The Big Left Turn
We've got a lot to talk about today, so
let's get started.
First off, we've got the big left turn.
If you aren't a sailor from the Seattle area, you might not know
what that is. Well, it's simple. It's when you go out the Strait of
Juan de Fuca and turn left. It's the first big step for a cruising
sailor leaving our area and heading out to take on the world and her
mighty oceans. It's what symbolizes leaving. That left turn puts us
on a collision course to Mexico. It's the holy grail of left turns,
and if you haven't guessed, yes, it's a big deal.
Even though we left over two years ago
on our big adventure, the big left turn is really what it boils down
to. And even though in the last two years we have been to 6
countries, we've hiked over 4,000 miles, we've scaled high peaks, and
we've sailed thousands of miles, the past couple of years were really
child's play. The big left turn is what it's all about. And once we
make that big left turn, it means we are really gone and off to see
the world. And what do you know, tomorrow is the day that it's going
to happen.
The most common question we've gotten
lately from our family and friends is, “aren't you so excited?”
As you might guess, it's pretty exciting...sort of. The travel and
adventure part of course is exciting, the goal achieving big left
turn is overly exciting, and the collision course to Mexico is also
exciting, mostly because I love tacos and churros (if you haven't
tried churros, try them, they are DELICIOUS!). But there is the
other side of all of that which isn't super exciting.
The only way I can describe it is like
this. We have a good friend who spends his days preparing for and
competing in Ironman competitions. All of his days are spent working
out, sweating, training, spending money on gear, and crying
continuously about how much time and money he spends doing all of
this, only to get severely beat up during the competitions. During
the training times and even more so during the day of the big event,
he will always tell you, “This is my last race. I'm not going
through this again.” Then what do you know, after the race is
over, after he is collapsed on the floor crying in agony, and after
he cries some more because he like to cry a lot, he says “there is
a race in England in 6 months and I just signed up. Tomorrow I have
to get back on the bike and start training.”
Offshore sailing is sort of like an
Ironman race. We don't have a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride,
and a 26 mile run all in the same day, but it is totally an endurance
event. We train, we prepare, we sweat, we cry, we bleed, and we
spend way too much money in order to get beat up in the open ocean
while searching out freedom and adventure in far off lands. And
sailing offshore is as much of a mental game as it is physical.
There are the obvious torture tests of
the big ocean, like seasickness and being out of sight of land for
days on end. With no visual reference, your mind likes to ask over
and over again, “are we going the right direction?” Everything
is constantly moving. Try sleeping when your bed is moving up and
down over huge rolling waves, or when you know that you only have 3
hours until it's your turn on watch again, or when there is some tiny
rattling noise on the boat that is coming from God knows where, and
you can't find it...but it's keeping you awake trying to figure it
out. Eating isn't any easier, because of course there is
seasickness, but more than that, try cooking a nice meal when
everything is moving...always moving. The motion is constantly
moving. Motion. Always.
But of course there is the other side
of all of that. There are days at sea that are incredible. There
are times when you can't imagine why you wouldn't be doing this. The
sunrises, sunsets, and stars at night are the most glorious that you
will ever see (and of course you will be awake for all of those
things because you never sleep...never...ever). The sound of the
boat gliding through the ocean swell is mesmerizing, there are whales
and dolphins and sea birds that you get up close and personal with
(it's way better in real life than seeing these things on a screen),
and there is a major sense of accomplishment when your feet touch
land again. I would guess that it is pretty similar to completing an
Ironman competition. You almost can't wait to do it again. You
forget about the agony and torture of it all and think about the next
destination you can visit with nothing but the power of the wind.
It's pretty amazing really.
So, tomorrow is the big day for the big
left turn. We are currently anchored in Neah Bay on the very tip of
Washington State, waiting for some weather off of the California
Coast. We are doing our best to time our departure to get us to
California just as a gale is dying down and before the next gale
springs to life. According to our math and available weather
forecasts, if we leave here on Monday morning around 6 AM, we should
just skate through the dying and forming gales in northern
California.
We aren't exactly sure where we will
land yet in California, but are thinking somewhere either in San
Francisco or in Monterey Bay. We'll decide based on weather and how
much we want to get off of the boat. We will be at sea for roughly 7
days, and after those 7 days, we'll be pretty happy to set foot on
land again. I'm pretty sure that by the end of those 7 days, a huge
greasy burger will be in my immediate future, and a cold beer will be
in Brenda's.
If you aren't aware, you can now follow
us and our progress in real time. We have included a link on our
“links” tab in the upper right hand corner of this website titled
“where are we now?” (it doesn't work on all devices so I'll put a
link down below). It should pull up a map in a separate window that
plots us and our track on that handy little map. You may have to
click on the “+” symbol next to my name to get the track to show
up. If you click on the “+” symbol next to my name, it will also
allow you to send us a message via our satellite communications
system by clicking on the “message” button. We would love to
hear from you while we are bobbing around in the middle of the ocean,
especially if you can't sleep and we are on our 3 AM watch.
The map link is:
Also, our newest episode of our
intensely riveting video series is now up on Youtube. That link is
down below.
 |
| This definitely doesn't feel like summer. |
 |
| Where the ocean meets the sky. Getting close to Neah Bay. |
 |
| Load number 1 of 6. Thanks Costco. It's never easy taking groceries to the boat via the dinghy. |
 |
| We got to hang out with my Mom for a few days in Sequim, and as we were leaving, I was trying to get a good picture with her. She was too busy crying. Don't worry Mom, we'll be fine. Remember, this is a good thing. |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbGM7IiCPJ0
Comments
Post a Comment