Looking for a Catamaran Cruising Blog?

If you found this blog via a link from a cruising site ~ we did cruise Mexico on our Ocean 49 cat for a season. See the first text box on the right for links to our preparations, trip down Baja, life in Mexico, cruising and trip back up to SoCal. Unfortunately we are back to the grind in the USA...

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Chaos on the Water

Happy Boxing Day!
This year we were lucky enough to find the Sydney to Hobart race live on the internet.
We get to save Alaskan Dave Down Unda a bunch of pesos in postage!
And since it goes on for eons a couple of days, we can follow the placement of the boats on Google Earth.I personally think these people are insane...
Wet, cold, too long, all night long, maybe all night long the next day, folding wet spinnakers, heeling over, did I mention wet?, little or no sleep, did I mention cold?, crazy area of the ocean and did I mention too long?
I like to race sailboats.
For about 3 hours.
Maybe 5.
Then I am done.
Want to be at The Yacht Club.
Any Yacht Club.I did mention too long, didn't I?
Look how far away from the finish line they are and they have already been sailing for over 24 hours!
Hell on water.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Parade of Lights ~ 2009 ~ Ventura Style!

First a beautiful sunset!




A really beautiful one!





Then the cockpit party lights get turned on!


Then the massive pile-up of parade boats right behind our boat (we are at the starting line).

Then "Island Adventure" of Island Packers goes by.
Keith and Alex, where is my ice cream?Then we chat with Terry and Erik of "Mija" who we met in Mexico but I fail to take a picture of them.

Then we watch a really cool boat go by!Unfortunately our new slip is further away from the boats, but we don't have to fend any of them off or get hit anymore...
A tradeoff that works.

Then we watch a GREAT fireworks show!And being further away don't have to worry about East wind fallout and burning embers...

Then we go to sleep, wake up and do it all over again!
YAAAYYYYY!
Exhausting.



Chris finally gets his party lights!






Bigger pile-up on the second night!Bibiana and Mike make it a second time tradition.The Killions join us - yay!
Andy, Tina, Jack and Carly the Irish Step Dancing Girl, who entertained us!




Too much fun this night!
Great fireworks again.
More friends visit.
A harbor cruise in Andy & Tina's boat.



And the next morning...

Evidence!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Gearing Up for Our Two Nights of Parade of Lights!

Ventura has not one, but two nights of parades!
Always the best party of the year in the harbor!
Well, of course, because we always have a party.
Each night.
Then on Sunday we are wiped.

OK!
Food?
Check.
Christmas lights up?
Check.
Wine?
Check.
Water?
Check.
Friends?
Check.
Beer?
Check.
Wind supposed to blow tonight?
Check.

Snacks?
Check.
Warm clothes?
Check.
Stan?
Check.
Boat cleaned?
Uh sort of, not really.
Pigeon poop everywhere, but luckily the view is off the stern this year...
Decorations up inside?
Check.
Peppermint schnapps?
Check.
Forgetting something?
Check.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Horse Trough Hillbilly Tub! Bathtub!

Ok so the best thing in the world happened to me tonight.
My husband gave me an early Christmas present.
A horse trough.
A tub.
A real live well not live, but plastic bathtub.
Hot water.
I can submerge.
I can get warm in the winter.
I can take a bath whenever I want and not have to rent a hotel room.
Seriously, I now have a bathtub on my boat!
Back in a minute, I gotta go look at it again!
I came home to an excited husband telling me to take of all my clothes.
No, get your mind off of that!
I came home to a full tub.
105 degree water.
Glass of zinfandel on the bathroom counter.
Disneyland (RIP Roy Disney!) lights on.
Christmas music in the background.
And proceeded to spend 45 minutes in sheer liveaboard heaven.

Monday, December 14, 2009

The Weekend

Ah yay, finally Friday!
Laugh that my 15 year old niece cut me (and the rest of the reptiles relatives) off of spacefacebook.
Ponder that for awhile and think she has poor timing.
Duh? Right before Christmas? Guess I will not order that Maserati I was going to get her for her 16th birthday.
Dinner.
Rain.
Rain.
Rain.
Saturday morning.
Rain
Laundry.
Rain.
Thrift stores.
Rain.
Rain.
Rain.
Laundry.
Grocery store.
Rain.
Laundry.
Dinner.
Rain.
Movie.
Rain.
Rain.
Sleep.
Rain.
Rain.
Wind.
Laundry.
Laundry.
Vacuum.
Wind.
Wind.
Wind.
Dinner.
Sleep.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Christmas Decorating Boat Style




Being creative with my Sea of Cortez beachcombing finds.

"Passage II" Passage Completed!

Bad propagation this morning, but I did understand "Passage II" was just rounding the arch at Cabo San Pucas Lucas!
I thought they were going into San Jose del Cabo, which would mean another 20 miles of motoring, but they want to get in, get anchored and sleep go out and have a celebratory dinner!

So congratulations to Jim C., LLLLucy and Jim D. for making it from Point A, Ventura, Alta California to Point B, Cabo San Pucas Lucas, Baja California Sur!

With only a few sidetracks.
One, a summer in San Diego for health stuff and hanging out until "Meerkat" came back up Baja so they could play with us and lend us their car and eat and visit and come see us in Ventura twice and blah, blah, blah.

Two, a few weeks in Ensenada after catching a 3/4" long line on their keel in crap 35 knots of wind and some strong seas ~ same time as the J-World boat hit a whale and sunk ~ and doing an accidental gybe and ripping the gooseneck out of the mast.

So success for them!

And me?
Besides being cold?
It's officially time to listen to the best Christmas cd ever.
Over.
And over.
And over.
Several times a day.

Sing along!

"Last Man At The Party"

Sister Bridget by the stair... a glass of wine and she's almost there.
Cousin Jimmy at the door... another beer and he's on the floor.
Friends and neighbours come around,
waste no time we're heaven-bound.
But not before we raise a glass to good camaraderie.

Stinky Joe from down the street fell right over his own three feet.
He's doubled up in the outside loo, to taste again the devil's brew.
Friends and neighbours come around,
waste no time we're heaven-bound.
But not before we raise a glass to good camaraderie.

So make yourselves jolly under mistletoe, holly and ivy.
Get to it - and be in good cheer.
And when it's all over... pigs gone to clover -
Will the last man at the party wish me a happy New Year.

The house is jumping, suppers up. Curried goat in a paper cup.
Forks of plastic, knives of tin... who cares what state the goat is in.
Someone with the gift of song
has brought his pal to sing along.
Now they're turning up old Frank Sinatra on the stereo.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Santa Maria, Bahia Magdalena & Post Reunion Reunion

Well we are all having fun!
Some of us are just a hell of a lot warmer than the other of us.
The warm ones?

Jim C., Little Lovely Lucy Lowe and Jim D. on "Passage II" enroute from Bahia Magdalena to San Jose del Cabo.

But first a night in Bahia Santa Maria.
A night in Bahia Magdalena.

A hike across the sand dunes from Mag to Santa Maria.
Fuel from Gregorio, the port captain at Man-o-War Cove.
Provisions from Gregorio too.

And now they are doing their last overnighter of the trip!

Me?
I am the cold one.
But hey! I don't have to do a nightwatch tonight...

But I did get to have a girl's night at Shirley's last night!
Several of us from Junior High and High School got together for a post reunion reunion.
One that we could hear each other talk.
When we could get a word in edgewise.
And one that we could run around the kitchen counter really fast to all get in the picture...Lisa Stadler Dobson of "Blue Aweigh" (also lives on a boat and cruises! Saw her in La Paz!), Liz Bentz Luciani (I have now officially forgiven her for being a turd to me in school), Lisa #2 in the background, Shirley Henderson Rhoads (thanks for a lovely evening in your lovely home!), Lesa (sort of Lisa #3) Jensen, LaDene Steeno Morrison (slippers...), moi, Sherry Vasquez McCarthy squeezing in (I ran faster than Sherry...)

Loads of stories.
Loads of laughs.
Loads of Shirley being related somehow to 94% of Ventura.
Snacks.
Wine.
More stories.
Broken dish.
Hold the dogs back from the broken dish.
More laughs.
More relatives of Shirley.
I thought I was bad.
Wine.
More stories.
More laughter.
More remember her, remember him?
More stories.
Drinks.
Pet the dogs.
Tall tales.
More snacks.
Shoe sizes.
Tall girls.
One cartwheel.
One dog poop.
Everyone exhausted today.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Moving Right Along...


Jim, Jim and LLLLucy are now in San Juanico.
Sort of the bottom of the middle bight hops.
Tomorrow the long stretch to Bahia Santa Maria.
Then on to Bahia Magdalena.

Me?
Still in Ventura.
Saturday I spent hours washing and scrubbing the exterior of the boat.


Still spots of grime, dirt and pigeon poo.
Death to pigeons!

Sunday I spent on the interior of the boat.
Scrubbing the walls.
Changing sheets.
Washing the window coverings.
De-molding the starboard hull.


Killing pigeons.
Scrubbing the overhead.
Hanging the Christmas lights.
Throwing away old food.
Organizing things.
Blah, blah, blah.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

"Passage II" Passaging Down The Bight

Yay for the single side band once again.
Sure makes staying in touch with Jim easy!
When he did the trip down with Dave & Kellie on "Sweet Lorraine", I had to go over to Ariel's boat at 6 am to use his ssb.
Talk about not convenient.
And talk about giving the neighbor's something to talk about.

They left Turtle Bay this morning, heading for Asuncion.
About 50 miles.
They already have about 15 knots of wind on their stern.
Hopefully it doesn't pick up too much for them.
We had 35-40 knots of wind last night (all night long) here in the Ventura Harbor.
Not so fun.
Apparently it is going to continue here...
There are white caps behind my boat at 8:30 in the morning...
Ugh.

Anyway, they have three stops planned for the next three nights and my have to hide out for a day or two in one of them.


Asuncion.
Abreojos.
San Juanico.

Deja vu.

Friday, November 27, 2009

G Dock in Bahia Tortugas

Well the gang's all here there.
Except me.
"Passage II" (the boat Jim is on) arrived in Turtle Bay yesterday afternoon after a nice beam reach down the Dewey Channel.
Gotta love light offshore winds!
Marathon sleep for Little Lovely Lucy Lowe, Jim. C. and Jim D. last night.
And today?
They get to play with "Nuki Nuki" "Char Ann" because they are anchored in the bay too!Plans are to go into town.
Taking me Flat Heather in for photo ops.
Then Thanksgiving dinner on "Passage II".
The five of them: LLLLucy, Jeannine, Jim, Jim and Jim.
Jim B. should go by his other name today, "Phil" to lessen the confusion.
"Hey Jim, would you please pass the potatoes to Jim?"
"No Jim, not that Jim, this Jim."
Reminds me of that movie, "Heathers".

And me?
Washing the sheets.
Maybe scrub the floor.
Make a chafe guard for the transom out of a fender I dumpster dove for.
Work on getting out of this slight depression I am in.
Thanksiving wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
My chemo sick sister was sick in the restaurant yesterday.
And on the way back home.
So what to be thankful for?
Uh cancer attacking a second sibling?
AAAGGGHHHHH!!!!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

While The Cat's Away...

The wife will play.
The wife (that would be me) will not cook meat.
The wife will eat popcorn or salad for dinner.
The wife will watch chick flicks.
The wife will not have to converse once she has left the office.
The wife will not have to make the bed when she gets up, because it's pretty much made when she gets out of it.

So where is the cat Jim?
He is onboard "Passage II" probably anchored at Cedros Island South of Ensenada and North of Turtle Bay.
Hanging with Jim C. and Little Lovely Lucy Lowe.
Helping them out.
Keeping them safe.
Preventing the exhaustion that comes with double-handed sailing.
Being waited on hand and foot by LLLL.
Listening to all the books he downloaded to his phone.
Showing them the Baja Coast.
Reading.
Going downwind (yay!).
Sailing.
Cruising.
Motoring.
Checking systems.
Drinking a few beers while at anchor.
Enjoying some quality time with awesome friends.
Living!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

High School Reunion!

Oh yay ~ or oh no, a bunch more years went by!
My five year nope that's not right, my ten year no, twenty year oh crap it was my thirty year high school reunion.

Yep, I am officially old I had a blast!
Friday night was a cocktail party at Aloha (how convenient one of our classmates is an owner of Aloha!) with great appetizers, awesome service, loads of laughter and a lot of fun!

So let's just look at pics.
Lots of them.

Christy & Nancy.






Liz & me. See how nice she is being to me?
She was making up for being such a turd to me in high school!

Ah, finally someone Jim knows ~ Chuck, our stockbroker.
We keep him real busy with our $32 we have in stocks...
Chuck married LaDene, who always had the locker above mine.
She was tall.
I was short.
We would trade if I got the top one.
Worked out.
She must still like me, because they gave us a ride home that night.
After I lost her slippers.
Long story.
Tangent.
Ignore this part.

Uh who else was there?Crazy David Ortiz, Tall LaDene, Ron, me (I had tall shoes on, which is why I had LaDene's slippers on later) & Nancy.
I have two of my all-time favorite people on each side...


Then we went to The WaterMark with Dianne.
Jim had a Scotch on the cool lit from inside bar.


Then to some gen duh bar Goode.Then my face hurt from smiling and laughing.
Then home to prepare for night #2 ~ the official reunion!



To give Jim an "out" during the evening, I rented a hotel room.

There is something so decadent about renting a hotel room all of 4 miles from your home.

Ohhhh... bathtub!

Pre-reunion glass of vino in our room with Janet, Karl, Debbie, Chuck, LaDene & Jim.

Ok, more pics.
Jim & Debbie (who married my good pal, Karl) ~ sailors and cruisers too!





Rob, me & Nina.

She is another one of my all-time fav humans!

When she was six she spent the night at my house.
It was her first time not sleeping at home.
She basically cried all night.
She survived.
And apparently still tolerates likes me!


Uh, who else?
Jennifer!
Nooo!
This is CeCe who crashed the party!
She was a year ahead of us so she just posed as Jennifer...

Oh yay ~ another crasher!
So to explain, there were two big high schools in my town, Buena & Ventura.
Makes sense, right as the hometown is called San Buenaventura?
Well, and the Catholic high school, but most of them had bailed by that time and were at public schools with us.
So both high schools held their 30 year reunions at the same hotel on the same night.
How cool was that?
One of my best rival high school friends, Dawn crashed!So my face was starting to hurt from smiling and laughing about this time.
Jim had left.
He was half undressed on the bed in the hotel room, tv on.
Beer open.
Better.

Nina, Charnell, Linda & me.




Debbie, Karl & me.





Nina & me.
Still a favorite.




Ron & me.
Another favorite.






Ok, this is really, really late.
We are all really, really tired.And our faces all really, really were hurting from smiling and laughing.
Which is why I have a grimace on my face.
Don't notice the flip flops please...

So much fun!
Huge, giant thanks to all who put so much effort and time and energy into making this such a great weekend!