Preparing to Leave San Diego

It is 6 am. I took the minivan that we have until 2:30. I am at Starbucks. Sipping a very hot Grande half-decaf/half regular Americano with cream. To get the dreaded "internet fix" and try to finish up some loose ends and to blog one more time before leaving the US of A. Tomorrow. Trying to focus my eyes. Why so early you ask, dear reader? Because today is our last day before we leave the comforts of San Diego and head into Mexico on the Baha Haha. Because at 7:30 I am picking up Shauna from Sand Dollar and we are heading to Von's and Trader Joe's for provisioning. Taking advantage of the car and wanting to get the freshest food possible meant going at the last minute. Those of you who know me know also that, next to getting gas and homeschooling, there are few things I like less than grocery shopping. Even with lists, I get in there and my brain goes blank. Scrambled. I start grabbing and then I get home and have no meals. EVERY time I leave a grocery store I say, "Well. There goes another 1/2 hour of my life WASTED". But today, I can't just go a few days later to fix it all. Today, Brave Jen is going to earn her American Provisioning Badge. It is my biggest test ever. Buying food to fit into a small boat that will 1. adequately feed 7 people (Pete and Ilse included), 2. keep and not spoil for the next 2 weeks, 3. on a boat, 4. that fits in small, potentially wet places, 5. that will satisfy the voracious and various appetites of my kids, their father and my in-laws and meet their nutritional needs, and 6. impress everyone. Impossible, you say? YES!!!! But I am going to triumph over this task! (Brian get my badge ready!!) How you ask? I have NO IDEA. I have a list. Partially in my head and partially on paper. And I am hoping Shauna, who is one of the more prepared people I know, will have some good ideas! And, once again, Dear Lee came to San Diego yesterday to see us and Pete and Ilse and brought us our first dinner... Spinach Lasagna! What an amazing woman. Just having that first meal has given me strength. I am also following some advice from "The Essential Galley Companion" by Amanda Swan-Neal. She has some great recipes and suggestions for storage and provisioning. When we leave tomorrow on the Haha race, we have just two stops between San Diego and Cabo San Lucas -  Turtle Bay and Mag Bay. And there is very little shopping available at either place. And there are over 160 boats traveling with us so competition. And we leave on the 28th of October and arrive on the 9th of November. Think of me with each bite you take during that time, will you? OK. Enough self-pity!!! We'll eat canned food and LIKE IT. Since my last post, we've been busy. We went to SeaWorld. TWICE! I loved both times. I love SeaWorld. I love the Orcas, I loved the Beluga whales, I loves the polar bears, I loved the dolphins, the Pilot whales, the Bat Rays... I loved it. We went with my mother on Wednesday with my mom and then decided to go again with our friends from Sand Dollar on Friday since they had not been yet and Marcus wanted to go with us this time. I would even go again, I liked it that much.

Ben, "Dora" and Shamu

Bat Ray tank

Elmo and Cookie Monster

The underside of a Beluga whale!

At the show "Pet's Rule" that we loved!!

On Thursday, the day in between, my mother flew home... it was sad to see her leave. She is having such a hard time with my father... I hate leaving her "on her own".

After she left, we hung out with "Uncle Pete" and tried to take out that $2.5M Azimut but someone had hit the wrong button and the darn thing shut down completely so we couldn't. Marcus and Max did some errands with JC and Nate from Sand Dollar while Ben and Easton played with Shauna on their boat and Kaley, Sam and I hung out on our boat. There was a Baha Haha party in the evening. We met some really nice people and found another boy named Ben D. from Sea Otter who is 12 and the kids had a great time together. Ben and Easton are like two peas in a pod. Such great friends already! So sad how few kids there are this year. I am disappointed about that. I think Samey is the youngest Haha-inian. Max had fun throwing Easton and Ben into the pool there for a long time. He is such a trooper. SUCH a great person already and I am so thankful that he is with us. He helps tremendously with the boat, with sailing, with the kids. He is easy and fun. The other night, with my mom, we went to Jimmy's and the waiter, who was from Delaware!, was shocked that he was only 16 and said he wouldn't have carded him if he'd ordered a drink! Crazy...

And Samey, fell asleep under her towel.

Poor thing. It has been a tough week for everyone in a lot of ways. Basically, no school has happened since we got to San Diego. Lots of people. Lots of shopping. Lots of swimming. Lots of stress. Late nights, little sleep. It'll be nice to get underway. With food. Lots of food. Last night we had fun with Lee and John, Pete and Ilse and Pete Jr. and Betty who took us out on an absolutely gorgeous Zeelander for a tour of the San Diego superyachts and the air craft carriers. Gorgeous. Ben got to drive again and so did Max and Marcus and even Samey!!! Gorgeous boat. Lovely friends. We went to Joe's Crab Shack and parked the boat right there and had an amazing dinner... thanks to Opa Z. It was a lovely last "hurrah" of luxury. Gorgeous boat. $1.3M. Today is the big Baha Haha costume kick-off party... We're all going as pirates! This is our pirate princess:

I've got to sign off now and go get Shauna. Wish me luck. My next post will be from Mexico. Who knows where from!?? We do have a sat phone if anyone needs to reach us, call my brother. We get free texts. From that point on, not sure what else. Our friends, Chuck and Marge who are down there already sent us a long email with tons of "insider tips" for internet there. The email started with, "Hi Jen, You all seem to be internet junkies, so I thought I'd pass on Mexican internet 101..." I had to laugh!! Withdrawal here we come!!!! I'd post the entire tutorial here, it is so helpful, but that would bore the most of you... Just very thankful to them.

47 in San Diego

Well. Yesterday was my 47^th birthday. Yup. They just keep coming. Odd to be transient and celebrating something like this that one is used to celebrating with one’s “community”. And to top it off, I can’t get WiFi on any of my devices (they have it here, Marcus says it is incredibly fast but I can’t get it and he hasn’t had time to help me get my computer on it), my data is used up on my phone and so I am completely disconnected. I tried for an HOUR last night to post this entry. I was able to check FaceBook and saw a TON of greetings from all parts of the world which really made me love FaceBook... From the moment I awoke, my children were adorable. They love birthdays. Ben reminded me that today is also Sam’s “half birthday” since her birthday is April 22! Fun. I love that. Ben gave me a loose tea steeper in the form of the Titanic and Samey chose some funky socks for me). Max got me a trophy that says “Best Mom” on it. I LOVE IT. A big treat for me and for my mental health (I’ve been worried about her) is that my mother was able (thanks to Randy, Adri, Sandra and Linda) to come down and be with us for a couple of days and nights before we leave for Mexico (October 28!!!!). Coming meant getting coverage cobbled together for my father’s rapidly declining mental health (he has early onset Dementia at age 74).  I have been worried about my mom and thought a few days of respite in the sun with some of her “sunshines” (my kids) would do her some good. She arrived mid-afternoon and is staying at the Sheraton that is walking distance from Sun Road Marina where we are staying now in San Diego. We were two nights at San Diego Yacht Club before coming here and had a lovely stay in their marina with the great pool and hot tub! We got to spend some fun hours with San Dollar and Unleashed and Dawn Treader and met Palarran, too. But here, where Marcus’ step-dad has a son who is a yacht broker (Peter Zaleski) and who has been incredibly kind, generous and helpful to us, we have a slip in this amazing marina!! The pool yard and hot tub here are stunningly beautiful! And we have full facilities – even laundry. Simple pleasures, eh? Last night, Peter took Ben, Sam and Marcus for a short trip on a $2.4M Italian yacht that he is selling! Ben even got to drive!!! They loved it. Anyways, back to my birthday. As we are getting down to the wire before leaving, we decided to rent a minivan for the week so we could do errands, go to Sea World, possibly Legoland, and take my mother with us (and later this weekend my in-laws who are coming to join us for the Baha Haha!). It meant that last night we had the extreme pleasure of going to TARGET! For supplies! Familiar and yet so odd, too. Today, my birthday, Marcus decided he really needed to get the new inverter installed. It was failing/failed and he had ordered another one. He awoke this morning completely consumed with the project, like a warrior going into battle. I know it was important to get it started early in the week so that he would have time and days to make it work if there was trouble with the installation and I know that it was just poor timing that it had to be today but it did put a huge dark cloud over the day since he stayed on the boat all day and got increasingly frustrated and angry and tore the boat apart and so we were all a little out of sorts and displaced since his tools and parts were EVERYWHERE on the boat (as he likes to do). I decided to get out of his way and to get away from his bad mood and take the kids with me to do errands. IN A CAR. That minivan turned out to be the best birthday present ever this year since it meant that I was able to almost feel normal as we: 1. Went to Mexican Consulate (attempting to find out if we can get a year visa or can only get 6 months that have to be renewed), 2. Went to Chase Bank (to see why, once again, my credit card was denied even though I have asked that the fraud department be alerted that I am traveling in California, 3. Went to Wells Fargo (for Max), 4. Went to get our Mexican Fishing Licenses, 5. Went to Einstein Bagel (made me heart-miss Keri and Wendy and even Max got nostalgic as well), 6. Jamba Juice, 7. Radio Shack, 8. The Party Store for Halloween costumes (Sam is going to be Dora and the rest of us are going to be pirates!). 9. CVS to get more Scope patches, 10. TJ Maxx (for a new tea kettle, a new cookie sheet, a loaf pan for bread (I hope to make)), and then 11. To Goodwill for more Halloween costume elements!!!! OMG! 11 errands! Minivan world! I almost felt back to “normal” (how scarey!)! We got SO MUCH DONE and all that before 2 pm!!! We needed to get the car back to poor Marcus who was getting deeper and deeper in the electronic doo-doo as he needed to go to West Marine for supplies. To top it all off, he can’t find his wallet again. And is VERY frustrated!! Max, Ben, Sam and I got again out of his way and went over to the Sheraton to see my Mom and go for a swim in the fabulous pools there. It is great to see her and have her here. She and Samey are so cute together!!! As usual, she had TONS of presents for everyone. Around 6, we came back to the boat and Marcus was still battling with the electronic demons on the boat but he was able to get away so we go all go out for my birthday dinner. Samey, naturally, went dressed as Dora in her new costume. So incredibly cute, she is. We decided to go for Mexican in the Old Town part of San Diego and so we went to the Old Town Café there and my Mom says it looks exactly the same as it did when she took Randy and I there when I was 10 and Randy was 8. We had a GREAT dinner with great Margueritas. It was a fun day… Tomorrow, we are going to brave Sea World. And my poor husband is going to brave his inverter project. Wish him luck. Some photos from yesterday and today...

He found Minecraft stuff at Target! Hi Matthew!!!

Driving the yacht!

Birthday Momma and her sweet princess

"Dora the Explora"

Pete Zaleski and my mom

Love, love, love...

More Vagabonding Down The California Coast

Surprisingly, our internet connection (or lack of it) has continued to plague me. Marcus' phone is back so he regularly tethers off in his corner to feed his addiction but the rest of us have not had luck in the places we stopped at as far as broad connectivity is concerned. It is challenging when we are SO dependent on the internet. Amazingly so. Tomorrow, finally, we'll arrive in San Diego. This is the final stop before we head to Mexico. It is where we will be meeting the other 163 boats that are also doing the 2013 Baha Haha with us. And where Pete and Ilse (my in-laws) will join is to do the rally with us - can't wait but 7 on this boat is going to be challenging!!! As we get closer and closer to San Diego and our imminent departure for Mexico, I find myself worrying about what this next phase will bring. Marcus is getting all ramped up again, like he was before leaving Seattle. Stressed and grumpy. He shared with me today his very long list of "to-do" things that need to be done before we leave for Mexico. None of them really had to do with me and the kids. Mostly they were boat-related. I feel like we have put off a lot, expecting to be able to do it when we get to San Diego... but I can already tell and am already dreading it - we're not going to be able to have a calm, easy week in San Diego before we go. We'll do what we can but I feel so unprepared. My list has things like getting Halloween costumes for the kids, going to Target, going to Costco... provisioning! I need a haircut! A pedicure? Sea World Legoland? HHhmmm... Doesn't look like I'll have much free time to homeschool...! Hahahaha. We've been having tons of stuff sent to Marcus' step-brother Pete who has been incredibly generous and helpful with us as far as mooring and accepting packages for us!! We can't wait to meet him and his wife. And also Marcus' internet buddy Michael who has been "the 6th at our table" for the entire trip as far as tips and support go for Marcus!! Can't wait to meet him and his family, too... But San Diego is for tomorrow... For now, I am writing this entry from Oceanside, California. 40 nautical miles north of San Diego. Our last stop before the end of Phase Two. (Phase One was get the boat to San Francisco and Phase Two is get the boat to San Diego.) We like it so much here, it is so much more of our style than the last places we stopped. Southern California is pretty "posh" and there is SO MUCH MONEY down here. Amazing. Since I last wrote, we visited Avalon on Catalina Island after Two Harbors and before heading back to the mainland. It was lovely but also felt like the South of France. Huge yachts, a jazz festival, hydrofoils arriving from Long Beach, a beautiful casino building. Once again, we caught a mooring buoy and I hung clothes on the life line and was probably the only one in the entire gigantic harbor to do so. The boat next to us actually closed its shutters! And we dinghied into town, walked around, had lunch, went to an arcade, went to the grocery store and then headed back to the boat for dinner. I'm glad we saw it but was fine with leaving and going to Newport Beach. We had reciprocal moorage at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Cub there but, as we arrived on a Monday afternoon, it was closed up tight. We could shower and used the rest rooms but the pool, etc., was closed. Like a ghost town. Mondays and Tuesdays. So fancy that you don't see people on their yachts, only the cleaning and polishing crews. We planned to go to Disneyland the next day so it wasn't that bad. Quiet. But Samey, Ben and I were getting sick. Getting the cold that Max had when he got back from Seattle. I was worried about Disneyland but we had been promising Ben for weeks and couldn't see NOT going. In the end, we went for him but he probably had the worst time of us all! First of all, it is all so overwhelming...! Which park? Disneyland of California Great Adventure? Well, after our pricey cab ride there, the decision was left to me and I chose "classic Disneyland". Why, you ask? Because I wanted to do "It's a Small World" with Sam more than anything else!! I could write on and on about the day but suffices to say that it was a HOT day, Ben and I did not feel well, Sam was in heaven, Max and Marcus got some good laughs in and some good rides in and a good time was had by all.

By 5 pm, we were all DONE. It was closing at 6 for a Halloween Party so we were lucky to get to see all these people coming in in their amazing costumes. Our favorite was this Asian man wearing a Colonel Sanders costume complete with beard and carrying his baby dressed as a chicken in a KFC bucket in front of him. Not original but endearing! But we did not get to see the evening festivities that everyone raves about. We'll go back. And do it the right way next time! I do have to say two things in closing on the subject of Disneyland: As I'd hoped, Samey LOVED "It's a Small World" and squealed with joy throughout the entire ride. Magical. And the second thing is that The Star Wars franchise purchase/presence in Mickey's house is just plain ODD. We taxied back and were POOPED. Wednesday night, some dear friends of Ilse's - Lee and John - came to rescue us. Literally.They were so lovely and kind. They came with TWO cars (se we'd all fit!) early to take us to dinner so that they could shuttle us to Minnie's marine supply store and then to Trader Joe's (tingle, tingle, joy, joy) and Chase bank. Then, back to the boat, where she had presents for us (including wine!) and then they drove us (again two cars!) down to Huntington Beach for a walk along the pier and an extravagant dinner at Sandy's (below Duke's)... Such lovely, kind people. They spoiled us!!! I am so grateful.

Marcus with John and Lee

We had to get off the dock at Bahia and, since the pool was FREEZING, we weren't eager to stay another night so we moved out to a mooring ball at Balboa Yacht Club and it was very, very nice. They have a free shuttle boat to land and people were really nice there. We might have left Newport Beach at this point but I really, really wanted to see some other old friends of mine who live in Norco and who I have no seen for 12 or 13 years. Again, we were spoiled. Lovely Anna and Bob (with daughter Sophia in tow -  a wise, sweet first grader!) drove out to see us, brought presents and wine and cheese and took us to an amazing Mexican restaurant.

Aren't they LOVELY???

We had such an amazing time with Anna, Bob and Sophia. I love love love them so much! Anna is possibly my blog's greatest fan... she even brought a bottle of Malbec because she read on the blog that we love it!! (Hi Anna! Love you!). It was by far one of our favorite nights out of the whole trip. Can't wait to see them again, hopefully in the spring at their place in Rosarito!!! This morning, we motored down 30 nautical miles to Oceanside.

Boat Girl

We felt very at home here from the very first and everyone has been so friendly. Many live-aboards who have been nothing short of generous and helpful. I did some laundry (woo hoo) and the kids fed some fish near one of our neighbors and tried to help one of them who has somehow gotten a pink plastic bottle top/ring around its head... they were unsuccessful but a very nice neighbor here named Kelly gave the kids tons of food to feed them with. It was really nice.

Three Fish Feeders

Everyone remembers our friends from Sand Dollar here and we are eager to see them again in San Diego tomorrow... at the first of many Baha Haha gatherings!

Long Beach and Catalina Island

Max and I arrived back in LA late Monday night and we immediately jumped back into "Planet Appa" mode. Max came back with a cold that has made him pretty miserable for the last few days. All was well on the boat except that Marcus' phone got wet and is officially dead. This leaves us quite hobbled since we are so challenged with getting connectivity already and now research and information is even harder for us to get. We never imagined that California would be where we had the most difficulty getting wifi. We are like junkies, desperate for it, willing to drink beer just to "log on"! Anyhow, happy to be back together and eager to get on with our adventures, we left Marina Del Rey and headed south the morning after our arrival. Marcus is a bit of a history buff and he loves anything marine and he really wanted to visit the Queen Mary. The yacht clubs in Long Beach were full so we went to the Rainbow Marina (Pine Pier) and it was the strangest of our "dockings" to be sure. We were right in the middle of the city. The aquarium and the convention center were blocks away. We were just a few feet from several restaurants and a boardwalk. We did find an amazing book store across from the Convention Center that used to be a Border's store and it was FILLED with books and every darn book was only $1. I went crazy. We got a tons of kids books for the boat. SO fun. I could have spend the whole day there. Our second day there, after schooling, we went to visit the Queen Mary via the free bus. It was wonderful. She is an amazing old ship, akin to a Titanic, that has been retired to Long Island and is now a hotel and restaurant. Has a great feel to it. I wish I could have taken a voyage on such a vessel way back when. Such a shame to visit the First Class Lounge, see all the amazing artwork and such and then, there on the wall, the AV outlet. Two world's colliding. We did a tour with this hilarious guy named James. Fun.

Do you see the little girl hiding behind?

She's a grand old dame

They are standing on a decommissioned Russian Scorpion submarine which we visited. It was one of our favorite parts of the day. When we left the Queen Mary after our tours, it was raining. The first rain we have seen since Seattle! And it was close to closing time for the sub. We were the only ones on it and there was this goofy accented taped tour piped overhead as we walked from one end to the other inside the sub. It was so open and relaxed to visit it - it felt unprotected and therefore very accessible somehow. We were amazed. I loved how "unmilitary" our visit was. We all really enjoyed it.

Gift Shop Fun

Fun!

Under the sea...

We went back to the boat and decided we would splurge and go out to eat again so we could find some wifi. We ended up at P.F. Chang's. With no internet. But a great, fancy dinner. We agreed that although there was an aquarium right there next to our boat, we were basically done with Long Beach and the creepy dock. The next morning, I worked again on the acquisition of my "Provisioning Badge", and trudged up into the city to find an Albertson's and then all the way back with 6 bags and a loaded rolling cart. Egads. Food, hydration, cleanliness, tidiness and space have all taken on new and enchanting meanings these days. Feeding a family of 5 like this is NOT an easy task. And the kids are ALWAYS hungry. Exhausting! We left Long Beach and headed to Catalina Island. We were all eager to get there. Max and Marcus sailed us over and Sam and I took a nap down below. I was still on my Scope patch but felt sleepy like I always do on that patch. We arrived in Two Harbors and it was like we'd left some kind of craziness and ended up in paradise! Clear, clear waters. The California state fish, the bright orange Garibaldi surrounding the boat. We grabbed a mooring ball in the field of mooring balls right near the edge of one of the sides. Lovely. We went into "town" to check in and get ice cream and check out the showers, laundry, playground. It feels like Hawaii or something like that here. Just lovely and small. Many, many boats, however. Samey decided she wanted to swim but we didn't bring her suit to town so she had a little "naked time" on the beach!

 We went back to the boat since everyone couldn't wait to jump in the water and start snorkeling!

See the bottom below the cuties?

Quite possibly my favorite photo ever of Sam

We've  now been here two nights. Yesterday, after school, more snorkeling and a trip to town to sit in the little bar and get wifi. Everyone blogged except me! And I wrote a long blog last night but somehow it wasn't saved and so I had to start again. Today. But I am not feeling inspired. We didn't do much school today. Decided to take the dinghy and go looking for more great snorkeling. We found a lovely beach with amazing rocks and great snorkeling.

Some of the treasures we've found. The boys will post photos of their underwater explorations... It has been a wonderful few days here. 

My exoskeleton

You should see these two playing... Silly!!

LAX to FLL to LAX

I am writing you from the Fort Lauderdale airport waiting for my flight back to LA and to the boat, to Marcus and to the kids. I'll meet Max at the airport (hopefully! If he gets his homework done and Holm lets him come) and get back to the business of our grand adventure. As her Power of Attorney, I had to make this trip out there to prepare my Great Aunt Shirley's condo for sale and in all the hectic to get us all onto the boat this summer, I couldn't do it earlier. The condo still had all her stuff in it, all that was left after I took her and two suitcases to Seattle after learning of her neglect and abuse at the hands of our caregivers there. I found her bed just as we left it one early morning in early June. Kinda creepy.

But. It had to be done. And someone had to do it. Me. The apartment was in bad shape and getting worse and she will no longer be able to go back there. She is now comfortably established in the most lovely of adult family homes in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle. She is a healthy and strong 95 year old woman but her memory is gone. I was not looking forward to this trip but it was - thanks for my cousin and friend - both an amazingly hard and easy trip. When they heard what I was going to do, they both offered to meet me and help me for four days. Only one's "best-ies" would agree to do such an awful task with you... We were to meet in Fort Lauderdale on Friday the 4th, so I took a red-eye on the 3rd. So amazing how much easier it is to fly and to get stuff done without children. I guess I have been a parent for 16+ years now and easily forget that I can exist and function without them. Barely! First of all, there was the shock of leaving the simplicity of our life on the boat and heading back out into mainstream America. And, for the icing on the cake, my flights were on Virgin America (my first time) and I flew from LA to SFO and then on to FLL. I felt SO OLD. I felt like it had been years since I crawled into my hole and have just emerged in a world where there is rock music blaring as you check in, where there are comfortable chairs in the airport terminal, recycling, charging stations everywhere, empty water bottle filling stations, humorous signs and instructions (for example: "if you are one of the .000001% of people who do not know how to put on an airplane seatbelt..."), mood music in the bathrooms that look like a swanky restaurant's, organic foods, and so on. SO CLEAN. NOT what airports and flying used to be, for sure.

And then. I was in Florida. Barely slept on the plane. Hot and humid as always. But I can't complain... Usually, I get torrential rains when I go to Florida. Chanda and Keri are two of the world's best people and best friends to me. Two more efficient, fun and problem-solving people to work with there have never been (for me). We took Aunt Shirley's apartment by storm.

Oh. And we had fun, too.

Oh, and the rental car agency did not have the car I reserved so they "upgraded me" into a Tahoe. The "Ho" as we called her.

So odd to be able to leave one ocean in the morning and then sleep on another one that same night. I will never get used to or adjust to that. I always say that my body gets there and then, a few days later, I get there. Since this blog is really about the boat trip, I will cease with the details of this trip other than to say that we did a massive job of throwing things out, bagging things up, preparing things for shipment, organizing the next steps that will occur now that we have done our work (cleaning, emptying, painting, fixing, staging, listing...). We encountered 2 massive cockroaches that were 3-4 inches long (don't even want to think of others that we lived with and did not see)! We went to Starbucks, Lester's, Home Depot, UPS, USPS, Carrabas, an Irish pub, Aruba on the beach in Lauderdale by the Sea where Marcus and I got married, Marshall's, Bed Bath and Beyond... all the places I haven't been to in months!! It was a whirlwind. But we unwound, too. Dips in the pool, "illegal" snacks by the pool, Red wine. Malbec. Sparkling wine to celebrate Keri's birthday (10/8)... Keri and Chanda were my ROCKS. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. And there were so many nice and helpful people who made things easier - like the UPS store, the patient lady at the Post Office, our caretaker Bob Gold... I could go on and on. And now, I am on my way to get back to my beloved family that I have missed a ton!!! And back to the pod of the cocoon of the nest of the boat in cruising mode. Onward ho!

Ventura Yacht Club, Santa Cruz Island anchorage and Del Rey (LA) Yacht Club

In case you are following this blog closely, many of you will rejoice with me in the knowledge that I know that I did indeed earn my Propane Badge! And here it is, thanks to our friend and fellow Wauquiez owner Brian S.!!! Woohoo! Thanks, Brian! I will wear it with pride!

I haven't been able to blog now for several days so I will attempt to catch you up on Planet Appa over the last week. After Marcus and Ben got back from Seattle last Monday and we knew we were done with Santa Barbara, we waffled and debated whether to head South to Ventura or out to the Channel Islands. In the end, we decided we needed to get our bearings and more information about the islands before heading there. Marcus and Ben were suffering from "dropping out of the pod and dropped back in" syndrome after their trip. It is amazing how you get used to being in such close quarters with each other. And then to step out of it and back in is quite disorienting. For everyone. We followed our friends from Sunshine (Pender Island, B.C.) and Winterhawk (Edmonds) down the coast, arriving at the Ventura Yacht Club shortly after they did. Such a lovely and friendly yacht club!!!

Winterhawk, Sunshine and Appa at VYC Guest Dock

We went directly across the street to the beach for a swim and Samey amazed us all by actually making it past the waves on the beach and she swam about (with her swimming vest), quite proud of herself!! She is amazing. Back at the Yacht Club, we made instant friends and were included in a BBQ potluck dinner that even included a violin "concert" that Samey danced in!

We even opened a fantastic bottle of wine - THANK YOU, GINNY!!!

Samey dancing with a little 4 year old named Ava

Marcus shared with our table mates that he races J-24s in Seattle and was invited to fill in on one of the boats in their fleet for their Wednesday night racing series. I didn't hear much about it but I think he had fun. We spent tons of fun hours with Trevor-Kane, a sweet 12 year old who lives there with her family (her Dad Garrett was the one who Marcus raced with) and who showed us around Marina Village the next two days after school. We had ice cream (sorbet for Ben, the only kid on the planet who doesn't like ice cream) and even got hair cuts for Ben and Sam. We also got to watch a movie with her on her boat. A really high quality movie called "Superbuddies". They are a family of four (Trevor's older brother Braeden is 14) living on a 30 ft boat (Catalina). And it looks incredibly comfortable and spacious. They just have it all worked out. Amazing. Such great people. Thank you!!! This is a shot of where Ben and I got to do our schooling both days.

Homeschooling can be OK, I guess.

In the dinghy? Marcus and Samey!!

We had arrived in Ventura on Tuesday the 24th and left on Friday morning, the 27th for Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands. It was a fantastic sail over with lovely weather and I was only slightly seasick (put the patch on too late).

The Channel Islands are like dry, hard, crumbling rocks falling into the sea. Dirty brown, with cascading cliffs and disintegrating walls. Very remote feeling despite the many boats anchored at Smuggler's Cove where we also anchored. It was, after all, the weekend. Many head there from the California coast for fishing and hiking and the likes. It is hard to impress me coming from the Pacific Northwest and knowing the splendors of the San Juans but we loved being at anchor and away from "land". It was a lovely place to be for three days. We did dinghy in to the beach both days and practiced "landing" with the dinghy wheels which was challenging but successful!!

So glad to have Max with us. Really. For so many reasons. He is such great company and great crew help for Marcus. And with Ben and Samey. I love that they will have this experience together despite the vast age differences. It is something they can share across the "time zones" of their ages and stages. My favorite thing on the island was the rocks. They were so incredibly complex and I wished I knew more about geology. I did find a rock with fossils in it. I'm sure the beach was covered with fossils. I loved it.

Yesterday, we decided to head to Los Angeles. This Thursday, Max flies to Seattle for a visit with his Dad and friends for the weekend and I am flying to Florida for the sad job of emptying my dear Aunt Shirley's condo to prepare it for sale. She is now 95 and comfortably settled in Seattle in a wonderful adult family home. With her advanced Dementia, she is no longer be able to live alone down there. My cousin Chanda and my friend Keri will join me down there to help. I love them both so much and am SO grateful for their support in this. Max and I will both return on Monday evening. Our flights are out of LAX. Also, we have not gone grocery shopping for a week now and the echo in the fridge is starting to be disturbing. We would not starve (there is still a ton of stuff on board) but we have made our way through everything we had on board that was fresh. I like the challenge of thinking of what we DO have and what we COULD make...

Making dinner and Keri's famous guacamole

If you are reading Max or Marcus' blogs then you know that we were graced with the gift of a dolphin escort off the island of Anacapa yesterday morning on our way to LA. Not just one or two but HUNDREDS. It was so incredibly beautiful and up-lifting. Such grace, such a gift to have them follow us, play with us. And then to look away and see them, hundreds of them, skimming the water. Even babies learning to breathe. We were, all of us, enraptured.

Could these creatures be luckier?

 We are now snuggled into a great slip at the Del Rey Yacht Club in LA. They have a swimming pool so we are all thrilled. And the people here have been so incredibly kind and welcoming. We had only just arrived when a kind yacht club member offered us his restroom key for the night as we arrived too late to formally check in! They were having a BBQ and Monday Night Football gathering and we were welcomed and included by all. So nice. A lovely yacht club once again. Now, gotta go get the school day going (*BIG sigh*). AND, later, we want to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2...!