We're looking for the trash fence...

After our successful fall navigation of the west coast of the United States, winter and spring cruise of Mexico, and summer Land Yacht tour of the United States we've decided we're ready and excited to re-engage in our careers. We own nothing but Deep Playa, her contents and a couple of boxes at our Moms' houses. We have no storage unit full of junk and no property to which we need to return. So the obvious first question is where to do want to live?

We’ve given a lot of thought to how we’ve been living and here’s what we’ve learned.

• We love the ocean even more than we did in Seattle. The seabirds, the whales, the fish. Crystal clear, green warm waters. Long beaches to run on. All amazing!
• There is a lot to be said for amazing weather. Although, Patrick could definitely handle some cold crappy weather every once in a while.
• We have grown to love this more relaxed cruising lifestyle.
• Cute dusty Mexican towns are nice to visit, especially if there is surf, but we get bored living there.
• As in our house, in our condo and on the boat, we continue to enjoy living in a simple space with modest amounts “stuff”.
• We miss the variety of dining and entertainment options modern US cities brought to our lives. Coastal Mexico is very homogenous.
• We miss the Asian influences of Seattle. Especially the food!
• Living at anchor can be isolating, inconvenient and it’s hard to sleep more often than you’d think.
• We miss the convenience land mobility brings to life. Being able to jump on the scooter or a car and go someplace or get something.
• We need a bed which can be accessed from the sides, so one person isn’t crawling over the other to enter and exit.
• We miss having a tinker space or workshop to work on geeky stuff and projects.
• Dawn needs to be able run when she wants and go to the gym.
• We eat a lot of veggies and miss the variety and high-quality of produce available in the US.
• Dawn misses a full size kitchen and pantry full of options.
• Long hot showers with water pressure so strong you can barely stand-up.
• We miss really good wine. And Matty won’t bring us any!
• We miss hoppy IPAs. And Russian River Brewing won’t bring us some Pliny!
• We miss friends our own age. We miss younger friends. We miss geeks. We miss our kind of weirdos. We miss the depth of friendships and conversations you get from living in one place. We miss having a place to host our friends.
• We miss the collaboration and excitement that a great job brings to life. Working together with others to make something new. Growing our own skills. Mentoring others and seeing them grow.

With all that in mind, we started to think about where to live and really the only two coastal cities with adequate job options and access to the Ocean are San Diego and Honolulu. Ultimately, while Honolulu may be more complicated logistically and have a smaller job market, we think the lifestyle which is offered there is more appealing. We also have friends who live there already which is a huge bonus.

Will we sail to Hawaii? Living in a marina again would be fun. Living in a marina offsets a lot of the “living on the hook” inconveniences. But, in our mind, Hawaii is not is not a great place to live aboard a sailboat while working. The day and weekend trips seem limited and we’re not day sailors or racers. We think a power boat or catamaran would be more ideal in Hawaiian waters. It’s not a done deal, but we’re looking into selling Deep Playa here in Mexico. We have yet to meet with a broker, but we’re gathering information and looking into our options. It might turn out to be better to take the boat up to San Diego. We don’t know enough yet to make that decision. If we go to San Diego instead of Honolulu then living aboard is a more viable option and one we’d consider. It would be very hard to say goodbye to Deep Playa, but it’s just as exciting to think about what we’re going to do next and to get on with doing it.

So there it all is. We’re getting jobs. Honolulu is our favorite option. We don’t plan to take the boat to Honolulu. We have no precise timeline, but we definitely won’t be in Mexico for the summer.

I must apologize for ignoring our blog lately.  Life in Mexico is rewarding, relaxing and wonderful, but it also has its challenges.  One of those challenges includes finding good reliable Wi-Fi access to upload our pictures and blog posts.  So we spend a lot of time moving from café to café utilizing free Wi-Fi while enjoying a bebida fresca. Most of the time the Wi-Fi is iffy, at best, so I have to utilize the time online very efficiently.

We are currently anchored in La Cruz (“The Cross” in Spanish) de Huanacaxtle in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.  It is a small fishing village just north of Puerto Vallarta in Bahia de Banderas (Bay of Flags) on the Pacific mainland of Mexico.  La Cruz is a popular destination for cruisers because of its benign weather during the winter months, relatively quiet anchorage (although rolly at times), and easy shore access via a dinghy dock in the La Cruz Marina.  The village is growing from its original roots but still holds its small town vibe due to its beautiful town square and cobble stone streets.  Along the marina malecon is the open-air fish market where the pangas are docked and fish is carted off straight from the bay.  Every Sunday there is a farmers market where I buy organic fresh salad greens, fresh fruit, handmade jewelry and art and, most importantly, yummy homemade baked goods.

La Cruz Sunday Farmers Market

La Cruz Fisherman’s Panga Beach

La Cruz’s Fresh Fish Market

Stingray swimming by in the La Cruz Marina

So far we have been here for about a month.  And we love it. The people are so friendly and the restaurants located here are so diverse and interesting.  There is a German restaurant, a British pub, and an Italian restaurant with wood-fired pizza.  And not to mention the many cheap and delicious local taco stands that pop out of the wood work after dark. One of our favorite places is Huanacaxtle Bar & Café that is is owned and run by a local family.  They are super friendly and make you feel like one of the family every time you show up.  They have an awesome happy hour, 10 peso draft beers, and host karaoke night on Tuesdays, but Oliver is ready for some karaoke any night of the week and will try his hardest to convince you of the same!

Patrick and me singing karaoke after a few 10 peso happy hour cervezas.

It’s also a popular day trip for tourists from Puerto Vallarta and Punta de Mita because of the easy and inexpensive bus ride. Since La Cruz is so convenient to get from PV’s airport, we had our friends, Melissa and Ruben, down for a visit.  It is always so nice to see friends from back home.  We took a bus up to Sayulita, a quaint hippy surfing town known for their beach palapa restaurants and surfing schools. Since they were visiting from Seattle, they brought a gift for us…rain and clouds!  We hadn’t seen rain since we left San Diego!  That didn’t deter us from enjoying ourselves so we took a bus ride up to Sayulita.

Melissa, Ruben and Pea getting wet in Sayulita

Sayulita beach during our wet beach walk

Downtown Sayulita in the pouring rain

At least we got an amazing rainbow in payment for the rain and clouds.

Double rainbow over the La Cruz Marina

And when the clouds and rain cleared up we took at trip into Old Puerto Vallarta and explored the city a bit.  We really enjoyed this part of Puerto Vallarta because of its beautiful beach, historic buildings and streets and interesting art work.  This is much better than Neuvo Vallarta and Paradise Village, which has a very sterile and “Americanized” feeling.

Walking along the malecon in Old Puerto Vallarta

View of the breakers along the malecon in Old Puerto Vallarta

Patrick trying his first tamarind-flavored margarita based upon Ruben’s recommendation…yes it was quite yummy!

This February was our second wedding anniversary and it was my turn to plan our celebration, which wasn’t too hard since there is so much to explore and experience in this area of Mexico.  And so I surprised Patrick with a surf lesson in Sayulita. We decided to use Patricia’s Surf School, which is located right on the beach. Edgar, our teacher, gave us land-based instructions before we hopped into the water to try and catch some waves. The small surf allowed us to get up quickly and we had such a blast that we decided to make more time for surfing and consider buying our first boards.

Sayulita’s beach after our surfing lesson….enjoying mas guacamole and tatopos

Sayulita’s local surfers at the school enjoying the sunny evening on the beach

Sayulita’s beach just as the sun begins to vanish behind the hills

So what’s next for Deep Playa and her crew? The month of March will be a busy one…there is a regatta from March 2 through the 18th, Regatta Copa Mexico, which is a HUGE event including J24 races, kite surfing, laser and big 80 foot yacht races, which is held in PV and La Cruz on the Bahia de Banderas. Many of the boats and events are taking place in La Cruz Marina and right outside the anchorage.  So we will be hanging out here to watch the boats racing and hopefully hitch a ride on some viewing boats to get close up to the action.  The entire town is being beautified for this event and is quickly being transformed into a clean and well-primped world-class marina.  There is also a big Stand Up Paddle (SUP) and longboard surfing contest in Sayulita that we want to watch. So our cup runeth over for the month of March.  After March, it all depends on the weather, but we plan on making our way back north to La Paz and up the Sea of Cortez.

Having landed safely in Mazatlan, we headed to Marina El Cid to meet Patrick’s parents for the holidays.  We had arranged to have his parents stay in Marina El Cid Hotel while we acquired a slip in the marina, which worked out very well indeed.  El Cid Resorts are sprinkled across Mazatlan and each has a different set of offerings to its patrons.  The Marina El Cid Hotel and Marina had two nice pools, a Jacuzzi, a couple restaurants and bars to choose from.  This was a little high-end for us but we splurged since his parents were visiting and it was Christmas, after all.  We had decided to partake of a few tours during their visit.  The first tour we went on was the Old Mazatlan city tour.  It took us through the historical sections of Mazatlan and allowed us to explore the Mercado (open public market), Cathedral and town square.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

The Mercado Central in Mazatlan

Here we go! Trolley tour of Old Mazatlan

Our favorite tour was the Puerta de Canoas Tour  and the Los Osuna tequila factory.

Los Osuna Tequila Tour

The tequila tour was very interesting and the farm in which the agave was growing was incredibly beautiful.   The tour guide explained to us the process in which the agave is farmed, roasted, and then fermented.

Blue Agave

The Still

Tequila bottling and aging facility

My most favorite part of the tour was the lush green and vibrant flora and fauna on the farm.  The small buildings that dotted the farm were painted in bright colors that contrasted nicely against the deep greens of the palms and bright pinks and oranges of the Bougainvillea bushes. They were attracting a ton of beautiful and graceful migrating butterflies that fluttered amongst the brilliant back drop of the Bougainvillea flowers.

Bougainvillea and White Butterfly

Purple Bougainvillea and a blue butterfly

The old fashioned method for extracting nectar from the agave plants

The latest technology for chopping up the agave plants.

Pure tequila dripping from the still.  100% alcohol waiting for aging.

Our next stop on the tour was the small village of Puerta de Canoas.  We visited a horse farm where they trained dancing horses, yes, dancing horses.  These horses are hired for municipal and state events and parades such as Carnival and Revolucion Day.  I worked on a horse farm in high school and have rode my share of horses, so I appreciated the hard work that went into training these very large animals.  A couple of these horses were easily 19-20 hands tall while the trainer pushed 5’3” (including his heeled cowboy boots)!

Dancing horses

After the horses danced, it was time for almuerzo (lunch).  We went to a small family-owned open air restaurant where the lovely senoras provided us with a mortar and pestle, roasted chilis, garlic and tomatoes so we could make our own salsa.  After we made our own salsa, they showed us how to roll and bake our own homemade corn tortillas.  There is nothing better than fresh warm homemade tortillas, salsa, and guacamole.  I think that was one of the best meals that I have had in Mexico!

Yum!!!!

Homemade tortilla lesson

Throughout Bill and Becky’s visit, we were able to enjoy several local restaurants in Mazatlan, including Te Lucy, which had excellent food and some of the best mole Patrick has ever had!  We appreciated the personal service and the local knowledge imparted by the maître d’.

Te Lucy Restaurant in Old Mazatlan with Bill and Becky

Thanks to Bill and Becky for coming to visit us during the holidays.  It made it feel a little more like Christmas having some family near to help us celebrate!

El Cid Morro Christmas Tree!

We broke our glass coffee press and had been making coffee with a strainer and paper towel filter. We bought this new stainless filter and had my parents bring it down with them. It's going to last a lot longer than the old one and it matches our REI mugs!

Deep Playa has been in La Paz for nearly a month now so I wanted to write a blog post about our experience of “living” at anchor in Bahia de La Paz.  So far this is the longest extended stay in one anchorage since leaving Seattle (with the exception of leaving for a couple short day sails).  La Paz is an international port city in Baja California Sur (B.C.S), Mexico in the southeast corner of Bahia de La Paz on the Sea of Cortez.

The Malecon in La Paz

It is a must stop over for cruisers who are on their way up the Sea of Cortez, crossing the Sea to mainland Mexico or for those prepping for the “Puddle Jump” to the South Pacific in the Spring.  There is a cruisers VHF net at 0800 on 22A Monday through Friday which provides you with very helpful information like weather, marina updates, bay information and valuable “local” knowledge about where to find what you need.  We also joined the local cruiser’s club that is hosted in Marina de La Paz, Club Cruceros de La Paz  http://www.clubcruceros.org/. They do a lot of charity work in the local community and provide a wealth of knowledge to cruisers about the area and cruising in Mexico. A lot of the members have been living in La Paz for more than 15 years! We understand how cruisers can get stuck here for extended periods of time!   We will definitely be utilizing more of the services they offer when we return in the Spring when heading north up the Sea.

La Paz Beaches lining the Malecon

Life in La Paz is pretty relaxed and laid back.  While there was the occasional rumor about a dinghy that had rode off into the sunset all on it’s own, we felt perfectly safe and occasionally left our dinghy unlocked at the dinghy dock at Marina de La Paz (which does have security).  I took multiple runs throughout the city, mostly on the Malecon, which wraps along the coast for several miles, and even has a nifty stop where they installed exercise equipment for pull ups, push ups, sit ups and stretching.  Getting around town was no problem when on foot and we had a couple copies of local maps which aided in the effort.

La Paz City Municipal Pier

Palm trees against a bright blue sky

The Collectivos (local small buses that are more like taxis) are a cheap way to get around but take quite some time in getting familiar with their usage.  We have only been successful in taking one to the Soriana.  I am certain with more time we would be more comfortable in utilizing this cheap mode of transportation.  The local area hosted a multitude of marina chandleries (that sometimes monitored channel 22A), local restaurants, taco stands (we found our fav stand with \$10 peso tacos) and bodegas (little family owned stores with beer and soda) all within walking distance.  The local grocery store Chedraui was only a 15 minute walk from the marina and a 50 peso taxi ride back.  They had most everything that you could want from a grocery store and more.  There was also a Mega, similar to Wal-Mart, nearby, which also had a couple hair salons, coffee shops and little restaurants in the same complex. Although we didn’t venture that far there was a Home Depot and Wal-Mart.  We also were recommended to a local seamstress, Katty, from s/v Lightspeed http://www.ecosailingcharters.com/, who makes custom spandex dive suits for \$49 pesos each!  I got black, because it’s slimming, and Patrick of course, got green.  I am planning on making him a cape and a large P for his chest.  We totally look like super heroes! These will come in handy while diving in waters that are a bit chilly and infested with stinging jellies.   Patrick also found all he needed when it came to electronics at Radio Shack and a couple local electronics stores that sold everything from serial cables to tiny drum kits for little kids.  The two local stores he recommends visiting, which were cheaper than Radio Shack, are Sterens (across from the Soriana) and El Sondido Electronics.

I have to say the best part of La Paz has been hanging around with great friends from the Pacific NW, making new and solidifying relationships that we made along the way down the west coast.  We met up with our friends from s/v Eagle  http://www.sailblogs.com/member/bigleftturn/ who we last saw in passing at the start of the Baja Ha-Ha in San Diego, s/v Bella Star, who we last saw in Newport, Oregon, s/v Lightspeed, and s/v Ventured http://svventured.wordpress.com/who we see all the time!   One of our fav spots for the cruising community is The Shack.  It is a great restaurant owned by a Travis, hailing from Texas, his wife, Rosie, hailing from Mexico and their two very cute kids.  This place makes the best coconut shrimp I have ever had (Rosie’s signature dish), huge Texas-sized burgers (and I don’t even like beef, but wow, this is something to be had), and awesome \$15 peso margaritas for happy hour.

*Travis and his awesome Texan Blue Cheese Burger with Bacon

*Sailor Jerry’s Kids Yacht Club has increased it’s membership quickly. We are still waiting for the dues to be paid!!

This was the destination to get together all the cruisin’ folks for a couple drinks and a round of darts (which I just learned how to throw, but not well).  Nicole from s/v Bella Star http://www.svbellastar.com/ is apparently a dart savant and kicked everyone’s ass including the guys who brought their own special darts.  Way to go Nickky!

The Ringer!  Nicole with 115 points!!!! Johnny from s/v Michaela is stunned by her first-timer skills.

Aaron and Jeannie congratulating the winner!

While the winds are blowing too hard for us to leave the boat at anchor, I have been trying my hand at baking on the boat (even though I really don’t consider myself much of one).  I have been craving cupcakes and pizza so I had to take matters into my own hands.  The cupcakes were a little heavy but you try to whip butter “until light and fluffy” by hand with a lousy plastic whisk!  Schweeeww what an arm work out!  But the whole wheat pizza dough came out pretty good.  Next time I think I will substitute 1/2 whole wheat flour with white flour to make it a little lighter.

Almond Butter with Roasted Peanuts                                   *

Vanilla-Vanilla (made with vanilla scraped from pods) & Mint Chocolate-Vanilla

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Other than the occasional Norther (long lasting wind storms from the north) that forced us to stay aboard to ensure our anchor wasn’t dragging or inadvertently ramming into another boat, we thoroughly enjoyed La Paz and plan on coming back again soon. We are off to meet Patrick’s parents in Mazatlan for Christmas. We are definitely looking forward to warmer waters and weather further south. It is funny how quickly our bodies adapted to the existing environment. We had hoped to put all of the fleeces and long pants away for an extended period of time, however, I am currently wearing wool socks, long pants, a fleece and Patrick is wearing his skull cap to keep his bald head warm. It is 70 degrees outside. Last night we donned jackets and I actually began to shiver as the temperature dropped to 55 degrees.

Off to Mazatlan!  Feliz Navidad with the ‘rents!

It's a Charlie brown kinda night

Today Pea and I took a little walk through a boatyard (I will not note the name the boatyard in this post).  I love to walk through boatyards and look at the many different boats and appreciate the work being done by the owners.  I find each and every boat to be so interesting, each has her own personality, an individual soul with a story to tell. Sometimes when you walk through a boatyard you can see and feel the level of care and love that each vessel is receiving from her owners. Sometimes…not so much, as was the case with this boatyard.  I called it the boatyard where boats come to die.  I started to feel depressed as I could feel the weight of sadness from each vessel as we took in the scene.  As many of you know, each boat is referred to as a “she” and as you all know, we (the female collective) desire to be loved and cherished.

Here is a boat that was gutted from a fire.

Here is another “project” boat that I am pretty sure won’t be making into the water again any time soon.  Note the grill, bicycles and the new “addition” around the keel!

This was definitely the most intriguing boat.  Pea and I weren’t sure if it was a fishing vessel or a sailing vessel.  A cutter rigged fishing vessel?

This steel boat has now become a welding workshop for her owner.  Note the high-quality welds holding up the “addition”. 

The vessel that I felt a very strong connection with was s/v Manu  Kula from Honolulu, HI.

I am certain she was once a beautiful wooden ketch that was obviously loved at one point.  She still has her lovely name painted on her stern.  She must have some stories to tell of the adventures she experienced out on the open blue ocean.  But now, she is sitting here in this yard with two broken masts, dry rot and missing her caring owners. I wonder what happens to these abandoned boats; where did the owners go and why would they leave her in such a state?

I can’t imagine leaving Deep Playa.  She is such a part of us now, a family member, a cherished and beloved soul that will reveal more and more of her stories to us as we sail onto new adventures together.

I decided to write a blog post about the things that people don’t really tell you about sailing offshore cruising. I am going to talk about the nitty gritty of my personal experience of my first offshore overnight sail aboard Deep Playa. In addition, I will discuss some interesting commentary of some good and bad experiences.

First off, I must preface this post with a huge disclaimer after reading several of our fellow sailors who are taking the same trip down the coast on or about the same time that Pea and I are taking. We did not experience the following on our trip from Neah Bay, Wa to Newport, Oregon (knock on wood):

• Heavy gale force winds
• Heavy confused sea states
• Rain
• Long periods of heavy fog
• Engine malfunction
• Sail malfunction

These are the following conditions that Deep Playa and her crew experienced:

• Sunshine
• Clouds
• 5-15 knot winds
• No wind
• Steady 5-7 foot seas on a beam (rail to rail rolling)
• Fishing Vessels
• Crab Pots
• Light/moderate fog

Some things fellow sailors seemed to not openly write about or discuss in person (without some prompting).

• Puking
• Seasickness
• Boredom
• Transitioning from one day to the next

If you don’t know me, let me first tell you that I am a Type A personality with somewhat of an anxiety disorder. I am a little bit of a perfectionist and worry wart (thank you Mother!) I get anxious about pretty much everything! So for my first offshore trip I was anxious about my short comings. Would I like sailing offshore? Will I desire to continue this journey after all of the blood, sweat and tears of several years? Would I get violently ill and be completely useless to Patrick? Would one of us get badly injured? Would a whale breach our boat and sink her? (Yes, I have seen the pics)

Here is a recount of my experiences for the 55 hour journey aboard s/v Deep Playa from Neah Bay to Newport.

First Night Shift: It sucks. Don’t sugar coat it. It sucks. You are totally exhausted and rocking back and forth and all you can think about is that warm cozy cocoon of lee cloth and settee below. The world is a completely different place then it was just a few short hours prior. Everything seems sooo much smaller and all things in the distance look like they will be an imminent danger to you and your boat. Luckily I did not get seasick. Patrick and I both applied a Scopace patch prior to leaving Neah Bay. He, however did puke, at twilight, once. He seemed fine after for the remainder of the evening. In general, I felt complete malaise. I didn’t want to do anything but sit in the cockpit and watch the waves go by. I thought I should be reading and enlightening myself to the new worlds I will be soon experiencing, but no, it didn’t happen. Accept it and move on. I did see an amazing moonrise though! It looked a HUGE golf ball on the horizon. I could see the details of it using my binoculars. And the bioluminescence was so incredibly cool!

First Night’s Sleep: The sounds of the boat, rigging and the wind kept me awake most of my down time. That sucked. Exhausted for my shift.

Second Day: Woke up to a very warm and pleasant husband telling me that he needed to take a much needed nap. I slept great after my 0600 shift ended and took a quick couple hours nap. Hopped out of bed and up into the cockpit with my jacket, foulies, PFD and tether in a couple minutes flat.

On and off throughout the day we would take shifts and naps and it seemed to work pretty well.

Second Night Sleep: I slept much better and awoke again to Patrick stating that we needed to jibe to stay on course. Jibing at night in very rolly seas and not quite awake is much more difficult than you can imagine. Self-steering the boat while trying to stay on course is much harder if you don’t have a reference out in the distance to sail toward. It increased my anxiety and it stayed there throughout the night.

Second Night Shift: Patrick got sick again at twilight. We figured it must be the inability to differentiate between the sea and the horizon and that he should nap during this time frame on future expeditions. This shift was much better. I slept a bit during the day and we decided to put on the Sirius XM Radio to keep us awake. What a huge difference that made for me. I listened to the 1980s top 40 countdown with the original MTV VJs! The horizon this night was light up with 5-8 fishing vessels just past the horizon. They threw off this amazing orange glow that seems to be right off your bow but you could never quite catch up to them. I started referring to them as the cockroaches because you can never actually catch them and as soon as day broke they seemed to scatter and run toward their safe havens.

By the third day we started to feel a little better about our experiences and looking forward to a good night’s sleep in our bed in port. We were both relieved that we had made the decision to head towards Newport, Or instead pushing all the way to San Francisco.

Some things I learned:

• Accept that you are going to, in general, not feel well. You won’t want much to eat and will have decreased appetite
• Pay attention to your body and be honest about your symptoms, if you have any, with your partner. There may be a remedy just a pill away!
• Transition yourself like you would on land from day to night (if current conditions allow). Brush your teeth and wash your face before bed. What a difference it makes.
• In the morning change your clothing and your underwear! Yes, I wore the same underwear and clothing for two days. Not good.
• Wash your face and apply new sunscreen in the morning.
• Have two bottles full of water for each of you. We would fill the bottles for each other prior to ending a night shift.
• In general, after three days you will start to get into a rhythm.
• Trust your boat, she knows what she is doing.

I’m writing you from the comfort of the nav station while securely anchored in LIberty Bay just off the shore of Poulsbo, WA. What a great night of sailing and seeing all of our hard work actually working! We took a little detour into Port Madison (hey where’s the Bridge??) and so we ended up arriving after dark, but not to fear. We were able to set the hook with the new windlass and chain locker configuration. We flipped on the foredeck light so Dawn could see me while I worked the windlass and she drove the boat. That was awesome because we could still use our hand signals for anchoring instead of having to shout.

But on the way over it was pure bliss to raise the sails and shut off the engine! We were doing well over 6 Kts in 18Kts of breeze as we crossed the sound, absolute JOY.

Right now I’m mooching someone's wifi ashore and the wifi antenna and Ubiquiti bullet are working pretty well for free internet! We still have a lot of thing we want to do, but man is it nice to get out and enjoy some of the fruits of our labor.

Tomorrow we’ll be joined by Danika, Palarran, Andante, and Defiant. We’re all going ashore to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie at 10pm, but all day tomorrow it’s Viking Fest in Poulsbo and we’re definitely going to go ashore and plunder some savages!

Goodnight and pleasant dreams !

Dawn and I have been selling off, donating, gifting and throwing out everything at the condo which won’t go with us to the boat. For the past week we’ve had no place to sit but the floor and after tonight we will no longer have a bed. So that pretty much makes it official, as of tonight we’re officially moving aboard Deep Playa!

Part of moving aboard means making sure Deep Playa isn’t just a boat, but a seaworthy cozy home. Dawn has been doing the lion share of these projects; converting the shelves in the v-berth to cabinets, adding a cabinet at the head of the v-berth, lining the hanging locker with cedar, and testing out her new office (see pic at left).

Over the past few years, a non-trivial amount of blood has been lost, a LOT of sweat has been wiped from our brows and even a few tears from our cheeks and it feels damn good to say this so I’ll say it again (in caps even)…

WE ARE LIVEABOARDS !