After two years of preparation, we were all set to take off on an around-the-world sailing adventure, starting with a cruise to Mexico. Except for a couple small things: the boat leaked, the engine didn’t work, the heater put out billows of smoke, there was no life raft, we’d done nothing to get our land-home ready for an extended absence, and the blog wasn’t ready.
Still, we were signed up for the Baja Ha-ha, which started in only five weeks time. We figured a safe minimum of three weeks to get to the starting point, San Diego, including time to enjoy the trip and see new places along the way, plus two weeks there for final provisioning/repairs. And that’s exactly how much time was left.
But even worse, we’d already had our farewell party, with dozens of well-wishers wishing us well. Postponing after that would be, well, embarrassing.
There’s nothing like a solid deadline to provide motivation. So in one week, we got the engine fixed (for the fourth time, but this time for sure, really, I mean really really), we bought a life raft and got it installed on deck, a full heater replacement arrived and was installed, and I found and sealed the leak around the hose coming out of the propane locker (the more minor leaks around a couple of the port lights could be handled en route).
The next week, we took the boat from its long-time home port of Marina Bay (Richmond, CA) to the San Francisco Marina, right by the Golden Gate, a perfect departure point. Just a couple more things to put away, a little tidying and packing at home, and we’d be set. We arrived on Sunday, planning to leave Monday or Tuesday. Which became Wednesday or Thursday. Which became Friday. Which was a hard date, since someone else was signed up for our guest slip starting Friday.
This blog entry is being posted just as we cast off, taking care of the last to-do item.
The next stop is Monterey. Check in in a couple days to see if we made it…
