We have been in California for two months now, and it's time to go home to our beloved Proximity. We have had fun here, as we always do. Seeing old friends, meeting new ones, spending time with both are the true pleasures in life. As in cruising, it's the people that touch our hearts.

We have had some notable activities this time around. We attended, as guests of our friend Bob, a Cruising Club of America lunch at the St. Francis Yacht Club, and met some very impressive and well traveled fellow sailors there.

We just returned from a ski trip to Mammoth Mountain with our very good friends Walter and Sylvia. The snow was interesting in that it is man-made. There is a drought in California, and although it is cold enough, there simply is no precipitation. So, the skiing was quite good, and the weather was beautiful clear skies. We had fun.

Speaking of people, while at a movie in Berkeley, (Robert Redford’s “All Is Lost”), we came across cruising friends we had met in New Zealand, and had not seen since Vanuatu last year. What a surprise! They are now finished cruising, and are back living on land. Also, while skiing, we got another surprise when we heard someone call our names. It was Mike and Lisa, another cruising couple. We had met them in Mexico just before we set out across the Pacific. Big world – small world.

And now, it is time to go home. We give all of our friends a warm hug, and we look forward to seeing them again next season.

Speaking of seasons, we are jazzed about this coming cruising season. We hope to sail southeast to Samoa. If we leave at the right time before the southeast trades kick in, the winds will still be northeast, and should allow it. Suwarrow, Niuatoputapu, and then our old friend, Fiji would be next in the plan. We’ll keep you posted!

As always, we send you our best.
Rod and Elisabeth, “Your Rock and Roll Argonauts”