We left San Francisco on February 10, 2010 with a plan to head south to Mexico and then make the innocently named "puddle jump" to the South Pacific (!!) this spring. From there, who knows?!?!?!? Maybe Fiji? Australia? New Zealand? For now, we're just thrilled to finally be out at sea! 
Life on the boat has shifted into high gear this week (and we are planning to go SAILING tomorrow and not just work!!). PETE arrived on Tuesday night, immediately going into work mode as he tackled the windlass and then custom-designed and built a protective unit for our steering quadrant. JON arrived on Thursday also springing into action drilling into the mast conduit so he could mount the radar, and installing wet locker straps.
HUH?
I know – unfortunately, none of that probably makes any sense to you because you haven’t been sleeping in a half-open coffin that has recently been attacked with contact cement, white vinegar, bleach, and lemon oil, nor have you been sticking your nose in diesel containers to see if the whole bottle of rubbing alcohol you just dumped in there had the desired effect of cleaning out contaminated fuel and absorbing remaining rain water. So, if you didn’t understand any of the work I mentioned, it’s not that you’re unschooled in boat lingo, it’s just that you simply haven’t killed enough brain cells. But – don’t worry about me. I always wear a respirator.
freaky toxic avenger
Seriously, we have been crossing tasks off our list with a vengeance. Pete has been a huge help to Matt, tying up loose ends on projects and taking on the quadrant protection. That’s good news for us because now we can actually put the sails and everything else that won’t fit into a bin into the lazarette (the butt of the boat) and clear off the foredeck. Before Pete built a sweet frame around the steering mechanism, anything and everything we put into the lazarette was in danger of getting stuck around the steering and preventing us from turning the boat. So, yeah, we kind of needed help with that.
no, Pete is not really an old Polish woman
Jon’s fortuitous arrival for the weekend was a much needed boost to our morale and having the radar up on the mast means it’s not taking up room in the boat. (Which, with FOUR people on the boat now, we need all the space we can get!)
RAY, Pete’s wife, arrives on Monday just as Jon flies back to Colorado. Wednesday night I had a minor panic attack as it dawned on me that Monday is FEBRUARY FIRST and we are ****hoping**** to leave around FEBRUARY SEVENTH (if the weather is good). We are down to DAYS people, D.A.Y.S. I nearly wet my pants with equal fear and excitement when that reality dawned on me. Needless to say, I have been spending money up the wazoo as I’m trying to get our ditch bag put together and buying all sorts of last minute items that I’m pretty sure we’re gonna need (like 5 bottles of our favorite bbq sauce.) I think I’d be lying if I said I have spent less than $800 in two days.
BUT – it hasn’t been all fun and games on the debit card. Matt put in a $300 order at Bowlin that I paid for. You know what $300 gets you at Bowlin? TWENTY-FIVE POUNDS of nuts, bolts and screws. I guess that’s ok because $300 at Svendsens only gets you two cans of paint. When Matt made his final run (we hope) to Svendsens today, he didn’t ask for the total and didn’t look when he signed. We still don’t know how much he spent, but my guess is that we owe them our first child and probably our second.
isn't it precious??
The knees are now completely finished and the cabinetry is going back in place thanks to poor Pete flying out here with 30 pounds of metal. He told us that everything was going fine at the airport until the security guard attempted to pick up his backpack to hasten it through the x-ray machine. The guard hefted the bag, then quickly looked at the x-ray guy, eyes wide, and conspicuously mouthed, “It’s REALLY heavy…” They all crowded around the screen and stared anxiously, confused by the eight foot-long pieces of metal neatly stacked inside. When Pete explained that they were chainplates for a sailboat, the guards relaxed and guffawed, “Oh yeah, chainplates, cool man…”
On a totally unrelated matter, Abby Sunderland left last week on her i’m-the-youngest-person-to-go-around-the-world-solo adventure. Yeah, that’s nifty and all and, like, maybe she’ll get millions of dollars in book and movie deals and never have to work for the rest of her life, but – you tell me – who has the better radar arch??!?!?!?!!? (note that ours also serves to protect us from the elements; Abby’s picture from her website)
Hi Karen
I’ve been following Matt’s site for a few months and kicking myself for not coming over to say hello before we left the Berkeley Marina in November. But now that you are in your own final prep week craziness, you can appreciate how I never found the time. Anyway, I’ve gotten a kick out of your posts, having just been there myself, and still figuring it all out.
Within the first 3 days after leaving, we started a fire in the galley, found that the newly installed head hoses leaked and the engine quit. It was a slow start, but we managed, and you will too. As my father in law (who just ended 11 years of cruising) reminded us, it’s supposed to be fun. Don’t forget to enjoy the process.
We expect to be in Cabo by the end of February, and if you guys are there, I would love to share a meal before you head across the Pacific.
Hi Kristi! Thanks for the encouragement 🙂 We are trying to “enjoy” the process, but Lord a mercy, I cannot wait to actually start enjoying the SAILING!! What is your call sign? If we, for whatever reason, can’t catch up with you online, we’ll try hailing you when we get down south. If all goes well, we’re hoping to be down your way at the end of the month and would love to meet up!
No call sign (we’re just able to listen right now), but keep an eye out for us as you head down the coast. We’re on a Contessa 26, white hull, with a red kayak called Fjordmus.
Happy Travels!