I posted the previous blog 3/1, just as we returned from 5 weeks in the Sea of Cortez. We tied up in Marina Palmira and immediately were immersed in civilization. We were planning a passage to the Marquesses for April 1st, and had a month to complete all the prep. We’d previously made arrangements to add a transmission cooler and a new battery monitoring system, and have the boat cleaned and polished (labor is inexpensive here). In parallel, Linda moved into a condo with a six-burner stove and a freezer for a week to prep frozen meals (photo) for the passage. Those things were under our control and all went according to plan.

Linda had also planned a trip to Ohio to visit her mom in mid-March. That was the first part of the plan that changed. Her mom is in her 80’s, frail and in an assisted living facility. It became clear that travelling through crowded airports to visit a person at high risk was not a good idea. She cancelled her trip, so we made faster progress on prep for the trip to the Marquesses.

As March continued, and we watched the news, the trip to the south Pacific became more doubtful. Crew travel to meet the boat looked problematic, and entry to the islands also looked more difficult and more uncertain. Yesterday, we made the decision to cancel our plan to leave 4/1 and cruise the South Pacific to New Zealand.

It has also become clear that the pandemic will eventually show up everywhere, even Mexico. In fact, things are moving fast and La Paz now has 3 cases. We'd rather not be here if it gets very bad.

We'd already completed most of our prep for the crossing. We're getting new non-skid applied today. We just need to finish provisioning (60 days x 2 people), fill propane, have the bottom cleaned and zincs replaced by a diver and then we can leave. We're shooting for Saturday.

Our new plan is to head for San Diego. Once we leave the dock in La Paz, we'll be pretty well self-quarantined as we cruise slowly around the Baja peninsula and head north. We're not in a hurry, so we'll be conservative with weather windows and do short legs where possible. The solar power and water maker mean we don't need to actually touch land or have physical contact with anyone until we run out of food (60 days). We plan to take our time and end up in San Diego 5/15 and sit out the northern hurricane season (June through November) at the marina in Chula Vista.