion (green markers) in 2009
Turtle Bay, Baja, Mex - Jan 11, 2009
Cabo San Lucas, Baja, Mex - Jan 15, 2009
Los Frailes, Baja, Mex - Jan 20, 2009
LaPaz, Baja, Mex - Jan 25, 2009

(Click on any image to enlarge)

A Close Brush with Mexican Security

Later Still January 2009
(Location: Cabo San Lucas to LaPaz. Matt has gone on to more adventures with his wife Anne in the Dominican Republic. Biagio has taken the boat from Cabo San Lucas to LaPaz by himself while I am taking the water pump to be repaired and also attend a seminar.)

You can spend weeks going down the Baja Coast from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas stopping and exploring along the way. We hurried down the stretch of desert in a very fast 8 days stopping only once to go kite surfing with Matt and also filling up with fuel. We wanted to fill up with water but it was so windy with Santa Ana winds blowing up to 60 knots from land spilling out to the bay that we weren’t able to get any unless we stayed an extra day. During the entire trip we weren’t able to make any water with our water maker.

I took the opportunity to go back to San Diego with the pump. I flew from Cabo to Tijuana and then crossed the border and took the trolley to Jesse and Tracy’s house to stay with them.

Now Mexico is having quite a struggle with drugs within their borders. I’ve never seen bags get x-rayed at the airport in Cabo and then a zip tie to secure the bags. OK, a little excessive with the zip tie. But then when I got off the plane in Tijuana, we had to take the bags to get x-rayed again before we could leave with them. So in the bottom of my bag was the pump for the water maker. The guards asked me what that object was. Since I imported/exported some cars while I lived in Chile, I knew some strange words for fixing mechanical things. Pump. Pump. Pump. Not let me see, what was that word. I was scratching my memory from 12 years ago when I lived there. Oh, I know, bomb. Or ‘bomba’ in Spanish. Oh no, that can’t be right. They call it a bomb. Well maybe I’m wrong. No, I think that’s right. So how do I tell them it’s a bomb?

Photo: Water Maker Unit. Blue cylinder is the 'pump' in my suitcase.

So I started to dance around the word by telling them that I came from a sailboat, and on that sailboat there’s a mechanism to make water. And…now they were getting suspicious because I wasn’t telling them what it was. Ok, ok I better get it out pretty soon. So I said, "Well the apparatus to make water has a bomb on it," and here I said “bomb” with a bit of a pause almost in a whisper, "and that’s what that big heavy piece of metal is". Then I searched their faces for any signs of alarm ready to duck any gunfire that might come my way as I continued to rambled on. My logic was that maybe they won’t think I’m going to detonate a bomb if I keep talking. It is called a 'bomb' isn’t it? I mean I could be wrong. So now their faces started to relax. "Oh, you mean a water bomb," they said. Yes, that’s it, a water bomb ‘bomba de agua’. Guns weren’t drawn on me and I didn’t get taken to any little room. Wheww. Lesson for you other sailors, test your water makers before you leave San Diego. It’s a lot safer.


Cabo San Lucas Passage: Left-Pelicans know who has fish. Center: Long Board beer, Right: Downwind sailing wing on wing (center and right photos by Matt)

Reefer Madness

Late January 2009

(Location: Matt is with us going down the Western coast of Baja California to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It will take 8 days to complete with a 1 1/2 day kite surfing stop at Turtle Bay.)

One of the challenges of cruising is organizing the refrigerator. We call it a ‘reefer’. The younger guests that visit us all give us a double take when we say ‘reefer’. There is only one meaning for 'reefer' states Matt. For us cruisers there is also only one meaning for 'reefer' and that is the refrigerator.

Our reefer has a double tiered ‘L’ shape. With this ‘L’ configuration, everything seems to get lost in never never land. I can access the large back area by feeling around until I come to the right shape of an object. I can also put my head down in and balance precariously over the opening with my legs up in the air to get down into the far reaches.

When something starts smelling ugly, it’s time to take everything out, wipe every thing down, get rid of the smelly culprit and start all over again. I do this with a ray of hope that this time I'll be better able to organize and rotate the food. Or I can just make another cup of coffee and get used to a little madness in the calm waters of the Sea of Cortez.

Transportation

January 2009

Photos of Biagio carrying home supplies from Home Depot and me wearing and carrying my new dive BCD.

Everyone who has talked with us here in San Diego has said, ‘Isn’t it hard to get around without a car here?’ I tell them it’s a trade off. A car and a house or a boat and a bicycle. We decided. Getting the bicycles down to a science is a trick. Reflective tape. Carrier baskets. Backpacks. Flashlights for the early night falls at 4:30pm. All of these things help.

When someone asked me if it was late to ride a bicycle at 5:00pm in the dark, I replied, ‘No, the sun just set early.’ He laughed.

We have found there is nothing you can’t carry on your bicycle except for dive air tanks. How do you roll an air tank home? Or put an air tank in your carrier? They are so darn heavy but so light in the water! Even aluminum rather than steel are heavy. So, it’s taxi time with the air tanks. But we CAN take the dive BCD home on the bicycle. See photo.

So, there are buses with bicycles racks, trolleys with space in the back car, and if you are Biagio, sheer energy to go the distance. No it’s not hard to get around on bicycles, it’s easy! Our friends Liz and Michael know as they also cruise down the coast on their sailboat and Bike Friday bicycles.

Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, CA (LaJolla).

Photos below: Left: Clark & Suzie now back in San Diego from Final Straw with thoughts of going out again; Center: San Diego's Torrey Pines Rock Layers; Right: A hike at beautiful Torrey Pines with Jess & Tracy, Matt, Biagio and Jill.

Giddy Up Gem and Whims

January 2009

Every needed gadget, switch, fan, screen, wind catcher, sun dodger, kayak, absolutely everything has been put on the boat. I believe we are ready to leave this land where you can get anything fairly easily (i.e. the USA). San Diego is sort of the hopping off point. Anything that is added to the boat south of here is much more difficult to find and to get on the boat. That’s why we’ve spent the extra time here. That and also ‘home’ for the holidays.

I feel sadness as we leave San Diego because I am leaving family behind but also looking forward to being away from the dock and doing more exploring of unknown shores. I’m also happy that we will have extra crew of more family. Biagio’s son Matt (http://www.mattmaddaloni.com) has signed on. We will be part of HIS current project which seems to be something to do with going down the Mexican coast and along the way, kite surfing and taking movies. Great timing Matt! More of this in next month. He will be crew with us for about 2 weeks. I’m sure he will have us doing interesting things. (Photo of Matt on the cover of a magazine with the earth well below him.)

The trip from San Diego to Cabo takes about 1 ½ weeks if you stop for 2 nights along the way. Our goal is to go around Cabo, then up to La Paz and on through to the islands just north of that in the Sea of Cortez to do some diving. I just checked on the temperatures and they are in the 80’s. That is motivation!

My Dad told me that many people are asking him where we are going. Well for us, the best plan is not to have a plan. Unlike a car trip where you may drive through bad weather, snow, mountains, etc. we have many more things to consider. Not only bad weather but hurricanes, hot weather, insects, wind and water currents, and of course your health because this lifestyle is work. And did I mention 'whim' factor? That would be when you are tired of the heat or another island or whatever. You just head North or South from where you are. Depending on the other factors, of course. So we sort of mix all those things together and come up with several plans that can change over night. For example:

Plan #1 – Hang out in the Sea of Cortez through the summer with diving and dipping in the water when it gets too hot. Combine that with overland travel in Mexico or surrounding countries and a year will pass. Then we would continue to other countries.

Plan #2 – Enjoy the Sea of Cortez for 3 months through April. Put the boat on the hard (on stilts in a marina) and travel on land for 6 months, returning to the boat the following March and then head out.

Plan #3 – Enjoy the Sea of Cortez for 3 months and then go on to Plan #A, #B or #C.

After Plan #1, #2 or #3

Pacific Ocean – (the area encompasses half of the mass of the earth)

Plan #A – Head further south going through Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and the Galapagos. Then go to Plan #B below or go farther to South America including Peru and Chile.

Plan #B – Go West to the Marquesas Island Group, Tuoamotos Island Group, Society and Cook Island Groups, Tonga, Vanuatu, and maybe Australia and New Zealand. At this point we would need to decide to stay in the general area or if we headed west of Australia, we would be committed to going around the world.

Atlantic Ocean - (not as likely we'll do this, but possible. We don't like crowds.)
Plan #C – Go through the Panama Canal and on into the Caribbean Islands and the Mediterranean.

As a point of reference, during Biagio’s last sailing trip out for 7 years, out of 250 countries in the world, he visited only 25 (living in one country for a year). It’s a big world out there.
(Photo of currents)
So as you can see, it’s best to take it a few months at a time with a general plan and an open spirit to enjoy things as they come. After all, we could take Plan #4 (not previously mentioned above) and be in Hawaii in 14-21 days. All it takes is enough food and the desire to follow our whim.

Holidays in San Diego

December 2008
It’s quiet here at the marina on Shelter Island in San Diego. We rented a slip for a month until January 1 complete with swimming pool, Jacuzzi and weight room. Life is good! The reason it’s quiet is that the other cruisers have left to go south already for the warmer weather. We are noticing the chilly mornings while turning on the heater and waiting for the sun to makes its appearance around 9am. Then we can take off our sweaters and put on our shorts again. (Photo: December Lights in Balboa Park on the Prado)

The wedding was a grand time complete with trips to the florist shops for decorating supplies, tying bows, an after wedding party on the boat, a morning high tea with Nick and Sayaka, and a bay cruise the following day. All with 75 degree weather. It reminds me of the weddings when I was a kid where they would last for days. A wonderful time. (Photo: Mini Regatta race here at the Marina in San Diego.)

I lived here in San Diego for about 15 years. That was 12 years ago. So being in San Diego feels like dejavu for me. The holidays are fun with Balboa Park being the kick-off party of about 300,000 people over 2 evenings visiting the museums, drinking cider and mingling with the Christmas revelers.

We’re getting our exercise here on our bicycles. The grocery store is about 3 miles away. And every thing is beyond that. It’s good riding if you can avoid the cars. (Photo: Spending time in the 'International House of Booze' next to the Prado, with Luis and Leslie friends for the last 25 years!)

Celebrations of Life.....Wisconsin, San Diego, Victoria BC

November 2008
I’ve noticed that the more we celebrate the passages of life the more life we feel.

Last week I celebrated the life of my mother in Wisconsin. We had a wonderful ceremony for her. It was a great feeling to be surrounded by all my brothers and sisters and their families, all my aunts and uncles and my parents friends. The coming together affirmed my mother’s love that she had for everyone. She passed after having ALS for two years. I am grateful that she didn’t contract the disease in her 40’s – 60’s which is typical for most people that have it. I was able to enjoy her for many years with time to say our goodbyes in the summer. She passed just after her 80^th birthday. (Photo: Jill & Mom in July)

Now one week later, I will celebrate the wedding of my son here in San Diego. He and his wife help each other out in life just as my mother and father did for all those years. (Photo at right: Newlyweds Jesse & Tracy)

This is also the week that Biagio learned he will be a grandfather for the first time later this year. (Photo at left: Expectant parents Jesse & Tia)..........

The passing of a life, the celebration of joining two lives, the beginning of a new life. It’s a wondrous existence.

Sea Life (The life that we see in the sea)

October 2008
We are so fortunate to be living ‘in’ the water. Yes we go ashore and tie up at docks often but life down at the docks and out at anchor is so alive with the animals, fishes and birds. It takes you away from your personal thoughts and puts you right there in the present moment watching these animals who live along side of you. (Photos from the Monterrey Aquarium: Left: Leafy Sea Dragon sea horse about 10" in length, Right: jellies)

The brilliantly colored orange billed puffin birds with their formal tuxedoed of black and white stunning against the sea as we turned the corner in NW Washington.

The packs of sea lions in Monterey and Morro Bay feeding on the smaller fishes in the bay by cruising back and forth making loud breathing noises as they dive past. And the pelicans trailing behind for any crumbs left over. (Photo: Our neighbor at Morro Bay)

The little baby on the sea otter’s tummy. And the clack, clack, clack of another sea otter with two small unopened shells in his hands hitting them together to break open the sweet meat. The sea gull incessantly following the sea otter waiting for a morsel.

The wonderful jellies and all the exhibits at the Monterey Aquarium.

And just now coming in to Santa Barbara, a huge gaggle of pelicans. I’ve never seen so many I one place.

They are all so wonderful. I'm sure there will be lots more to come as well. (Photo at right: Live birds up close at the Monterey Aquarium)

Monterrey and Morro Bay

Late October 2008

Lots of great bike riding in Monterrey for Biagio going from Monterrey to Carmel by the Sea. The Aquarium for me. Loved the 'Jellies' exhibit.

The photo on the right shows our Morro Bay moorage and the large rock at the entrance. A nice bicycle and bus ride to San Luis Obisbo and Los Ossos from here. Scotty was adopted at Monterrey Bay and had a jolly good ride back to the boat.

Scary Sea Lions in Santa Cruz

October 2008

We did everything in our power to avoid a confrontation. Brought our dinghy to the furthest possible dock with the least amount of Sea Lions. Came back to the boat at a decent hour before absolute sunset. Made a very modest entrance to the dinhy dock. But they still attacked us. I never knew Biagio could run so fast on a vertical ladder with his bicycle in hand.

“OK boys, get back. This is my dock!!!” shouted Biagio. “You just stay there!” he proclaimed in a boisterous voice. I was impressed as if he was talking to a great big, big dog. But as he lowered the first bike down the vertical ladder, I was coaching him from up above to warn him when the loudest, biggest male sea lion was coming after him. “He’s coming at you now!” I shouted. The dock was not very large so the sea lion could reach him in only a few flipper flaps away. We just learned at the UC Santa Cruz Marine Research Center on our bicycle ride that the males can weigh roughly 5,000 pounds. I would guess that was about the weight of the one coming after Biagio. At the last minute, the male sea lion bounced in the water but could resurface on the dinghy dock at any moment and land on Biagio. The center warned us not to get to close to the sea lions because they see everything as furniture and can roll over you and also bite. So there is Biagio, with thoughts of being a side chair or a couch. I have never seen him run so fast up a vertical ladder much less with a bicycle. If fact, if I wasn’t standing there, I’m sure he would have gone all the way to the top of the ladder and onto the pier. “It’s OK” I coached him, "I think he turned back". Once again the bull sea lion returned to his corner of the dinghy dock barking at Biagio the entire time.

Then we started to attract a crowd on the upper pier deck watching us trying to get into the dinghy. I’m not sure who they were rooting for but it was probably very entertaining. We never knew exactly what this male sea lion had on his mind or whether we were going to be a couch to him.

As we started pulling away from the dock, looking at all three sea lions from a distance, we were relieved when we felt that they were more likely to jump back onto the dinghy dock than into our dinghy. Whewww… Safely back on the boat in the bay, waiting for the hot water to heat up for a shower before watching our rented foreign movies, I’m glad to be back on our rocking, rolling boat. Safe for the time being from sea lions.

P.S. I've since taken a sea lion training course and learned that we need to hold our bicycles in front of us and look threatening. This is sea lion talk for 'back off'.