The journey of 5000 miles starts with the first step
23 March 2023 | Guest dock, San Diego USA
Eric

The previous blog post (4/27/20) s/v Rover had just arrived at the
Police Dock in San Diego.
Rover is back at the Police Dock after almost three years, getting ready
for an imminent Pacific Puddle Jump. A lot has happened in the interim.
Immediately after we arrived in San Diego in 2020, Linda heard from her
brother that her Mom was in hospice. She hopped on a plane (they were
empty in spring 2020) and hustled back to Ohio. Her mom passed away and
Linda made arrangements for a funeral in time of Covid (very small), and
spent time with her brother.
Not wanting to risk a plane flight again, Linda rented a car and drove
to Seattle, arriving in time to quarantine a couple of weeks in an
AirBnB before greeting the arrival of our first granddaughter.
Meanwhile, I found a slip in Chula Vista and put Rover to bed for an
indeterminate time. After a month with minimal human contact, I loaded
the remaining provisions in a rental car and headed back to Seattle.
Weâd been internet shopping for houses, and found one in Auburn, half an
hour from the new granddaughter, and bought it. Our stuff came out of
storage after 10 years of living aboard, and we settled into life ashore
with our kids and grandkids. Linda was pretty adamant her âliving
aboardâ, âbashingâ and âpassagemakingâ days were behind her. I âkept
hope aliveâ, and kept s/v Rover in Chula Vista.
Fast forward three years. Three more grandkids arrived, one grand-dog,
one wedding and one engagement, and three of our kids have bought houses
in the Northwest. The ties that bind us to Seattle are very strong.
I still have an urge for going, and Linda has agreed to a vacation on
Rover in a tropical paradise via 747 for a couple of weeks. Nothing goes
to weather like a 747, and even promises of tropical paradises and
tradewind (downwind) sailing werenât enough to convince her to make the
whole trip.
The fall of 2022 the South Pacific nations finally opened their borders
to visiting yachts. I planned to resume the trip in spring of 2023,
avoiding the southern cyclone season by arriving in New Zealand by
November 1^st 2023. I broke the trip into multiple legs and started
recruiting friends and family to join me on various legs. The most
difficult passages were filled first with experienced sailors, and the
easier ones have been filled with less experienced sailors. It was a lot
of work, but now there are 4 people (including me) for almost all the
legs, with crew flying in and out along the way.
Iâve done several trips to s/v Rover in the past couple of years; she
was hauled for new bottom paint and throughhulls; hauled again for an
insurance survey; the jib made a trip back to Port Townsend for a new
sun cover and various other work has been done over the past couple of
years. I arrived a couple of months ago and have been prepping the boat
for departure. Linda arrived a couple of weeks ago and has been sewing,
doing bosun work and provisioning.
Crew for the first leg arrives next week and weâre on track for a 4/1
departure for the Marquesses. Three years late, but better than never.
--
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