Acclimation and Adjusment

October 8, 2009 Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island.

Almost 2 months since Dennis retired, and the adjustment continues for all. The craziness involved in preparing to leave was probably about normal, but felt unending in the midst of it. Dennis got the windvane steering, the dinghy davits , motor lift and the watermaker installed. My work threw a most excellent party for us, we had a bbq at gate 11, moved out of storage, packed the Explorer with things for next summer and crammed more than we need on the boat AND we left when we said we were going to...

New friends and old waved goodbye from the dock. We will definitely miss you all. Thank you for your friendship, help and support. The Gate 11 folks are the poster children for the comraderie of cruisers.

Motoring down the estuary for the last time was bittersweet. Can't say that we drank the champagne as we went out the gate, but did get a picture or two. After that it was rockin' and rollin' all the way to Half Moon Bay. So much for the 5-10kt South winds - We took 15-20 on the nose the whole way, and finished off with a little rain. Took a layover day on Monday to dry out, meet up with our friends Kim and Randy from Wisconsin, and do a little boat maintenance. Nothing major, but seems something always could be done.

Tuesday it was back into the washing machine with a little fog to keep it interesting. Made Monterrey before dark (just). Went to dinner at our favorite pub at the wharf and went for provisions. Wednesday - more fog, more washing machine. Big Sur was out there I'm sure, but we never saw land until late in the day - pulled into San Simeon at dark. Thursday hooray! more fog- nicer ride or I am just getting used to it? Anchored in San Luis - actually dinghied in and walked around - bought beer and ice (staples). Up and at 'em early on Friday to go around Pt Conception. Made Coho Anchorage by 3:30ish. Up at 3AM to let out more change as the wind had clocked around 180 degrees. Saturday - more fog, but less rock and roll. Passing the oil derricks made me feel like we were reentering civilization (not necessarily in a good way). Made Santa Barbara by 1630. Roger was off to meet his family and Dennis and I showered and retired to the back deck to recouperate. Before going totally comatose, we decided we needed to go get Josh from Dana Point with a car and not the boat so that we wouldn't be backtracking. Sunday - guess what? more fog. Cleared quickly though and the drive along the coast was beautiful.

Josh stayed with our friends the Wards while we brought the boat down. Tough life for him - surfing and beach time almost every day. Lucky boy got his daddy's coordination DNA - took to the long board like he was born to it. Met up with him and the Wards at the beach Sunday afternoon, and there he was catching waves like crazy. HHMMM - where to put a long board on the boat???... Great afternoon and evening with Kim, Jim, Jake and Jenna. We really appreciate their hospitality.

Looking towards Anacapa Island from Santa Cruz Island

Back at the boat a complete family unit again! Spent 4 days on Santa Cruz Island. Met up with Mark and Vicki - new friends on s/v Southern Cross out of Oregon. Was reminded that we really are a small community out here. They had sailed with the Foley's on s/v Albatross as they came down the coast. Back to the mainland - Channel Islands Harbor on Sunday. The guys went boogie boarding --BRRRR little too cool for me.


Next two days at Marina Del Rey. Josh got an eyeful at Venice Beach. Who says all learning comes from a book? Bought a surf board! Now finding a wave -that's been a different story. Left Marina del Rey on Thursday for Two Harbors on Catalina Island. Just in time for Buccaneer Days. Lots of pirate types hanging out at the dock. A little wild, but all in good fun. Caught up with the Foley's. Everyone was happy to see some familiar faces. The boys wore themselves out whenever they got together. Monday we headed to Catalina Harbor same location as Two Harbors, only on the south side of the Island. Kind of a windy anchorage, but at least not rocking and rolling like it had been on the other side. Decided to head to Avalon Tuesday morning. Have had some fun fishing, snorkeling and hiking here. Had our 9th anniversary on Tuesday. My choice for dining out, and I chose pizza. Not something I have tried making on the boat yet. Small oven and no pan. So, pizza was a nice treat.

That catches up our travels....Thoughts to follow

Dennis RETIRES!!!

August 13, 2009 was Dennis' last day at Sandia Labs. He is officially a retiree! They hosted a very nice retirement party, that Carol and Josh were able to attend. Lots of envious faces in the crowd, mixed with the usual "I can't believe you're just going to go!' Carol finishes on the 27th and departure from Gate 11 scheduled for September 13th.

The generator project came to completion with the reinstallation of the our bed on August 8th - definitely not a plug and play addition to the boat - Dennis never ceases to impress with his knowledge and perseverence. The new gel batteries are in the cockpit and comprise the next project. Install of the rigid boomvang, windvane steering, davits and motor lift complete the list of "we would like to do before we leave" outdoor projects; computer install, storing, organizing and relearning systems are ongoing projects.

As I look back over the last 2 months, it is hard to believe the extent of the changes in our lives. We closed the door for the last time on our house on June 30th. The next day our renter and her family began their moving in ordeal.... Gotta love moving during the hottest week of the summer. It is definitely weird and somehow freeing to be so unencumbered. Having "stuff" is a difficult habit to break. I have to confess that I shed a few tears as I sent my shoes/purses/clothes to the "goodwill/garage sale" pile. (Laugh if you will, but there are girls out there that understand!)

Thus began the semi homeless stage for Josh and me - another very disconcerting feeling- and Dennis single days as a liveaboard at Gate 11. Josh took a trip to Albuquerque to see the Carmony's over the 4th. He enjoyed his trip, especially the tour of Carlsbad Caverns. Dennis moved onto the boat and Josh and I moved in with the Lowell's. Josh finished up his swim season and moved to the boat August 1. Yeah !! We are 2/3 the way there!

Josh began sailing lessons at Encinal Yacht Club on the 3rd, and is quite the independent one - getting himself to and from on his scooter Monday thru Thursday. Carol continues to live with Sue and her family - there are not words to begin to describe how much I appreciate all they have and continue to do for us. I have the "garden room" for myself and my stuff - some of which will be stored, some still in use, and some undetermined. Josh has dabbled in his home schooling work, we'll have to get serious about it pretty soon- his school skills are getting rusty. Which brings us back to Dennis being a retired person and Carol counting days.

Mad Dash

June 18, 2009. Well, the race is full on. Have to be out of the house by the 1st of July! Garage sale Saturday, painting to finish, carpet being installed next Friday! Don't think I have enough boxes. Josh still has one more week of school and a month of swim team. But, on the bright side only 72 days left until we're done with the whole work thing - maybe less for Dennis. The refrigerator/Galley project is complete. It was four tourturous months for Dennis.

The canvas we ordered for our Christmas present is in place and Carol finally finished the new sail cover in May. The current project is installation of the generator. It is going under our berth, so will be interesting sleeping arrangements until it is done. The "todo" list is still pretty long, so we may join the ranks of those doing boat maintenance in exotic places sooner rather than later.

We did manage a long weekend out on the boat between projects. Pulled Josh and Francois (our Belgian exchange strudent) out of school and spent the weekend at Angel Island - Always a favorite for us. Took the ferry to Tiburon and lounged on the beach afterwards.

Francois graduated May 30,and returned to Belgium June 10th. He is pictured with his two best friends. It is quiet without him.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Countdown to Casting off

(left, new cold plate for freezer)

January 31,2009- It's starting to "spring up" here in California (daffodils will be blooming soon)and Dennis is working furiously on the refridgeration system on Evergreen. It is hard to believe we are in the final months of this phase of our lives. Trying to prepare for this lifestyle
change and maintain a land based life is not for the faint of heart. As we took down the 2008 Christmas decorations and separated into "keep", "take" and "give/toss" it really came to me how much we are downsizing and how far we have to go. So much needs to be done at each of our "homes", that if we're not careful neither will be habitable.

Evergreen is in Alameda at Marina Village Gate 11. What a wonderful neighborhood !!- I know more of my neighbors and vice versa after less than a year than I do in tracy in over 8. From words of encouragement to cookies or tools it is the best community we could have wished for.

(This picture taken from the peak at Angel Island)

We continue to field all the usual questions from our land based friends - Are you crazy? What about Josh? What about school? What about friends? What about pirates? How will you communicate? How long? How far? When will you come back? What is your plan?..........

Yes, we probably are a little crazy, but only because we are willing to take the chance of leaving the familiar. Josh is very adaptable, makes friends easily and most importantly is very bright. One does ones best to miss pirates in all walks (sails) of life - safety requires planning and we are good at that. Single side band (Ham radio) is reliable and can send email. We will set up a site for all to follow (the Morrison equivalent of "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego). We are going south and will stay until we are done - Sounds like a good plan to me.

We spent the summer redoing the teak on the outside of the boat. And, like all boat projects it escalated into reseating chainplates and removing then replacing the sailtrack (among other things). Sadly I was not present when Dennis and his friend removed 200 or so bolts from the sailtrack in 90 degree weather so I have no pictures for posterity. (who says it is cold on the coast??) The whole project finally finished up in October, it looks really good. I have some trim to finish up this spring, but hopefully it will not generate any add on projects.

The list of projects is still quite long as is the wish list. But we will never be bored or have a lack things to do. Everything we do is colored in terms of the boat - will it fit, does it fulfill more than one need or task? The latest example is Josh's Christmas present of a PS3 game. It does Josh's games, and is a blueray player. Our favorite store is Svendson's Marine in Alameda seconded by Pagano's hardware (has virtually everything).
My next project -having now crossed "start a blog" off my list is to set up a picture site at flickr.

More to come.......