July 11, 2019

Things are getting real now! Real busy, real serious, real exciting, real stressful. I know....first world problems, right? Not very real for the majority of people. So here we are. The countdown is on to have our 41 foot Tartan sailboat ready for the Baja Ha-Ha rally to Cabo on November 4th, but actually be fully equipped to tackle a longer voyage in the South Pacific next spring. We are thrilled that there will be so much back up experience with about 130-150 boats heading down the Baja coast. My husband, Rolf, and I will be joined by our brothers, Murray and Mark for the 10 day trek, then start our travels for two by spending four months cruising all over Mexico.
Thank God for having a full time systems engineer on board! Rolf has been using his new "Seabattical" time to expertly install solar panels, a water maker, new fans, extra compartments in the bilges...and the list goes on. Starfire is sitting pretty with new canvas sail covers, upholstery, dodger, bimini, cockpit screen enclosure, folding propeller, rudder, standing rigging, and name decal. Pitfall prevention continues in full swing-trying to avoid the infamous words of Captain Ron: "If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there!"

I was originally planning to start this blog when we left on the rally. However, as a friend pointed out, a big part of the story of our journey really begins now-with all of the preparation, juxtaposed with our decision to pretty much sell off everything. Only a few months ago, it seemed that this chaotic piece was so far in the future, and we could just gradually get ourselves and the boat ready. Before you know it, the time is here, and we realize the importance of one of the reasons we signed up for the rally-to have a definite date by which we must be ready to go!