Posting via Email

This is really more of an experiment than a blog post.  I am attempting to learn how to post remotely.  This is coming from my email account.

As Time Goes Slowly By

I am so eager to get going I can hardly stand it.  And yesterday made it worse.  We went to a seminar about cruising the sea of cortez, complete with pictures.  It is beautiful, which is putting it mildly.  They even talked about La Paz having a "secret season" which means it is really nice at certain times of years but people don't know about it.  Suits me just fine.  We love La Paz, and before this sailing stuff started, we had planned to go down there and live for six months.  It is one of my favorite places.

We also had a fabulous lunch yesterday with some friends at their yacht club.  It was pretty impressive.  Our yacht club is a trailer that is hardly ever open that shares dock space with a marina.  This one has its own docks, a shipyard, multiple buildings. a pool, tennis courts, and of course a really nice restaurant and bar, and I know I missed some of its attributes.  We now have a two week guest membership, thank goodness we have cards to prove it or they'd never let us past the guard at the gate as we don't dress well enough! 

The other thing I wanted to talk about was that it has been raining the last couple of days and being in the cabin when it is raining gives a whole new meaning to the words "warm and cozy."  We even have a little space heater which also keeps the humidity down.  The rain makes a great sound on the decks and the water, and you still get to hear the sea birds.

There is a blue heron that spends a lot of her time on our end of the dock.  One day I decided her name was Griselda.  I am not sure why I picked that one - I don't even like the name.  But she is a very elegant, serious bird, and it just seemed to fit.  When a name just pops into your head, it is probably the right one, that is what I think.  There is a night heron that spends his time right across from us - he needs a name to.   But I think he needs a French name.  And the one I am considering I can't spell, so as soon as I figure that out, he will have his name.  I have always thought that half the reason I liked to have pets was the ability to name them. 

This will be it for today - which will be spent with boat chores.  And any day spent on a boat doing anything (except maybe bilge cleaning) is better than any day working!

Nothing Really Exciting, But I Have This Blog, So . . .

Today is Thursday - at least I am pretty sure it is.  I keep losing track of which day of the week it is and which date.  I am certain of the month.  That's about it.

We have been attending some seminars on topics relating to cruising.  The latest one had to do with how to send email through the SSB (short wave) radio.  That will be important once we leave the marina and thank goodness Mike understands the parts I don't.  So no one needs to despair - whether you like it or not, I can remain in touch. 

Things are almost ready - that is, if Mike does not decide we need yet another gadget for this boat.  He has decided we need a new VHF radio.  (For anyone who cares, a VHF radio is for coastal communications and ship-to-ship when there is not too much distance.  The SSB is for long distances.) I thought the one we had was fine - but what do I know?  At least he is not insisting on a satellite phone as well - those things cost a fortune, not even counting the air time which is a gazillion dollars a minute.  I am very hopeful we will be out of here by November 15 - MY target date.  I am dying to be in Mexico right now, where it is warm and the fishing is good. 

Otherwise - there is nothing really exciting for me to post here.  We spend most of yesterday with this guy who might buy Finesse (our old 25 foot sailboat that we learned on.)  He had a survey done, and I am curious because we never had one.  It will also give an appraisal value, so even if this guy decides he doesn't want it, that survey will be helpful.  I hope he does buy it, because it is a great boat and he would be a wonderful owner for it.  Plus - we need to sell it so we don't have to keep paying marina fees for a boat we don't use any more!  It isn't a lot, but at this point the money is, as my mother would have said, going down a rat hole. 

When I finally have something interesting to say, I will post again. 

Actually Sailing

The good news is that the hand is not broken.  The bad news is that he has tendonitis.  So he has a new brace and instructions to lay off the use of that hand. Which of course is advice he is ignoring, for the most part. 

Yesterday we took her out and tested some of our new systems.  Everything for the most part went well.  We also learned how easy Magda Jean is to sail - a lot easier than our little boat.  She is very responsive, turns on the proverbial dime, and zips along nicely.  We plan to spend one day sailing, then a day working on the boat, and so on until we feel ready to go. 

Being retired is a lot weirder than I thought it would be.  For one thing, there is absolutely no structure.  I understand why people become alcoholics after retirement when they weren't before.  There is nothing and no one to stop you from deciding to start drinking at noon.  There is no one and nothing telling you to do something "productive."  You can stay in bed all day (if you can stand that).  If I had a TV, I could watch stupid shows all day long.  Now, none of these things appeal much to me.  If I started drinking at noon, by seven I would be in  bed.  I do have things to accomplish.  And I have no TV!  I am not explaining this very well, I know.  I feel a lot of pressure (self imposed, of course) not to waste this time.  I think about my parents, and how they both passed on before being able to enjoy any time like I have now.  I may not keep the chickens my mom wanted to have, but she would be pleased to have the boat named for her, and I think she'd like the idea of this adventure.  My father would cringe in fear of the risks I may be taking, but would be proud at the same time.  I have some goals I have set for myself - now lets see if I can actually fulfill any of them.  Until next time . . .

Home again, home again, jiggedty jig

We made it back okay but not without missing the dogs terribly.  We now have absolutely no structure to our lives.  None at all.  When the jobs ended, that was pretty amazing, but we still had the responsibility to walk, feed, and otherwise care for the dogs.  No more.  I believe they are happy and being very well  cared for.  Sophie will no longer be subjected to seasickness.  Tempest no longer endangers her life and limbs everytime she negotiates the cockpit to cabin route.  There is no more dog fur all over the settees.  We can leave our door open at night and no dogs get in bed with us and take over all the room.  And it is not the same and I miss them very much. 

The Baja Ha Ha (the rally we planned to go to Mexico with) is in exactly 15 days and I don't think we will be ready.  Besides lots of things to get done, there is the issue of Mike's left hand.  I have not mentioned this before, but back in July, in the early stages of boat upgrades when Mike was doing a tremendous amount of physical labor, he hurt his left hand.  We had these braces I had to use for carpal tunnel-type problems, and I had him put that on while he slept, as the pain kept him from sleeping.  Of course he refused to go to the doctor - insisting it felt better - but it has not gotten better and he finally agreed to go.  Whatever happens with that (I am afraid he has broken it and it will have to be re-broken and whatnot) will determine when we can leave.  I am in favor of going down to Ensenada and living there while the hand heals - there is an express bus that takes expats (mainly) to and from San Diego regularly.  That way he could make doctor appointments.  I really want to get moving.

I have had mixed feelings about the rally for a long time, anyway.  On the one hand, it looks to be a lot of fun.  A woman with the same sort of boat we have has already emailed me.  There are parties and stuff like that.  Even a baseball game.  (Which of course I will pass on as I am the worst ball player in the world and all my teammates eventually end up hating me - do not ever believe ANYONE who tells you "Oh come on, its just for fun."  It never really is, and when you cause your team to lose, the ones who were only playing for "fun"  become frustrated and eventually angry.)  We would get to meet a lot of people, people who have a lot in common with us.  There are so many reasons why it would be fun.

Then you have to stack that up against the fact Mike and I are not exactly group activity people.  We just aren't.  I would not say Mike is anti-social, but he doesn't warm up to people very quickly, and in fact does not like most people because he thinks they are either stupid, republican, or both.  I like being social, but I am lazy about it.  Plus Mike does not like following rules.  And there would be rules to follow, like calling in on the radio at the proper times, and following the schedule, and stuff like that.  I just don't know.  Plus  from my side - I always feel like the biker chick of the group when I am with people my own age.  But that is another story for another day.         

New topic.  Since we no longer have TV, we are not up on the news as well as we used to be.  The main source for our news is NPR.  In a way it bothers me some,  because I feel like it is my civic duty to pay attention to this stuff.  But it is refreshing not to hear all that crap all the time.  I am really tired of it all.  I am an American and proud to be so.  But at the same time, some of (it seems like a lot of) the people here are simply becoming mean.  I don't want to spend the rest of my short life listening to people say hateful things.  It is almost as though selfishness and meaness and being judgmental are suddenly considered virtues.  When did this happen?  When did "Christians" start supporting the likes of Fred Phelps?  Why can't we just pull all our troops out of Afghanistan and let those chips fall where they inevitably will?  Why are our children dying for a people and a culture that despises them and us?  What are we getting out of all this?

Well, I had better end this now.  There are things to do - maybe a morning walk that could turn into a morning run eventually?  I am getting fat . . .    

Road Trip!!!!!

The reason I have not posted recently is because Mike and I are on a road trip.  We took Tempest to her new home in Oregon with my friend Rachel, and from all accounts her new home is working out well.  It was really hard to say goodbye to her, but it is in her best interests and I could not have a better home for her.  Now we are no longer dog owners, and I miss both Tempest and Sophie terribly.

We drove up from California on I-15, avoiding LA and going up through the high desert into Sequoia and Yosemite.  Then up the eastern sierras until Bend, Ore.  We went to Crater Lake, and drove all around some of the most beautiful country ever.  We saw friends in Portland (Nancy, Lisa, Sue - it was fantastic!) and then visited Rachel in Hood River.  We saw Mt. Hood, and are really curious who thought it was a good idea to put power lines through that Lolo pass?  Now we are on our way home, heading down highway 1.  As I write this, I am sitting in a hotel room in Gualala. (it is pronounced "gwa LA la".  I was hoping it would be "gwa la la" to rhyme with "tra la la", no such luck.)  My room overlooks the beach, with big rocks and lots of driftwood.  It is really incredible. 

We spent a lot of time on this trip looking at enterances to harbors and trying to determine if a sailboat could get through.  We looked for masts in the distance.  I guess this is the long way of saying we look at things differently now. 

I am looking forward to getting back and finishing up so we can leave for Mexico.  I don't think we will be ready in time for the rally we wanted to go with, but that is not the end of the world and we are not really group people anyway.  The projected date for leaving is the second week in November.  Maybe sooner, who knows?  There are things to deal with, like prescription medications and so on.  I really wish I didn't have to take any of those stupid pills!  There are a few things Mike has to complete on the boat mechanically, provisioning to be done, a car to be sold, and I am almost afraid to complete this list!  But by this time next month, I want to be underway.  Besides, if I don't start sailing soon, no one will want to read this. 

Mike is waking up, so we will get going and head on south.  More beautiful country to come.  California is the greatest state in the nation.