Our friend Peter Monkhouse joined us aboard as crew for our voyage from San Diego to Ensenada. His blog contribution is below.

I am sitting in the cockpit of Erin Skye as I type this blog on the last day of my visit with my good friends Deanna and James and their son Ethan. Deanna and Ethan are off doing home school. James is working on wiring the underwater lights and I have just finished washing and putting away the dishes.

Getting to San Diego

Tacking in Bahia de Todos Santos

Before I go further, let me go back. I met Deanna over 15 years ago when we served on a Project Management Institute (PMI) committee. We then served on the PMI Board for six years together, and eight years on the board of Project Managers Without Borders (PMWB). While on the PMWB Board, I travelled to Denver and stayed with Deanna and her family in Denver a couple of times.

About 4 or 5 years ago, Deanna shared with me her retirement dream of buying a catamaran and sailing around the world. She shared the link to the World ARC for cruising around the world. Having sailed dinghies in my youth and occasionally in recent years, I was interested in Deanna’s adventure and joining her and James during the journey.

PMWB Board of Directors

In May, we settled on me traveling to San Diego for the voyage to Ensenada on August 30^th. With this set, I booked my plane ticket, changeable at no charge, to travel from Toronto to San Diego on August 26^th and return on September 3^rd. As Deanna mentioned, when you are trying to meet a boat, you can pick the location or the date, not both, and this statement could not have been truer. Deanna and James made it to San Diego a week earlier than planned, and they had challenges finding a mooring for Erin Skye. The result was they wanted to leave for the passage to Ensenada 4 days earlier. I changed my ticket to Wednesday, August 24^th. (Sorry for the interruption, the diver from the marina just arrived to clean the bottom of Erin Skye.)

A week or so before I left, Deanna gave me a list of what to bring. The list was very helpful and required a shopping trip to get things like deck shoes (not used due to nice weather). I packed as little as possible while ensuring there was flexibility in clothing options for differences in weather. A washing machine had recently been installed on Erin Skye, which made packing a little easier.

Meeting Erin Skye

Deanna picked me up at the San Diego airport in the morning, and I was immediately set to work helping with errands before going to the Police Dock in San Diego to meet Erin Skye. Upon arrival, there was a quick lunch, and then we went motoring out of the harbour to check the auto-pilot system that James had just installed. It was wonderful to be out in the ocean! But I had a lot to learn!

Guest quarters, starboard aft

Having been involved in the journey, I had seen and studied the layout of Erin Skye. I knew it was a good sized boat, much larger than any other sailboat I had been on. But seeing her in 3D is very different. As I weaved my way to my berth, starboard aft, I realized my physical flexibility was going to get a workout. My bed, which was very comfortable, was the width of the hull, so the entry and exit from the bed was from the foot. I am tall, over 6’, and I had to do a little jump to get on the bed. The nice thing about Erin Skye was each berth had a head with a shower, a small shower. More flexibility is required.

The next challenge was to find out where everything was. It is amazing to see how many storage spaces there are. And if there is no home for it yet, it goes to the starboard forward berth! As the days went on, I learnt where things were and even how to find items in starboard forward.

Next, I had to be trained on the basics of the boat, how to operate the toilet, use the shower, and watch the use of power and water. When in a marina, the power and water are not as much of an issue, but Erin Skye has processes that need to be followed. For example, as James said, if it does not go through you, it does not go in the toilet. This led to some interesting discussions, which made me realize that you only want to go sailing with very good friends you have known for a while.

James and Peter swabbing the deck

The final thing I had to learn was the systems. Deanna and James have been living onboard full-time for a year and sailing it for longer. I had to figure out how to fit into their way of doing things. Some things were pretty straightforward; for example, in the morning, Deanna and James go for a walk first thing when they get up while docked. So do I when I am at home. Other things, well, let me say, I had to be corrected or put in my place. After all, I was here for ten days, and they will have to continue their journey.

Getting to Mexico

At the helm during the passage

The passage from San Diego to Ensenada was very uneventful. It was the “no” trip: no one went overboard, no injuries, no sea sickness, no whales, no dolphins, no fish, no waves, and no wind. We ended up motoring down, with the current in about 10.5 hours. It was such a wonderful experience to be out in the ocean. A few days after arriving in Ensenada we did go out for a 3 hour sail when there was some wind. The remainder of my time was spent enjoying Erin Skye in the Marina Coral and visiting Ensenada, including having delicious fish tacos.

Famous and delicious fish tacos at La Guerrerense

As I sign off, I would like to thank Deanna, James, and Ethan for letting me spend time with them. I celebrated Ethan’s 15^th birthday with him and James and Deanna’s wedding anniversary. We had many laughs. I learned some new games. And, I got a window into the life on Erin Skye. But most importantly, I am so lucky to have such great friends, a friendship that has only grown in the past week.

Now, it’s time for me to check the ice maker and bring in the laundry drying on the lifelines.

Peter

The whole crew at a celebration dinner at the newly opened Pranvera

We yearn for a more simple life. The idea is that we spend time in a coastal area and leave when we decide we’ve spent enough time, or when the weather dictates it. We explore the lands, meet the people, taste the food, and play in the water, taking photos and videos, and writing about it along the way. Simple. But in order to get to that point, we have to jump through many complicated hoops.

I can categorize each hoop as fitting within one of 5 phases to our cruising adventure. At a high level they are defined as 1) before we owned the boat (done), 2) before we lived aboard (done), 3) before we cut our ties to land (working on it), 4) before James retires (while cruising part-time), and 5) after we are both retired and cruising full-time. The end goal is not a destination but a lifestyle, during which we are not connected to any one location for too long. Cruising on a sailboat is a nomadic approach to living with learning, connection, and adventure at its core.

Each of the journey’s phases involves preparation to get to the next phase, and this preparation has proven to be quite complicated at times. We are currently cutting ties to land life and some of what we are going through and planning has exhibited such complication that we’ve had to enlist the help of legal and cruising professionals, as well as the help of friends.

Before We Owned the Boat

Deanna at the helm docking in Long Beach

James helping with the foresail on Britican, in Grenada

We put a huge amount of effort into determining what type and size of boat we wanted to cruise and live in. James’ first investigation into this resulted in a conclusion that we could purchase an appropriate boat for $30k. It would be fair to conclude now that he wouldn’t be happy with anything less than a boat worth an order of magnitude above that! We needed to engage a broker and a marine lawyer to support our questions and legal arrangements for 3 offers, and we ended up creating a company (LLC) that complicates all marina checkins since the boat isn’t owned by us as individuals but as managers of the LLC. We engaged a surveyor, another set of eyes since we couldn’t travel during the pandemic, and an amazingly knowledgeable and friendly pair of highly experienced cruisers at Sailing Totem to provide answers for all the questions that we had, and those we didn’t even know we had.

More details on the specifics of the boat purchase can be found at our posting We Bought a Sailboat!

We also took sailing classes and got our certifications, attended Cruiser’s University at the US Sailboat Show, named and renamed the boat and dinghy, designed the logo, and spent a week with a cruising family aboard Britican to verify that the cruising life was for us. On the logistical side of things, we talked (and talked and eventually ended up parting) with an accountant about the concept of making a business out of the boat to earn a small amount of income during our travels and potentially write off the boat (conclusion: nope), and secured insurance that would cover us in the areas where we are cruising. It’s not such a common lifestyle that every service provider has a good understanding of it, and we find ourselves explaining and teaching them almost as much as they inform us.

Before We Lived Aboard

Erin Skye on the hard in La Paz

Once we’d purchased the boat, we had to get her transported from Florida to Mexico, deciding between various permutations of our personal involvement, the involvement of a professional captain, and using a cargo ship for carriage. After careful consideration between the options, we chose to have a captain move her to the harbor where she could meet up with the cargo carrier Pietersgracht that would take her through the Panama Canal to La Paz. We would have loved being on that transit, but COVID prevented us from partaking in the adventure beyond taking screen captures of the canal web cams.

In La Paz we had a project manager representing us to the Mexican customs officers with US Coast Guard registration documentation, engine serial numbers, and various other information, some that we had to get notarized while the officials waited.

We took advantage of the skilled labor there and addressed various maintenance items required by the insurance company and for safety and comfort. Erin Skye was taken out of the water (put on the hard) when hurricane Genevieve threatened the southern tip of Baja California, which actually resulted in only a few stronger winds. Finally when we were more comfortable with the COVID situation, James flew to La Paz to bring Erin Skye up to Ensenada with a captain who could sign him off to be the skipper for insurance purposes going forward.

While Erin Skye was getting all that attention, we were moving from our house to an apartment, and shedding most of our material possessions.

Before We Cut Ties to Land

This is the phase we are in now, after we moved aboard and as we prepare to leave Emeryville Marina where we’ve lived for 9 months. We expect to start our next phase within a couple of months and there are so many balls that we are juggling. The most slippery are the boat projects, setting up domicile, arranging for schooling and Boy Scouts, and sailing and travel preparation.

Admiring the new cabinetry

Boat Projects

As I write, James is creating a template for new holes in the helm fiberglass to accommodate the electric winch that allows us to reef (reduce the amount of sail that is out) without leaving the helm, and therefore reducing weather-related risks. We are currently in the middle of 9 other projects: hatch replacement, solar arch installation, solar panel installation, battery replacement, electrical upgrade and outlet installation, galley cabinet replacement, galley oven & stovetop replacement, cabin cabinet building and installation, and mainsail reefing repair. We don’t need to complete them all before we set sail down the California coast, but we’d really like them done soon.

Recently we returned from putting Erin Skye on the hard again (this time in Napa Valley) to address some maintenance issues like repainting the bottom and replacing through-hull seals, as well as an upgrade or two like installing our transducer to capture sonar reflections below the boat.

Domicile

Researching options and specifics about how to change our official “domicile”, which represents our permanent home base versus “residence” which is the temporary home where we are physically located, has proven to be the most difficult and frustrating of all our preparation. I’ve received conflicting information from various sources, including lawyers and mail services in 3 states, and current cruisers responding to my queries on social media.

The most important factor in creating domicile is the intent to return to our state of domicile when we are finished with our cruising. We’ve known for a long time that our target retirement state is Florida, but the various counties appear to handle the domicile question differently. We will be moving to the chosen county before the end of the year, where we will get our driver’s licenses, meet with lawyers, set up accounts, and become established in the community. Plus, Ethan will be able to get his driving learner’s permit while we are out there!

Schooling and Boy Scouts

Ethan enjoys being the dinghy skipper

The location where we domicile dictates the homeschooling laws and regulations we need to follow regarding Ethan’s education, at least for a while. We’ve investigated several options, learning about umbrella schools, reporting requirements, curriculum and graduation requirements, as well as the driver’s education process. Ethan notes that he doesn’t want to be a “Florida man”, but I helped him understand that behavior is what provides that notoriety versus simply where one’s domiciled.

We will need to convert from part of a Boy Scout troop to the Boy Scout Lone Scout program, since we won’t be located near any troop for very long. This requires us to stop using their online advancement system and report merit badge and other accomplishments to a remote council manually, through email. When I learned of this, I couldn’t help but mention to the Boy Scouts administrator that the remote online system should align well with the remote class of boy scout. Patience is something I’ll need to embrace more with the new lifestyle, I’m thinking.

Sailing and Travel Prep

Even now I’m making plans for the next phase, between June and December of this year. I’ve been researching the ports along the way down the California coast, and looking into how and where to visit the Channel Islands. I’ve identified many ports to check out if the timing and weather are right, and we’ll be making decisions along the way regarding which to skip, if any. Plus, we have family and friends to visit along the coastlines if the timing can work out.

One might think that with a career in project management, I’d be whipping out some scheduling tools to apply to all these tasks and projects, and one wouldn’t be wrong in that thinking – it’s in my blood. I recognize that it’s essential to balance the rigor and ceremony of project management so that tentative plans can be made, with the required flexibility and fluid lifestyle of cruising on a sailboat. So, in my planning documents I have included data with titles like “tentative departure date” and “approximate cruising time.” Perfectly nimble.

Walking along our home dock

We have a risk log with over 100 entries, one or two of which we select to review daily to identify how to prepare for and mitigate risk to an acceptable level. For instance, we recently reviewed the risk of getting a fishhook in the eye (a risk identified and kindly brought to our attention by the Emeryville Yacht Club Commodore, Britta), and though Ethan and I were cringing and begging James to stop sharing details of a similar account, we are now well-versed in how NOT to react and what to do if this risk is realized. More importantly, we have all agreed to wear glasses whenever there is fishing gear out!

As for our car, I’ve been working out the timing and coordination of when to buy it out of the lease, when to take it to San Diego, how to store it while we’re cruising down the coast before we end up in San Diego, and when and where to sell it. I’ve already looked into Mexican insurance so we can drive between Ensenada and San Diego if we decide to do that. Erin Skye is set with documentation from the US Coast Guard for the next 5 years and annually we’ll register our dinghy (dubbed “Sunset” by Ethan). Last month we all received our updated passports and soon we’ll apply for a Mexican temporary residency permit.

Before James Retires

For a few months we will be cruising while James is still employed full time, so Ethan and I will enjoy each port during the days and James will join us in the evenings and on weekends. We’ll only sail and move between anchorages and/or marinas during the weekends or when James takes a vacation day, but we have months to make it down the California coast so a slow pace sounds perfect. My focus will be threefold: 1) passage planning and weather routing, 2) boat-schooling, or preparing for boat-schooling, and 3) destination activity planning. This last one is what I’ve always loved about vacations, determining what we’d do after arriving and making sure that we are informed and prepared to make the most of those activities. Integrating schooling with our location will be so interesting and make it more engaging as well.

We will need to solve the medical care issue before losing our insurance, determine if anything besides catastrophic insurance is needed while we are out of the country, and if not, how to be covered when we travel back to visit in the US.

A view we hope to have from a Mexican beach, near the end of this year

After We Both Retire

Our preparation doesn’t extend this far, with the exception of knowing that we will cruise down to Ensenada, then down the Mexican coast to at least Puerto Vallarta and decide where to go from there. As James puts it, “we’ll decide whether to turn left or right.”

In our travels we may find a location that we deem perfect for retirement outside the US or we may just end up cruising back to the US, into the Gulf of Mexico and finding a nice simple place to reside, on land near the water. I expect we will be able to appreciate our cruising experience and use the flexibility and other skills we hone along the way to ease into a truly simplified land-based lifestyle when this adventure is over. And I expect that the transition will be much less complex than the one we’re going through now. It will take a while to determine if that’s the case, but I’ll let you know!

Acknowledgements:

Top/featured image is by Tyler Lastovich on Unsplash

Final image is by Arusfly 🌿 on Unsplash

Though our home base is in Emeryville, it only covers a little over one square mile of land, so we spend most of our time driving in Berkeley.  Driving in Berkeley is like a video game where your goal is to minimize the number of objects that you hit while getting from one point to another within the allotted time, while there are people and cars, strollers and scooters, bicycles and OneWheels, electric and regular skateboards, tandem bikes and elliptical bikes, shopping carts, joggers, and dog-walkers all intent upon making you fail.

The game throws in blindingly bright sunshine, rain, visual barriers like trash cans, cars parked very close together, Amazon trucks and other vehicles double parked, road crews, slow-moving and stopping recycling and trash trucks, and outdoor seating that has taken over part of the road. All the cars have dings but you get extra points if you avoid dings on your own vehicle.

Trash truck blocking right lane

The roads are not arranged in an organized grid because this game is not meant for beginners. A single road will reach a T, but then continue on, in name at least, 100 feet to the south. There are intersections of major streets that don’t meet perpendicularly, with another road thrown in for good measure and geometric interest.

Two lane roads require constant lane-shifting while the left lane is used for left turns at intersections, and the right lane is blocked by parked cars most of the rest of the time. Some of the cars parked haven’t moved in weeks or months, and are teeming with belongings that fall into the street.

The visual noise along the streets is so loud and distracting that it takes almost super-human focusing skill just to stay between the lines of the lane, then the lane will open up to a specially marked bicycle boulevard indicating that bicycles can use the lane in the same manner as cars, in the middle, but providing less visibility to the vehicular traffic since they are so small comparatively. There are farmer’s markets and tent cities spilling into the streets. Shops come in a large variety of colors with interesting wares for sale such as bright feather boas, multi-colored rugs, costumes, and unidentifiable knickknacks.

Lots to see in the storefronts

Rules

It’s clear that the obstacles you need to avoid aren’t following the same rules that you’re required to follow, however, the game’s narrative indicates that they will. Instead of waiting for the traffic to clear, cars on a side street trying to get onto the main road will creep into traffic to force the main road traffic to stop or go around if there is enough room. Pedestrians behave the same when in crosswalks or not, often just walking into traffic without looking, as if they have infinite lives. Red lights appear to be mere suggestions for some of the vehicles if there isn’t any cross traffic.

To make the game more interesting, the rules change as you go, with signs indicating what hours you are allowed to turn left or right, usually including two ranges per day. Some otherwise through roads have been blocked with concrete barrel-like planters to dissuade usage from a particular direction, while one-way signs are regularly seen on two-way roads.

Planters in addition to signs

When you arrive at your destination, there is usually no place to park, causing you to lose precious time searching for a spot, or parking lot, and walking back to the destination before you truly arrive.

Your phone and vehicle navigation aids always underestimate the time it will take to get there, and they don’t know about accidents or other slowdowns. In fact, they will regularly suggest a route that takes up to twice as long as the shortest route during rush hour.

Points

You lose points if you end up driving through a crosswalk that has a pedestrian in it, whether or not they were there when you started crossing, or you had visibility of their actions. The penalty is doubled if this happens as a result of you going around another vehicle stopped at the crosswalk. You lose points if anyone, sane or otherwise, swats your car or yells at you. You lose points if you are in the middle of the intersection when the light changes and you end up blocking traffic in the other direction. And you lose points if for any reason you are the target of anyone else’s horn.

Pedestrian making traffic stop mid-block

Winning

After a while you start catching on to how to take advantage of the chaotic system, if only a bit. You can use pedestrians to your advantage, as other vehicles are forced to stop when pedestrians are in front of them, which at times can create an opportunity for a turn that would otherwise be more difficult. You become aware of which pedestrian crossings have the most traffic and least engaged pedestrians so you can avoid them or just be extra aware there.

Identifying routes that maximize four-way stops versus crossing high volume roads without the protection of a sign provides a bonus level of security that is rare in the game. You get a power-up on trash days when cars don’t park in the right lane, for the most part.

After a while you become accustomed to the vibrant colors, so they are recognized as commonplace and less distracting. When a new unexpected color catches your attention, it’s probably something that you need to focus on versus part of the background.

In the end, if we choose to play the Berkeley Driving Game we are accepting that we are responsible to be alert, and can expect to be surprised, to laugh, to be dazzled by diversity and uniqueness, and to say, “Really?!” and “Did you see that?!” throughout the experience. A couple of the main goals of our change to a cruising lifestyle are to see different cultures and to appreciate the world the way it is where we are visiting, and this game helps to check both of those boxes. It also keeps us on our toes, pushing us toward discomfort. We’re not choosing the comfortable path, but the one more interesting.

Our goal for the next two years is to learn to sail our boat and gain enough experience with it that we feel comfortable leaving the San Francisco Bay Area for locations unknown.

Since we brought Erin Skye to the west coast of the US, and moved aboard in June, we’ve been fixing and upgrading many systems to make the space more livable. Some of these changes include black water tank and hose replacement, adding a clear enclosure to the cockpit, replacing cockpit cushions, installing an automatic shower pump, replacing sink hardware, addressing standing rigging concerns, and fixing several issues with the dinghy motor. That was all needed and appreciated, but the warmer season for sailing in the Bay is upon us and we realize that our opportunity to practice the art and science of sailing may be reduced if we don’t take advantage of it now.

Fortunately, we joined the Emeryville Yacht Club and they schedule cruise outs approximately every month, so we have been participating in those for the last couple of months.

Angel Island Cruise Out

Leaving the Marina

Angel Island is a mere 1.5 hour trip from our slip in Safe Harbor Emeryville Marina, and overall I think our family handled it well, as our first San Francisco Bay cruise out.

The Trip

We all understood the course that was plotted, and the roles we were to fill, and had settled into the motion of the sea. Ethan was sitting in the cockpit while James and I were on the helm seat when we heard Ethan say in a calm voice, “Man overboard.” WHAT!?! I immediately told him not to joke about such things, but he quickly clarified that a fender had escaped the boat and was now floating behind us. Ah, fender overboard. We turned around, and went through the procedure we’d practiced several times before, and successfully recovered the fender.

Within 10 minutes Ethan again said, “Man overboard.” This time it was a different fender, obviously unsecured since being removed at the dock, just as the last one was. We recovered that one too, but during the effort, the starboard engine stopped and we weren’t able to restart it. The good news is that catamarans have two engines, so we just continued to our destination in Ayala Cove, Angel Island.

Mooring between two mooring balls was much more challenging than it would have been with two engines, but with the help of our yacht club and a couple other cruisers in dinghies we were able to secure Erin Skye, prepare a 5 layer dip and join other yacht club members at the welcome party.

The Island

Our family taking the dinghy to Erin Skye in Ayala Cove, Angel Island. Photo courtesy of Britta Fjelstrom of Vacilando

We took our dinghy (our “cruising car”) to the coast and rode the tram around the island, learning about the 3000 year history of the island: from the fishing and hunting of the Coastal Miwok Indians, to many government uses, including immigration station, to the state park it is today. Poetry written in Chinese and other languages mark the walls of the immigration station, recording feelings and aspirations of the detainees, some staying for years because of discriminatory laws of the time. Our travels open a door into different places, times, cultures, and values, and each of these experiences has something to teach us, even when what we learn doesn’t represent behavior that is consistent with our values.

While Ethan fished in the cove and I did some reading, James was able to figure out the problem with the engine: a fuel filter needed to be replaced. Though we had an extra, apparently we didn’t have the fittings to make it work properly, so we would need to resolve that after returning and ordering the parts.

We hosted a games night with the yacht club before turning in for our final night at Angel Island. Our departure the next morning was uneventful but the trip back consisted of dodging many sailboats and ferries. It also pointed out the lag between the chart plotter inside at the navigation station and the helm station. Though many things don’t move quickly on a boat, we certainly want the response time to be better than it was and felt that it was not as safe as it should have been, leading to a lack of visibility at some times. When we got back to land, we borrowed from next year’s upgrade budget and got a new chart plotter for the helm.

Half Moon Bay Cruise Out

The Trip

At Angel Island we moored for the first time. This month we went to Half Moon Bay and anchored for the first time. In each case we identified more tasks that should be done before we depart from our home marina, like making the man-overboard stick easily available, and disconnecting the fruit hammock so it doesn’t turn into a fruit smashing hammock.

Our trip to Half Moon Bay included many learning experiences, even though it was the least stressful and most fun of all of our outings so far. Nothing broke, our crew had a better idea of what to do and some practice doing it behind them, our chart plotter was cooperating, and so was the weather, generally.

We left Emeryville at 6:35am, just 5 minutes after our planned departure. Our buffer of over 1.5 hours gave us confidence that we would reach the Golden Gate Bridge before the current going under it would be against us, making us work harder to leave the Bay.

Almost out the gate for our cruise out

The sea state did get more rough once we were outside the Bay, and Ethan decided to test the conditions in his berth in the forward part of the boat. He lay down in bed and rode wave after wave in a unique blind roller coaster experience. One large wave took Erin Skye low, then high, then falling quickly again, causing Ethan to levitate briefly above his bed and convincing him of the value of NOT being at the bow under those conditions.

We got a sail out for a couple of hours, however the winds were almost 180 degrees from the norm, and instead of helping us down the coast, they were against us.

Our approximate route

When we were about 15 minutes out from the harbor we called into the harbormaster to get an allocated slip. Unfortunately, there were none remaining  that could accommodate us, so we had to anchor instead. We knew this would be a possibility, so we were prepared. It was so easy compared to the last time we tried anchoring in San Diego (that ended in utter defeat), that we didn’t trust that the anchor was secure. So we set the anchor alarm and waited for quite a while before we felt satisfied that we were actually secured to the bottom.

The Destination

We looked forward to taking the dinghy to the marina and land, and connecting with our fellow yacht club members. It was challenging to find a place to tie up the dinghy, but after talking with the coast guard and another dinghy crew, we found the designated area, accessible only through a passage under the pier, ducking to avoid water pipes and dodging other obstacles like concrete pylons.

Fisherman were at the dock, selling black cod, urchins and other seafood that had been caught earlier in the day. Ethan wanted to try fresh black cod, but by the time we would have a chance to cook it, it would no longer be so fresh, so we passed. He did enjoy having a sea urchin wiggle on his hands but was disappointed when we denied his request to keep it as a pet.

Anchored at Pillar Point Harbor

When we were ready to leave Half Moon Bay, we let Ethan sleep in since we didn’t need his help with dock lines. About 105 feet of chain needed to be pulled in, and that would be quick work. I used the windlass controller to bring up the chain but soon noted a thick paste of mud clinging to it. This meant I’d need to wash off the chain as I brought it up.

The chain was covered in mud when we were lifting it to leave

That wasn’t a big deal, but it wasn’t something we were planning to do, and took more time than expected. Actually, it was quite satisfying to spray off the mud! When deploying the anchor the day before, we counted off the length so we knew we had approximately the right amount of chain for the job, but when I was bringing it in I didn’t pay attention to this. So I was surprised when the anchor became seated in its spot below the bridge deck. Just like that when James learned that we were free, we slowly motored out of Pillar Point Harbor.

On the way back once again we had the wind on our nose. It was a peaceful trip. Ethan and I spent time at the bow with the brisk wind in our faces observing the murre seabirds (aka penguins of the north) plopping down into the water when we got close. Later we learned that they sometimes dive down 600 feet to get food. We saw a whale off in the distance, while James dodged bull kelp and crab pots and kept us on course. The tethers we used to connect to the mast allowed us to feel and be safe while out of the cockpit.

Erin Skye from the front, photo courtesy of Geli Bergin from Irene

Family and Friends Cruise Outs

We’ve headed out on our own without the structure of a yacht club event 3 or 4 times, and have plans to choose new destinations in the near future. As the weather gets colder and wetter, we will need to decide whether to cozy up at the dock for a bit, or put on foul weather gear and learn skills under different conditions. I suspect we’ll choose the latter. Though there are many projects that can be taken on indoors, I’m sure we’ll want to stretch our wings, raise and unfurl the sails and experience Erin Skye more for what she is: a sailboat! And since we’ll encounter a huge variety of conditions out there, having a more varied foundation of knowledge and experience will go a long way to improve our comfort level as well as our level of expertise.

It’s been about two months since we returned home from our lovely Britican Experience, the sailing trial and adventure that reinforced our desire, no need, to transition into the cruising lifestyle as soon as the well-planned schedule allowed.  There were some cruiser behaviors that we retained in our life on land, and this was a very good thing since within 3 weeks of returning we’d be self-isolating, and a week later dealing with a stay-at-home order.

This king of the world decided he really likes cruising.