Sailing

We ran into Carl early on Sunday morning and confirmed that they would be heading off on their great adventure later that day. We were planning to go sailing too, and agreed to see them off. I had seen Chris and Lisa working on their Ranger 26 earlier in the morning, and we decided to invite them to come along. The day started wonderfully. There was just a puff of air but the sky was blue, the clouds were high and the conversation was easy and light. Around the end of the Berkeley Pier both boats decided to motor until the wind returned. We got just past Treasure Island when we decided we had enough to sail on. By Alcatraz we had about 20º of heel and Convivia was lively and quick. ...

One of my favorite pre-vacation practices is to intentionally lower my expectations. I contend that I am due a single 15-60 minute “moment of bliss” somewhere in a 2+ week vacation, and if I can get that I consider the experience a success. These moments of bliss generally take the form of reading a great book in the sun on a day with light breeze. On this last vacation I got two moments of bliss. The first (which happened twice) was when the kids were playing happily in the cabin. Vick and I were sitting in the cockpit drinking coffee, and Convivia was sailing herself under nearly perfect conditions. The second was when I took the kids to Shorebird Park to play while Vick went to the store. Both kids were having trouble with relationships. I saw at least a dozen problems at the moment before they flared up. Somehow I managed to use just the right intervention every time and their conflicts effortlessly catalyzed into new friendships and joyful spirit. I was in a zone, writing a symphony of play with them and I couldn’t have been happier or felt more accomplished. ...

I just went over to Amazon to rate to the new Toshiba drive I purchased and saw to my excitement that a book by Joshua Slocum was free on Kindle. I snapped it up and then noticed that another of his book and, lo a metric ton of other sailing books were also there for the taking. Many of these are in the public domain, and I’ve discussed how to search for and download them in my last post on the subject. Some however are either new to the public domain, or just lucky finds. I’ll post links at the bottom. ...

Last week was hard. I’m not sure what aspect of the work/life package was hardest, but it wasn’t just me. The whole family was under strain. By Friday I knew we needed a reset. “We’re going sailing tomorrow,” I told Vick as we were cleaning up from dinner. Saturday morning, we all woke up early and got moving. I’m glad we didn’t set the timer because the clean-up may have taken more than one hour. Still by 11ish we were ready to get under way. I was fiddling with something on deck when our friend and fellow cruiser Carl stopped by. “You guys going out today?” she asked. “Yup, probably out to the Gate and back, it looks like a great day for it, want to come along?” “No thanks, we’re going out too. After I pick Christina up, we’re going to drop anchor at Clipper Cove, do you want to go too?” At this point I’m thinking, “Victoria would never go for this.” but when she popped her head out and asked what we were talking about I implored Carl to talk her into it. I was relieved when I noticed the signs of her wheels turning as she figured out what we would need to do to get ready. “I guess we’ll need ice,” she finally said. ...

**** The plan was to meet Allison in Richmond at 9:00 and shuttle the ManVan back to Emeryville where we would pick Jon up and drive back to Richmond. Unfortunately the ManVan had other ideas. Somehow, after hauling a ton of gear over 700 miles, the ManVan decided to give up the ghost right in the Bay Marine parking lot. So, we changed the plan. By 10am everyone was on the boat and by 11 we were pushing off. After a hair raising shove off we headed out the channel and into the Bay. The wind was gentle in the morning and we put up full sails but by the time we were lined up with Racoon Straights it was blowing hard enough to warrant a first reef. By the time we were lining up with the Gut it was howling and a second reef would have been prudent. I was loving the speed (6.5 SOG according to the iPhone) and we were so close to Emeryville that it was nearly time to douse the sails anyway, so we let out a bit and enjoyed the wind. ...

We went to the boat show today, and we’re going again tomorrow. The going today part isn’t particularly big news, after all this is our 11th consecutive show but it does feel different. Part of what is different is that we’ve got our boat all but purchased, and can legitimately talk about it as if its ours. For some reason that small distinction has made today catalytic for me. I’ll admit, I’ve been tender this week. Okay, perhaps I’ve been raw, and a little hard to be around. I can’t help it. So much of our last 10 years of dreaming, and 5 years of debt reduction, saving, planning and dreaming some more is now coming together in a chaotic maelstrom of activity. I haven’t really got a clue about half (or more) of the things that I am responsible for, and I don’t have enough hours in the day to get a clue. ...

Years ago, back when we lived in Vermont, and even later when we first moved out to California, I always knew just what to do. It was easy. I never stood at the crossroads of a big decision, I just jumped in and let the current take me. I was sensitive to it, and I could tell somehow when it was time to hop out and look around but I never thought to second guess the current of my life. This flow took me from place to place, job to job, adventure to adventure, always at precisely the right moment. As long as I kept my vision clear and my wits about me, things seemed to just work out. ...

Today I signed the application that will give us live aboard status at our old marina in the East Bay. We’ve been on the waiting list for 10 years and when I called the other day to find out our status, I learned that we had finally made it to the top. This is a huge step for our family because it means that we can live aboard in a marina that will allow us to sail on the weekends. Everyone we’ve talked to at Pete’s harbor seemed resigned to the fact that they could not sail and live aboard. I’m hopeful that, with the Golden Gate Bridge clearly visible from our marina, we’ll be reminded that we’re in this to sail, not to sit at the dock. ...

Despite the boat related disappointment this weekend I’ve found myself unexpectedly inspired, motivated, and empowered these last two days. Vick linked me up to the blog of a nomadic family (Happy Janssens) last night, and I kinda went link crazy, hopping around to a bunch of similar blogs. These families’ stories have been a balm on my chapped spirit. This morning the kids and I sat around watching videos from various blogs showing their kids living happy, nomadic, unschooling lives. True our adventure is just where we left it on Friday, but somehow we all feel closer to it. ...

I wish I could think up a clever analogy for buying a boat. It would be gratifying to package this whole experience up in a tidy little cliche and dispense that wisdom to people who, like us, are suffering the tumultuous ups and downs of buying a circumnavigating sailing vessel on a small budget. Maybe, “Buying a boat is like high school girlfriends… but without the kissing.” I have fallen in love 3 times in 3 weeks. So far, no kisses. Maybe its a little melodramatic to say that these inanimate objects have “dumped me.” After all, my sentience should give me the upper hand in these relationships, but if you ask my wife, she’ll corroborate. I am reduced to a sappy, romantic, drooling boy when presented with high combings, a butterfly hatch, or a fancy cabin. I even tell myself not to let my emotions cloud my judgment, but its no use. ...

Yesterday we went out for a pleasure sail. We sailed out of Catalina Harbor in the morning and puttered around the Outer Santa Barbara Channel. The wind was promising when we left the harbor. It had been assaulting our transom all night, smacking the harbor against the hull loudly enough that we almost turned the boat on our mooring. By the time we got under sail the wind died. This has been the great frustration of sailing here. We can see wind on the ocean all around but wherever we are seems to be becalmed. Since we didn’t have any destination I wasn’t inclined to turn on the engine. We just wallowed, boom creaking in the light puffs of wind that would occasionally grace us. Our speed over water was 0 knots for at least an hour. ...

My face and belly are radiating that kind of inside out warmth that comes from a day of doing all ones favorite things. I don’t mean to lead my readers to believe that today was easy. The children were on again off again unmanageable and Victoria was regularly overwrought by her prognostication that, due to said children, and an unfortunately poor choice of words on my part the night before, she didn’t know if “this was going to work.” (She was of course referring to the Big Trip.) Normally when my family is assaulted by this severe a maelstrom I am emotionally and pragmatically debilitated for the duration. The whole of my attention is consumed trying to determine what I am going to do about it. ...

When we left off our family had just arrived in Isthmus Harbor (one of the Two Harbors). As soon as the sun set we were treated to the oddly festive spectacle of an entire harbor lit up with Christmas lights. All of the waterfront buildings and many of the boats were sporting multicolored lights. It reminded me (for whatever reason) of Jimmy Buffet’s song “Christmas in the Caribbean,” thereby putting a huge smile on my face. We ate a mediocre yet unbelievably expensive dinner at the only restaurant in Two Harbors—from which I had to hastily extricate my kids when they simultaneously decided to be the loudest kids in the harbor(s). We enjoyed a brief moonlit motor back to the boat and everyone fell asleep quickly. ...

We arrived in Two Harbors last night, just after the sun went down. We left Marina Del Rey around noon and motored out of the immense harbor. When we got to Santa Monica Bay, I briefly doused the engine to get a sense of the wind. We headed up and set the main. The wind sustained us for all of 15 minutes (at a measly 4 knots) before it died out completely. I reluctantly conceded that there was no chance of making it to Catalina on wind power alone and powered up the diesel. ...