11/18/2009, Bahia Los Muertos
"Dad I hope you know there are giant squid here in Baja...and they only come out at night and they will swallow you whole," Kimberly reports. Normally, she can be a little gullible. She is actually, partially correct. There are in fact giant squid that do come out at night. However, they usually just bite..not swallow people whole. I don't care what they do...I'm not jumping in there to find out. So, the rest of the crew(surprisingly Savona too) decided they needed a closer look. So, there they are. Sitting on the stern step,in the dark, like ...Curly,Moe and Larry, with snorkel masks. Elias is first in, then Boo then Kimberly. Boo lasted for one quick peek at the bio luminescence, then she asked me to help her out because "jellyfish are stingin me evweywhere"
"Really hunny? oh well come on out" I say.
As I'm looking for remnants of the vicious jellyfish attack,I hear a yell and what I would describe as.... a man squeal.
Then Elias jumps out of the water ,shouting "THEY ARE STINGING ME!!"
I shine the head lamp on him...expecting of course to find perhaps,a squid bite,or a lump of hideous jellyfish stings.................
Nothing. "Sarah,they were biting me all over the place...really."
Kimberly is now out and they are all just standing there in the glare of the headlamp. Finally, the stinging,ghost beast is identified.
Water fleas.
Yes,water fleas.
I'm just glad they survived.
We are happily sitting in Bahia Los Muertos, which is about 60 miles south of La Paz. It is incredible here. There is a 4 star resort,that has no guests right now and for this reason,they invited us to hang out. There are free hot showers, fabulous beach chairs and hammocks,3 pools,a game room for kids, and a playground. Good fun. We also have the best snorkeling. We caught a Blue Marlin on the way into the anchorage,that was about 6 ft. long, but had to let him go. Fish like that are illegal here and pretty much to amazing to kill for me...but awesome to see none the less. A few boats we have made friends with along the way, have been here with us. It has been just too much fun. Today, we found an awesome hermit crab, who is now called Mr. Harold. I told Boo it could be part of a biology lesson for her, but that she would have to learn about the proper care on line. So now, Harold has his very own "crabitat" and its a pretty sweet pad..for a bachelor crab. I think we could stay here forever..__/)_
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11/09/2009, Cabo San Lucas
Many apologies to those of you who thought we sank. We are actually livin large here in Mexico. We have been out of internet range for quite sometime and had to await our arrival here for some kind of "permanent" arrangement. TELCEL is our new service, and it rocks. We are able to get internet and phone service. Our number is 5412347236. As of right now we will have service starting Thursday Nov. the 12th. So for those of you who read this by then please try to give us a call. So here we are in Cabo San Lucas. Its Mexico's Vegas and we don't plan on staying here much longer. It was the final destination of the Baja-Ha Ha rally, which we finished 3rd in our division. Actually, everyone in the rally got third place...unless they were 1st or 2nd...they didn't want anyone to feel left out.Please try to get a hold of the magazine, Latitude 38. There will be a Dec. edition full of fun highlights and some of our pictures.There was about 180 boats involved and many of them were carrying kids and fun filled people..so it was fun. Now, all the boats are slowly dispersing from this anchorage, most heading to La Paz; just as we are. The trip down from San Diego was one adventure my family will never forget. We had the time of our lives. I caught a 35 lb. Yellowfin and Kimberly caught a 25 lb. Dorado (mahi-mahi) so of course we ate sushi and many other delicious dishes. We sailed with a pod of about 1,000 dolphins and at one point two bottle-nosed dolphins who joyfully weaved their magical dance around our bow. We also (with slight anxiety) found ourselves in a pod of BLUE WHALES. Yes, the largest mammals on planet Earth. They were amazing and if I didn't stress it enough VERY LARGE. We also stopped in the middle of the ocean to take a swim. Eventhough, many people wouldn't do it (especially you shark lovers) the kids and I are proud to say we swam in 3,000 ft. of water. ON watch we came up with some marvelous ideas for a floating playground....Kimberly was the first to try the "boom dip"..a bosons chair tied to a pulley system,attached to the boom and yarded out over the side of a moving sailboat; all the while "dipping" in and out of the water. They loved it. Boo also has a marvelous swing and we have managed to make an awesome "rope swing" out of the spinnaker halyard (a line connected to the top of the mast) Its amazing the cool things you can think of when you got nothin but time :) We stopped in 3 anchorages, including this one, here in Cabo, each one more beautiful than the last. We have been hiking, snorkeling (Elias saw a huge ray) surfing, meeting lots of awesome people and we even had a grown-up night out at the local Mexican disco-tech (which is surprising similar to every one you've ever been in. Especially the repetitive top 10 pop songs) Thankfully, we haven't had to many gliches, mechanical wise. The Captain has lost one fin and his snorkel mask, but this way he'll be able to swim in circles with salt in his eyes, which somedays I'm happy to snicker at. We still have both dinghy motors...and if you know Elias, that's a huge bonus. Last but not least ,we had some very exciting weather,when we left Turtle Bay. It blew about 40 knots and the sea rose to20-25 ft. I was at ease because our boat is like a tank,the girls were stinkin amazing..(I expected fear and possibly some puke) but to my total happiness they were just so wonderful. Elias was.....well...he was pretty good. I guess the Captain sometimes has the downside of taking on ALL the worry...but the upside for him is he gets to order us around and you all know how much he loves that :)......I promise I'll write sooner next time...we love and miss you all..and hope you are all healthy and happy xoxo.._/)_
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10/25/2009, Catalina
"We are having lobster for dinner!" crackles the radio and the Captain. "For real this time?" I radio back. You see, we are apparently going to have this mystical creature for dinner for about 7 anchorages now. I say mystical because around here the lobsters hide in the eel grass,chest high...Elias free dives for them and sometimes doesn't even believe they exist. "Yes Sarah. For real this time!" he says. "How many did you get ??!" I was very excited. The girls and I had been on Catalina Island most of the day with laundry duty and some schooling. We had waited to the last moment to come home and it had gotten very dark. If you've ever been to this beautiful place, you know that walk to these facilities are very long from the anchorage @ Two Harbors. Not to mention the dinghy ride, about 10 min. On the walk to the Laundro-mat you pass desert geography which is complete with wild buffalo. Awesome in daytime to see these amazing creatures.However, walking a mile,with laundry galore, no flashlight and in the complete darkness.....a wee bit frightening. Savona was stuck to my leg like a dryer sheet, because Kimberly(being the feisty older sibling) tells her the buffalo will probably trample us. We made it to the dinghy unscathed. We slowly putter back to the boat with a borrowed mag lite from a fellow mariner.(boat people are the coolest people. )Upon are long awaited return, I repeat the question..."Baby, how many lobster did you get??" my mouth was literally watering and the girls were wide eyed with hunger......"I GOT ONE!!! Oh and I invited the neighbors for dinner!"
"Wow,one.....? That's good...." I say..my stomach very sad with this news.
Sharing is caring I always tell Boo.
It turns out the neighbors were so cool, a young couple from Oregon. They too had gotten a lobster...and we did share,an awesome Lobster Pasta which we all helped make. It was an awesome night...! Tomorrow we are leaving for San Diego..more to come....By the way thanks to everyone for your comments...I read them to the fam..its nice to have friends like all of you. We miss each and everyone of you xoxoxo _/)__
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10/17/2009, Newport Beach, So. CAL
"Mommy...I don't feel good".... swabby Boo says. "O hunny," I say. "Its all in her head Sarah," says the Captain..."you are just fine Boo"..he says.....
About 2 min later she puked in a bucket. The Captain is becoming more wise each day BUT Mommy's DO know best. This incident occurred on our way out to Santa Cruz Island. We got to sail a bit...but spent most of the time motor-sailing. Land Ho'!!! We went to a spot recommended by a fellow mariner, which was a bit rolly...so we forged our own way to a lovely spot called Potato Harbor. Elias and I were excited to be there but the girls were lookin a little bored. We talked that night about trying to find some kids. We moved anchorages the next day and lo and behold a family with an 8 yr old for Boo to play with. One down, one to go. Its not as easy to find other 16 year olds to hang with in October,out at a summer spot. I was literally in the middle of explaining this to her, when (no kidding) out of nowhere this kayaking group of about 30 -16yr olds just shows up! It was awesome. Turns out they were part of a in-school,week long, camping expedition. She ran with them for the rest of the day, until nightfall, when they asked us if we wanted to go star-gazing with them. Kimberly,me and a hot thermos full of cocoa joined up with the group and started a 20 min hike to the top of the nearby hill. We were met by an astronomy student, who gave us an hour lecture on constellations! Probably one of the coolest nights ever. As if it couldn't get any better, we spotted two adorable animals,that live only on these islands. One was a mini-spotted skunk, like the size of a hamster. The other was the cutest, itty bitty fox. What an unforgettable place. _/)_
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10/04/2009, Sunny Santa Barbara
"Don'tcha just love the weather here?" says the smiley Captain. Yep, I say. 10 min later....."Don'tcha just love the weather here?"..YES DAD!...the girls shout..... o brother. We've heard this phrase over and over again the past 5 days..we don't mind though. As a matter of fact..the Captain is overflowing with happiness. It has to do with so many things..First and foremost, with a visit from Uncle Jeff,who brought the girls down from Oregon to meet with us here. The best gift anyone can bring two parents. With his visit came his generosity. He was so helpful,...running us around (5 people in a little Matrix...sounds like the beginning of a joke, huh.) dropping of thrift store stuff, sharing his laughter and his advice...we love you Uncle Jeff. The Captain is also happy because his mornings consist of deciding if he'll be surfing,kayaking or freediving for lobster....You can probably guess I encourage the dinner diving. Life is good. We are having so many adventures. For example, yesterday Elias and I deciding to go surfing..."ok baby get ready..." get ready for what, Elias? "..ready for our first beach landing" ...In the dinghy, with the motor running Elias? "Yes my love, we hafta practice..in Mexico the waves are twice this size!" O dear lord...help us. I guess you could say it was totally unsuccessful. We dumped the dinghy, lost the paddles, flooded the engine and barely escaped a prop to the head...but we sat in the surf and laughed until I peed in my wetsuit. :) We miss you all...I think of you all everyday...Hi to Dani Chance!(of course I remember you!) And to everyone in Kimberly's family..she misses you all!! Check out our photos of the reunion in the gallery...and some photo's for ALL the Gramma's..Anna, Kim and Gma Jackie..._/)_
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09/26/2009, San Francisco
"We are leaving tomorrow," says the Captain. Well,if I had a dime for every time.....but low and behold we did leave! It has been a long summer..but we finally found the courage (and an awesome crew member) to throw the dock lines off. We have been on the ocean for 4 days and nights. The crew member,Will, that literally jumped on board at the last minute has been an invaluable mate. I gotta tell you having an extra person for night watches isn't too shabby. We have seen 3 gorgeous sunsets, 2 whales (including an amazing breech) dolphins dancing in the luminescence and as of today the one and only San Fransisco Bay. We hadn't originally planned on a stop over here...but I guess if you bat your eyelashes long enough, something is bound to happen. We found our way here in the pitch black of night, in the fog and in the busiest shipping lane imaginable. It was awesome! Sailing under the bay bridge is an amazing experience I shall never forget. So, here I am at the guest dock in Sausilito after a phenomenal day of sightseeing. I am very anxious for my daughters to join up with us in Santa Barbara in a few days time. I have collected so many wonderful memories to share with them on this new adventure which is my life..._/)__
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