S/V Adventurer

I've got a handful of topics to quickly discuss today before I get into the real nitty-gritty of what's going on. First, we are still in Seattle and it looks like we are going to be here for at least another week or so. We've been working on getting my uncle's house cleaned out, fixed up, and put on the market to sell, and what do you know, that all takes time. We have another contractor coming out to fix the roof next week, and after that, we'll be booking a flight to head back to our floating home in Mexico. Oh Mexico, how we've missed you. In between family matters and working on the house, we've been doing our best to visit with family and friends. And yes, we are trying to see you all, but unfortunately, some of you will be missed. There just isn't enough time for everything and everyone. I know some of you are probably thinking that we have nothing but time, so stick around just a little longer and get your butts over here for some face...

Well, it's true. We are back in Seattle. After hearing of my uncle's passing, we made a left turn when we were halfway across the Sea of Cortez and made our way to Mazatlan. Mazatlan was the closest port to us with a safe and secure place to store the boat and an airport for us to fly home. And yes, we made it home after a brief layover in Minneapolis of all places. Although Seattle doesn't feel like home anymore. Home feels like wherever our boat is, so I guess that means Mazatlan is home for now. Even though we were trying to high tail it back to Seattle to be with family and take care of a laundry list of odds and ends, there was a bunch of stuff that needed to happen before we could leave. A marina had to be found that our home-sweet-home could sit in for an undetermined amount of time, flights needed to be booked, and boat maintenance had to happen. The water maker needed to be pickled, the boat needed to be cleaned up after our passage across the Sea o...

We are currently underway, heading to the mainland of Mexico. It's the middle of the night and I'm on watch. We are roughly 100 miles from the nearest spot of land, and depending on how the wind holds up, we have roughly 48 hours to go before our tosies will be back on terra firma. The moon just set over the horizon and a layer of clouds rolled in which blocked out any light from the stars above. Other than the navigation lights from our boat, it's pitch black out. I can't see any difference if my eyes are open or closed. It's kind of eerie, but at the same time, the sound of the water rushing by the boat as we are sailing along is calm and serene. I don't want to jinks ourselves, but this could end up being the easiest passage we've ever had. We've got 10 knots of breeze on our beam, almost no swell to speak of, and we're doing a smooth 5 knots. There is hardly any motion in the boat and it's warm outside. It's so warm that...

I'm not going to lie here, our lives are pretty good. But even with our foot loose and fancy free lifestyle, there comes a time in every sailor's life when some hard choices must be made. We are quickly coming to one of those crossroads. These days, the majority of our most difficult decisions have to do with which taco stand we are going to eat at and if we are going to have corn or flour tortillas. If it's a really tough day, we'll even struggle with whether or not we should have fish tacos, shrimp, or pastor (I usually go for the pastor...it's heavenly. And don't forget to squeeze a little bit of lime on there...trust me). I know, I know, it's almost impossible to choose sometimes. The other big decision that is usually even tougher than deciding which tacos to eat, albeit probably not as important, is deciding what we are going to do and where we are going to be tomorrow. And even more difficult than that is deciding where we are going...

We've been far from any internet access or phone coverage for the last couple of weeks, and now that we are briefly back in range of our cell phones and I can catch up with the blog, this posting seems a bit out of date. But since it seemed important enough to write it at the time, I guess it still seems like I should post it. So, here you go. Better late than never. Today is Christmas morning. We are anchored at a little place called Caleta Partida. It's a place I read about nearly 20 years ago when I first started dreaming of sailing the world and it's a place that I envisioned myself sitting in as I was going through the motions of normal life, struggling through the daily grind. It's a place that helped keep the dream alive and a place that helped me keep my sanity. It was a place to strive for as I was sitting in Seattle's gridlocked traffic, clenching the wheel with rage because some idiot cut me off without even having the courtesy to use their b...