LEAVING ON A JET PLANE. DON’T KNOW WHEN I’LL BE BACK AGAIN.

We had spent the last couple of days preparing Moondance for her stay in Nuevo Vallarta Marina without us. We left PV wearing jeans and sweating. We were welcomed to San Francisco by a cold wind and quickly realized that we had forgotten to bring a jacket.

We went out to dinner and spent $60 on a modest meal. I almost had a heart attack. $60?!?! We have not spent $60 at one time in months! Dinner is usually not more than $10 for both of us. Trying to cut costs on our return trip from NY to CA the next week we took a train, bus, two flights, 2 bart trips, 2 more trains, and a taxi. 13 hours after we left NY we were back at ‘home’ in California and realized that there was definitely such a thing as too many forms of cheap public transportation.

We got to play “dress up” at Brian and Kelly’s wedding!

Things we miss from the US.

• Family and Friends
• Good beer and good wine

so much to choose from!

• Little Ryan!

• Pizza (we ate pizza at least 4 times!)
• Clean tap water
• SF Bay- the view from the Golden Gate Bridge on a clear blue day is amazing.
• Accessible and affordable boat parts!

Perspective that a US visit gave us.

• We feel grateful that we still have strong bonds to family and friends.
• Despite our feelings of self-importance, all of our parents are doing just fine, if not better than when we last saw them. What?! Their lives go on perfectly without us?! …….. Phew!
• We are lucky to spend dedicated time with each other as a couple without the stresses of normal life to infringe on our relationship.
• We are not doing something ‘weird.’
• We love living on our boat in Mexico.

Upon our departure from Mexico we questioned our plans for such a long stay away from Moondance. By the time we were boarding the airport to return to Mexico, it felt like the time was too short. Many thanks to our family and friends on the West/East Coast for a lovely visit!!

Farewell America. We’ll meet again.

Groceries Under the Bus – How do you go grocery shopping and do laundry?

When your grandparents tell you they had to do any chore walking up a hill in the snow both ways- believe them!

We are learning skills that we never thought we would learn on our sailing trip. Skills we read about in sailing magazines but secretly thought, “Oh, we won’t have to do that.” Or maybe even “That doesn’t look that hard.” Well it is. And I feel so lucky that we have the choice to return to a life of convenience. Because some people never experience a life of convenience at all.

Q- GROCERY SHOPPING

• At Home. This one sounds easy, right? Get in the car, drive to Safeway/Vons/local grocery store. Park as close as you can to the entrance. Walk less than 3 minutes to the front door. Shop. Carry your groceries to the car and load the car. Drive home. Unload the groceries. Done! I remember griping about carrying groceries up the stairs to our lovely apartment in Palo Alto. We have to carry the groceries aaaaaaalllll the way from the car and aaaaaaalllll the way upstairs! I wish we didn’t have stairs! I would complain.

• On a boat. Let’s start with the fact that we are in a foreign country, we live on a boat, do not have a car, and we do not have bicycles.

I decide to walk to the grocery story but forget the map. I wander for an hour in what I think is the right direction. I walk under trees and bugs jump on me. I walk by fancy hotels and condo complexes full of timeshares. I walk by construction sites, a beach access, and a family on horses. I think I’m lost and I ask a nice bellhop for directions to Soriana. He confirms, “You are lost.” and proceeds to give me directions including so many busses that I lose count.

“La Mega?” I ask.

“Oh, that is only 7 minutes away from here.”

He says 7 minutes but I think he means 17 minutes. Nevermind, it is close enough. It is right across the street from the hotel Temptations, “An Adult Experience.” I finally arrive and step on to a people mover that whisks me above a beautiful blue fountain to the second floor.

Conor comes with me for Round 2 at the Mega

On the second level people are enjoying ice cream and Starbucks on an open patio overlooking the ocean.

Patio View

What IS this place?! Can I live at the Mega?! I walk in and it gets better. There is a bakery immediately to the right. I get 2 churros for 5 pesos. That is less than 50 cents. An hour later after I have walked down every aisle I go to the checkout stand, pay my bill, tip the bagger (customary as baggers are usually students or retirees), then realize I have 5 bags. 5 bags? Obviously I didn’t think this through. Next time I must remember to bring more cloth bags. And buy less food! I cram as much as I can in to my purse and awkwardly hustle out the door and across the street to the bus stop with the rest of my loot in thin plastic bags. I remember a fellow cruiser giving me bus directions “If you go to the Mega, take the 1 to downtown San Jose and then take the 5 to the Mercadito in La Playita which is right by the marina.” Bus 1 comes and I manage to carry my bags on to the bus and the bus driver helps me watch for my stop. Getting off I manage to drop only 1 can and a nice lady fishes it from under her seat and hands it back to me. I walk a block and wait for bus 5. I wait so long that I think I can maybe walk back instead of taking the bus. The bus finally comes. I approach the bus and one of my bags break. Coffee, canned veggies and milk tumble to the ground rolling away from me and under the bus. I am not pleased. A teenage boy is nice enough to help me collect my runaway food items and the bus driver is nice enough to wait. I get off at my stop and am so happy. Just a 5 minute walk to the boat. As soon as I start to walk the rest of my bags start ripping and I am carrying my remaining groceries like a 5 year old who is trying to carry too many toys at once. Apples and avocados are spilling out and hitting the ground. I pick one item up only to have another fall out. This continues all the way to the boat. Conor now goes to the grocery store with me. It is much easier with two people and a little planning.

Q- LAUNDRY

• At Home. Carry the laundry to the laundry room. Sort clothes. Put clothes in the washer. Move to the dryer when done. Remove from dryer. Fold laundry and put away. What a splendidly easy chore.

• On a boat. Well I have 3 options in San Jose del Cabo.

1. Pay $10 per load and someone will pick up the laundry and drop it off at the boat the next day.
2. Lug several bags on to the bus and through town to a Lavanderia. Laundry Mat.
3. Do my laundry on the boat.

When we first arrived I refused to pay $10 per load as I thought that was highway robbery. (Although thank goodness that Mama Riley surprised us by paying for several loads of hand delivered laundry during her stay). I also was too lazy to lug the several bags in to town. I did this in Ensenada and ended up getting lost and a nice man tried to sell me knife sharpening for 5 blocks (I told him I was on vacation to get rid of him and he responded, “but don’t you prepare any food?!” Does that mean that everyone in Mexico on vacation travels with kitchen knives?)

So this leaves option 3. Do laundry on the boat. They had quite a set up on the long dock. The long dock is a future fuel dock. The boats on the long dock have no access to power and it is outfitted with communal water hoses that are not long enough to reach the boat. The cost is about half of what we are paying and it is a lovely communal atmosphere. One boat had a great laundry bucket. Another had a special plunger that is used specifically to do laundry by hand and another had a clothes wringer.  Since Moondance is in the “high rent district” with water and power we were on our own. I can do our laundry. It doesn’t look so hard, I thought.

Laundry at the dock

I get my 5 gallon bucket out, laundry detergent, a stick, dish gloves, and a pile of dirty clothes. I don’t know why I got the stick. I poked the wet clothes with it as if I was checking to see if they were dead. Then abondoned this method of agitation and started using my hands. Within 5 minutes I had suds in my hair, I’m soaking wet from the hose and I’m sweating. Agitating clothes by hand, I find, is a lot of work.

Keeping it classy at the marina

I don’t have enough clothes pins and my whites are only partially white. I think I’m going to start wearing strictly bathing suits and board shorts from now on.

So why is this still worth it? There is something rewarding about working so hard for the basic necessities. We walk everywhere. We experience more of our surroundings and meet more people. And we learn to slow down and appreciate more in life.

Lipstick Sailor

What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and everything nice.

Well if everything nice means a fresh coat of makeup, painted nails, pretty hair, and a good pair of heels, then I am in trouble. Being a lady at sea is a constant uphill battle. It is a harsh environment in which I am exposed to the elements every single day. But I have found that there isn’t anything a little lipstick can’t cure.

When I left the comforts of my shore based life I knew that I would have to go long stretches without a hairdryer. I knew that I might break a couple of nails and there are no floating salons in the sea where I can get my eyebrows waxed. I even knew that I would have to learn how to take a shower using a black plastic bag full of water. They call it a Sun Shower. It sounds luscious. Shower in the sun. Oh, those clever marketing devils.

My Manly Man

It’s been said (Staying pink in a Blue World article) that cruising makes men more manly and woman, well… less womanly. My dear husband is a very manly sailor. He gets scruffy during longer passages, he lifts heavy things, works on the engine, and constantly draws from one of three tool bags on board. Even the blood blisters he acquired under his fingernails from an anchoring mishap look manly. Yes, cruising is good for a man.

For the ladies, cruising makes it easy to forget you are, well, a lady. Almost every female creature comfort gets forgotten when sailing. When you are dog tired trying to stay awake for your last watch before sunrise. When you can barely heat up water for Cup o’Noodles because the boat is moving like you are on a wild seesaw ride with no OFF button. When you beach the dinghy and become covered with salt water in the process (dried saltwater is not a flattering look on the skin). When you are up the mast trying for what seems like the millionth time to fix those gosh darn mast lights and trying your hardest not to swear. When you have epoxy in your hair. When you are covered with diesel or engine oil and reaching for a bilge pad, praying that it isn’t the last on board. Yes, it gets hard to remember to splash on a little perfume and slip on a cute black number so you can go out to…. Oh yeah… you’re in an anchorage and there are no places to go to in your cute black number. Which is why you don’t even have a little black number taking up precious space on the boat. Or a decent pair of heels. The absence of both is practically grounds for arrest in my girl handbook.

Not only is there no cute black dress or a decent pair of heels which both belong in every woman’s wardrobe, there is not much more jewelry than the basics to dress up a plain outfit. The lack of jewelry is not from a lack of desire, but more for practicality and necessity. Catching a necklace in the engine belt does not sound like fun. The lack of jewelry also prevents possible theft (I’m wearing nice jewelry and I must have more on board so please come to my boat and rob me in the middle of the night).

This is as fancy as it gets living on Moondance!

It gets hard to remember to be a lady but remember I must. Because I have realized that cruising is so much more fun when I brush my hair, put on a little lipstick and eye makeup to compliment my sun dress, and my husband looks over at you with adoring eyes and says, “You look really pretty, babe.” Yes, for this it is worth it. And besides, I feel much more productive with a coat of lipstick on. Wonder Woman wears lipstick. And so does She-Ra. I think it makes them stronger. This I am sure of.

O sacred salon, at last we are together again

So after 2 months of working on the boat 10+ hours a day and 3 months of sailing, I decided to march in to town with Ann-Marie from SV Agua Azul in search of a salon. We were on a mission. Determined to find a pedicure. And somebody PLEASE look at my hair! I had recently tried to cut my own hair. Don’t laugh. To the untrained eye it was very passable. To the trained eye, well, “Tu cortaste muy mal!” said my hairdresser in between laughter. The type of laughter that made her throw her head back. The type of laugher that later in the week will make her chuckle when remembering that silly gringa who thought she could cut her hair. I politely laughed with her and decided to enjoy every single moment of pampering in her chair, closing my eyes and drinking it all in. I walked out of there with an even haircut and painted toes for less than $20. Yes. These salon visits will be included in the budget from now on.

This article can also be found at http://www.womenandcruising.com/blog/2012/02/lanea-riley-lipstick-sailor/.

A CONVERSATION WITH “NORMAL PEOPLE”

I was well in to my first surfing lesson with Conor as my instructor. I had flashbacks of being a little kid learning how to ride my bike at Bellvue Elementary School again. Conor would hold the surfboard to steady me and when the right wave would come he would give me a big push and yell, “Stand up! Stand up!” Well, I felt like I was a little kid until my husband brought me back to reality. “You are learning pretty well for someone just learning how to surf… in their 30s.”

Oh yeah, that’s right. I am in my 30’s. What am I doing on a surfboard?! Whatever. I chalk it up alongside our silly cruising adventure to midlife crisis prevention.

So I finally catch my first wave of the day conveniently just as a group of 10 tourists are walking by on the beach. And they clap for me! Oh my gosh! I immediately think they are the nicest people on earth. Or really drunk. I’m not sure which but I don’t mind either way. This new surfer girl in her 30s will take all the encouragement she can get.

We finally finished our lesson and Conor paddled the board back to the boat and I walked. I came across these incredible nice/drunk people and they were asking how to get back to their hotel without having to walk. They had walked quite a ways down the beach and were looking for an easier way back. One man had no shoes. I offer them the bus routes to get back. But these people were hotel people. Hotel people don’t take buses in foreign countries. Only weird hobo boat people like me do that.

So I offer to walk them to the marina office where they can call for a cab.

“So where are you staying?” Asks the shoeless man.

“Here in the marina.”

“They have a hotel here?”

“No. I’m staying on a sailboat. My husband and I left San Francisco in mid-October and sailed down here.”

Mouth agape. Oh… this conversation with the shoeless man is going to be fun, I think.

“You sailed? That’s pretty far. You stop at night, right?”

“No. We sail at night. Sometimes there isn’t a place to stop at night.” I answer.

“Oh. Are you ever scared?”

“One night I was scared, but nothing ended up happening that night. When we did hit high wind and seas I wasn’t scared. It’s not bad.”

“How long are you going to be gone?”

“Well we quit our jobs, so until the money runs out”

“So, another month?”

“Maybe until the end of the year.”

Mouth agape again. Gosh, I forgot how crazy our plans sound to a landlubber!

“Do you have property?”

“No, we don’t have kids or a mortgage yet which is we decided to go now.”

“Yeah. Once you have responsibilities you can’t do something like this.”

“Some people who do this are our age. Most are retired. A handful do it with kids on board. I know of a family of 4 who cruises on $1400 a month.”

Now this man with no shoes literally stops walking to stare at me with a look of shock.

The conversation breaks up as we are nearing the marine office. His wife asks about me and he says, “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.” I could tell he couldn’t quite wrap his head around the whole idea as he paused for quite some time before continuing. “She left San Francisco in mid-October with her husband and sailed down here and she is going to continue until the end of the year. And then they will go back and start their careers all over again.”

I understand that this makes me instantly both intriguing and strange to the group.

His wife asks her husband, “Why don’t you do something like that?!”

“Take a couple showers under a bag of water and we’ll see how long you last!” Mr. Shoeless chirps back. I had filled him in on our solar showers we take in the cockpit when at anchorage.

They ask where I’m headed next, we wish each other a safe trip and go our separate ways. Them to catch a cab to their luxurious hotels, then back to their “normal” lives and “normal” careers. Me to my boat. AS soon as I arrive Conor paddles up. He gets the surfboard out of the water and then we decide to try out the inflatable kayak. I’m so thankful that this is the type of “normal” life I’ve chosen to live right now.

Article published in May Latitudes & Attitudes. http://www.seafaring.com/

Questions- How do night watches, day watches, and anchor watches work?

Questions- How do night watches, day watches, and anchor watches work?

While at sea and at anchor someone must be “In charge” of the boat. During the day we switch off and each person is responsible for 4 hours at a time. At night each person is responsible for 2 hours at a time (although we may change this to 3 hours) and while underway we are a dry boat (no booze). When couples sail it is as if they are, pardon the pun, ships passing in the night. If you are not on watch it is really important to make sure you take full advantage of your down time and close your eyes, take a nap, or just relax so you will be ready for your next watch. However if the person on watch ever needs help or has a question, they are ALWAYS allowed to ask the resting person for assistance. And it is all hands on deck when we are approaching an anchorage or marina.

What are you watching for on your night and day watches?

We are mainly looking for obstacles.

The small buoy sits on the surface of the water. It can be hard to see especially when sea growth has covered the buoy.

Crab or Lobster Pots, and kelp. This is usually only a hazard when we are sailing closer to land. If we run over one of those the line could get wrapped around the propeller. If that were to happen and we could not unwind the line by slowly going in to reverse, one person would have to jump over the side and cut the line off of the propeller. If the propeller was still fouled, or the conditions made it too unsafe to dive under the boat at sea, the engine would be useless until we were better able to address the problem. Don’t worry, we have sails (and wetsuits) for a reason!

Other ships. We mainly have to watch for large cargo ships. These ships travel at high speeds and usually don’t see a small sailboat on their radar. It is our responsibility to see them early and adjust our course early so we do not cross paths. This also goes for every other small boat we see out there. We always assume they don’t see us and always assume that we should get out of their way.

We have several tools on board to help us ‘watch.’ GPS helps us track our course. Radar helps us see land, weather, and larger boats. AIS helps us identify the name and type of other (usually just larger) boats. We also have binoculars.

Anchor Watches

Once the anchor(s) is/are set, each person is responsible for taking their own sightings. To do this, we must line up the horizon on some part of the boat. We will consistently check our sightings during the day to make sure the boat is not moving. At night we must take new sightings, if necessary, to accommodate for the dark. If the weather and swell is calm, you can take turns checking on the anchor sightings throughout the night. If there is significant swell, tide changes, high wind, then we take turns standing on anchor watch and sit in or near the cockpit to vigilantly ensure the anchor is not dragging.

For example, at Prisoner’s Harbor anchorage at Santa Cruz Island I was lined up along a specific tree when standing at the mast. The bow was pointed towards the outer tip of the bay. When sitting on the port side of the cockpit I could see that a tree lined up in between the solar light and the satellite phone antennae that were attached to the stern pulpit. When standing in the companionway (the stairway leading from the cockpit down to the salon) I could see a cluster of tree tops lined up through the top of the binnacle (nonmagnetic stand stationed in the cockpit that holds the compass), a high bush on the horizon when I looking out on the port dodger window, and a lighthouse out of the left side of the starboard dodger window (the green dodger acts like a large windshield and keeps the wind and spray out of our face. port is the left side of the boat and starboard is the right side of the boat).

It takes constant vigilance!

Why are you sailing to Mexico? Are you crazy?

Photo courtesy of Dan Haynes. We now use a dinghy instead of a car.

Why are you doing this?

With these five simple words, we can tell that there are so many more questions that people want to ask.

Why are you leaving the safety of your home and network of family, friends, and coworkers?

Why would want to give up the comforts of a home and live on a boat?

Are you insane?

Did you know that you are leaving during your prime career years?

How can you afford this?

Well, the answer to all of these questions is simple, really. We can’t afford not to go. Life is too short to not enjoy it. There will still be time to have kids, get a dog and buy a house with a white picket fence. At a time where people are working in to their 80’s, there will be plenty of time to accomplish career goals.

As for the money- yes it is expensive. Yes, we have worked REALLY hard to earn and save every single penny. And yes, we have spent significantly more than we expected to prepare the boat. But if we get to a point where we are wondering “If we can pull this off” instead of “how can we pull this off,” we simply remind ourselves of the wise words spoken by the character George in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

“There’s plenty of money out there. They print more every day. But this ticket—There are only 5 of them in the whole world, and that’s all there’s ever going to be. Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?”

At this time in our lives the experience is worth more than money.

Questions

To the non sailor the idea of cruising to Mexico is a foreign concept. Adventurous, yes! Weird, yes!

OK, so we get it that we are doing something not ‘normal.’ Most of you who are reading our blog are non sailor friends and family and have many questions. Please comment here and ask away- What do you eat? Are you sleeping? How do night watches work? Let us know your questions and we are happy to respond with the details!!