Very Busy Days

We are convinced that there are not enough hours in the day. Do we take on too much or is it that we have not yet really learned how to be retired? The reality is that cruising can be a lot of hard work. Owning and maintaining a fairly complicated boat can be a full-time job and preparing for a long offshore passage can be daunting. Hours are spent making sure all maintenance issues are taken care of and, knowing that we are heading to parts of the world where marine supplies are unavailable or very expensive, that adequate spares are stocked aboard. Provisioning for months is another task that is enormously involved. Inventories are taken, lists are made and numerous shopping runs are made by bus and taxi to various stores and huge loads are schlepped down the dock and back to “Blue Rodeo”. Then begins the really difficult task of stowing it all away. Time is spent daily digesting weather information from many sources while trying to pick an appropriate “window” to head offshore. Add to this the overload of social interaction between our ever-expanding group of sailing friends and its no wonder that we collapse into our berth each night almost completely exhausted. Despite all that is going on, we are tingling with excitement and anticipation of our South Pacific crossing and are truly having the time of our lives.

As our boat yard ordeal was coming to an end, we were treated to a visit from our good friend Abbe, an Alaska Airlines flight attendant, who was working a trip with a Puerto Vallarta layover and joined us for a night in La Cruz. Dinner with Abbe and friends at the famous Philo’s bar and music studio was a great way to celebrate her birthday. Before Abbe departed the next day, she accompanied us to the boat yard and, after “Blue Rodeo” was carefully lowered back into the water, helped us return to our marina slip. After bidding her a warm farewell, we turned our attention to the task of scrubbing off all of the accumulated grit and grime from the nearly two weeks in the yard. Wow, did it ever feel good to be back aboard our clean boat.

As we wait for the wind forecast to improve, each day will be like those before it with boat chores taking taking most of our time and evenings spent with friends sharing information about the South Pacific and saying goodbyes. It looks like we will get the weather we need after the next cold front works its way through the area next weekend so our next blog entry will probably be made just before we cast off our dock lines. Until then, we will be making good use of and savoring every minute of every day.