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

When I first moved to a marina in the San Francisco Bay, there weren’t a lot of birds that I wasn’t already familiar with from my old stomping grounds of Denver. I’d come to call sea gulls that were inland “trash gulls” as they serve as scavengers whether they are at the coast or not. Pigeons were of course a common sight, and crows, ravens, ducks, geese, and hawks were seen frequently.

Male bufflehead

But when I stopped focusing on getting rid of stuff and the rest of the transition to living in a marina, I noticed that the avian fauna had increased significantly. Had I just not noticed or had it been less in the summertime? Probably the former. There were all sorts of birds that I couldn’t identify, so I researched to find out who my new neighbors were: great blue herons, night herons, great egrets, snowy egrets, Clark’s grebes, lesser scaups, buffleheads (one of my personal favorites), sandpipers, coots, brown pelicans, murres, Forster’s terns, and cormorants.

Great egret, 2 great blue herons, and lots of coots

I’d seen cormorants at the City Park in Denver, all sitting up on the branches on an island off-limits to humans, but their behavior was so different from the ones floating and swimming in the Emeryville marina, seeming to have such a good time. At first I thought they were a different species, but after some research ended up concluding that the double-crested cormorants were just adapting to their different environments. I was enlivened by the new knowledge that filled in the picture of my new marine surroundings.

American coots on land and sea

I learned that cormorants can often be seen extending or flapping their wings on rocks or while floating on the water to dry them off, and that their flying that skips along the water is the most labored out of all water birds. I learned that the behavior of the first year juvenile California Gull we dubbed Bob is definitely out of the ordinary, with his constant and prolonged (I mean months) whimpering and pecking at the bird I assume is his mother. We can now identify him by his posture alone, but we usually don’t have to since his voice is distinct enough and detected before his visual presence is.

When we sailed down to Half Moon Bay last year, we were entertained by murre that popped down below the sea surface before we got too close. I learned that the murre can dive up to 600 feet to catch their prey, but I still can’t fathom it.

Birds of a Feather

Knowing of my interest in local birds, a marina employee suggested I volunteer for the Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count. That morning was supposed to be the coldest morning the San Francisco Bay Area had seen in 5 years, but it clearly was not, as I had seen 39 degrees on my morning walk just the previous week. The day’s temperatures stayed in the range of 42 to 45 degrees but I was prepared for the chill with my snowboarding gear including gator and gloves.

Crow near horses

They say the early bird catches the worm, and if you want to count those well-fed examples of efficiency, you should be out early as well. Though I was the youngest member of the 4-person team by over 10 years and the only person with less than 15 years of experience, I felt a kinship with my bird counting team of fellow nature lovers.

It turned out that my expanded knowledge of shorebirds since moving to Emeryville six months prior did not prepare me very well to identify the 50 species that we encountered during the Christmas count. I knew about 20 of them. They took me under their wings and shared information about how to identify and record what we were seeing, and what tools to use in the process, such as eBird and Merlin, both from Cornell.

At Thornton Beach looking south for birds

I fell into the role of spotter, saying things like, “There’s a brown smallish bird up the hill on the large bush, a little to the left,” and “I think that’s a blue jay.” My eagle eye was responsible for finding the brown pelican, merlin and orange-crowned warbler (that was actually all yellow.)

The knowledge and interests of my colleagues were very deep, but not wide. I shared information about the behavioral anomaly of Bob, and the gull expert on the team shrugged it off and changed the subject. When we saw a dog walker with 9 dogs (of course I counted, I was on a counting trip) I was curious to watch them and figure out how the human kept the unleashed dogs in sight. The others didn’t act like they even saw the dogs. When a walker with 11 dogs came around, I excitedly discussed how I thought they must have dog temperament interviews and specific selection criteria in order to make that situation work, and it became clear that the rest of my team wanted to move along to other bird-focused topics.

Great egret with snowy egret

Besides seaside locales and a shopping mall, we visited a cemetery, school, retirement home, and a park to do the counting in our assigned area. We found cowbirds in the horse corrals, great-tailed grackles in a parking lot, and hundreds of sanderlings on the beach. When we were finished with counting at our last location, the man with almost 60 years of birding experience said he was off to complete 9 other Christmas counts before the end of the year. That’s some dedication. It also helped me recognize that while I appreciate my foray into the world of birding, I will not be dedicating myself to it as a primary interest, but swooping into it when I see a particularly interesting specimen and when time allows.

Under My Wing

Right now my time allows for being outdoors and increasing the amount of exercise I get, so when I learned of The Audubon Society’s free birdwatching hikes, I figured I’d sign up for one occasionally.

Ethan taking a photo of the hummingbird on her nest

It was near the end of Ethan’s time off for winter break in January so I asked him (then when he declined, required him) to join me on a nature walk at Salesforce Park, a public urban park atop the 4^th story of the transit center connected with the Salesforce Tower, the tallest feature of the San Francisco skyline.

Twice a year for the previous eight years Ethan had chosen a unit of study to focus on at school, and a quarter of them had been related to flight: peregrine falcons, Blue Angels, paper airplanes, and engineering (with a focus on aviation) and he’s always been fond of birds, so I knew he’d eventually warm up to the idea. I’m sure that waking up early was his biggest objection, since he’s a teenager and such a night owl.

White crowned sparrow in urban park

Within a short period of time after arriving he became interested in what we were finding, and he was fascinated with the Anna’s hummingbird that flitted to and from her walnut-sized nest (see Instagram for the video). We learned that male hummingbirds don’t tend to the eggs, but we knew the bird’s gender by her coloring alone.

By the end of the event, we had exercised a bit, experienced a unique park, learned about a few species of birds, spent time outdoors, and spent time together. Next we walked a few blocks to get Mexican food that was being advertised through our olfactory receptors.

I envy birds their ability to fly and was reminded of my time hang gliding as a sport and for recreation. It was liberating to be free of the ground and pre-defined paths, to have a bird’s eye view of the landscape, and to feel like nothing was in my way. Being on the sea is a similar kind of freedom, though the realm is entirely different, definitely more wet. It represents not just the road less traveled, but the lack of a road at all, and a vast open stretch of possibilities for learning and adventure. Perhaps more than any other aspect of this new lifestyle, I enjoy the connection with nature that is so much more direct and apparent.

It’s not a surprise that our cruising plans may be impacted by weather. In fact, if they weren’t it would be an indication that we were not paying Mother Nature the respect she deserves, and we’d suffer the consequences of this recklessness pretty quickly. Consequently, it’s well known that one should not set forth cruising plans on a schedule, but allow weather to dictate the specifics instead. Many a harrowing story has started with, “We needed to be there on time, but the weather didn’t cooperate,” and continues on to indicate that the journey occurred anyway and some less-than-ideal results were experienced.

Our Christmas Cruise was planned with all sorts of flexibility built in, contingencies and options to support decisions made closer to the time when we would have good information about the weather forecast. It started as a voyage to a different location each day, making the most of our opportunity to sail or motor around, and maximizing our unique destination experiences. However, as the date came closer, it became clear that the weather was going to be a bigger player than we’d thought. The forecast was for 8 days of rain to start a day after we left, and local news outlets were touting this weather event to put this year in the top 10 of precipitation years on record for the area. When we woke up the morning we left it was 39 degrees.

We huddled while we walked around in the cold

No problem, I thought, we needed to practice sailing in the rain and cold anyway. When we’re cruising the world we’ll need to sail through all sorts of weather, and it’s great to have the opportunity to gain experience and confidence in our local cruising grounds first, right? Right.

While moored without a connection to power at Angel Island in the past we’d learned that our batteries couldn’t support our minimum electrical requirements for two nights, so I’d made plans to stay at an anchorage every other night and at marinas for the others in order to get the recharge needed without having to use the diesel-powered generator. This would take us to three different marinas and four anchorages over the week. As I learned about the possibility of really strong winds, I made arrangements with the marinas for flexibility on either side of our scheduled stays so we could work around any weather we’d rather not anchor in.

Erin Skye in Clipper Cove

Our first night we anchored at Clipper Cove at Treasure Island, a new destination for us. It was a beautiful anchorage, with only two other boats giving us plenty of room to maneuver and claim our own space. We used the dinghy to get to shore and walked around the tiny man-made island to get a feel for it, noting lots of construction, traffic, and a few unique establishments like a winery, a gin distillery, and a restaurant made from shipping containers. Returning before 4:00pm when the dinghy dock closed, we spent the afternoon in leisure, practicing a variety of movements with a remote control water drone, observing sea birds, playing Canasta, eating chili, and appreciating our beautiful view of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. But, we did this all in the cold.

Ethan confusing the birds with his water drone

We usually run an electric heater in the saloon when it’s cold, but without a connection to shore power, and knowing that our batteries were not in great condition, we opted not to use much of our battery power for heat. The down blankets worked pretty well overnight, but in the morning we all agreed that this week in the winter wasn’t the best time to spend at anchor in the San Francisco Bay. A few phone calls later, the rest of our week was firmly scheduled at marinas.

Cream of chicken and wild rice soup to warm us up!

So, we ended up visiting 3 marinas and one anchorage during the week. Spending more time in one location was much more relaxing than moving every day, and we got to investigate the local surroundings, visit friends, and get to know the ports we visited more than we would have otherwise. Being cruisers means getting used to changes in plans and learning to adapt quickly so we can take advantage of the opportunities those changes present. Our week was full of connection, down time, wonder, and learning, and I’m glad that Mother Nature helped us experience the opportunities we did.

The boat of our friends Wayne and Harriet showing its festive colors for the holidays

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.