Logistics

From:  Ronald Kerver
Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2012 6:56 PM
zil, tell me again about trip logistics.  who is on the boat?  Weren't you and Mark?  who is sailing it to Sandiego?Then what? send pics, too.  Love Ro



From: Liz Barrish
Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2012 10:22 PM

Hey Roland,

Its all very complicated. We are creating the plan as we go along. Nothing is decided until it happens. It took an enormous amount of time (and money) to get our boat seaworthy. I had no idea what we were getting into, especially since our boat has already made this journey several times (at least to San Diego) with the previous owner. But Mark and Lawrence went over the boat with a fine toothed comb and we repaired sails, bought spares, bought new batteries, bought new solar panels and a power monitoring system, serviced the engines, repaired our cracked bimini support, installed a new bimini top to mount our new solar panels, installed new lines throughout the boat including new jack lines (to attach to a safety harness when out at sea), had the engines serviced, bought an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon for which George Kerver and Paul Barrish are our Emergency contacts), bought a new radar and fish finder, had the boat hauled out, cleaned and re-painted the bottom, bought a new dinghy engine, bought a second propane tank, bought a new liferaft, installed a new anchor system including splicing a bridle together, etc. etc. Some stuff I don't even know about. Plus, we had limited time to clean the boat, buy a few new dishes and serving utensils more suitable to a long cruise, and fully stock the boat with food and supplies. It is FUN but we've been burning the candle at both ends for awhile.

Soooooooo, back to your question about logistics. The weather has been great, meaning incredibly calm seas so we took the absolute first opportunity we had to start moving the boat down to San Diego which is where the organized part of our trip begins. Last weekend, the boat was finished at the 2nd boatyard on Thursday so our friend Michael Sevy and Mark brought the boat home from the North Bay back to Coyote point which is where we've been keeping our boat (for a little over a year now, we bought it July 2011). We wanted to leave our boat somewhere in San Francisco but with the America's Cup Racing events and Fleet Week (Blue Angels) and music concerts etc, every marina in the city was on complete overload. So the very next day (which was last Friday), we (Mark and Liz) sailed north to San Francisco, west out under the Golden Gate Bridge and south to Half Moon Bay. Our boat has been in Half Moon Bay for a week while we finished provisioning (including Halloween costumes and candy etc). Lawrence and our friend Michael Sevy were not available last weekend so Mark and I sent Amanda to Bebe's house for a sleepover and we made the trip ourselves getting the boat at least in the Pacific Ocean (instead of in the Bay).

Now we are pushing to get the boat to San Diego so thus a new crew consisting of Mark, Lawrence and our friend Michael Sevy just left this past Friday evening from Half Moon Bay to Morro Bay where our friend Kevin Mulholland lives. Don't tune out yet, it gets more complicated. So our friend Michael Sevy is just enjoying helping us get the boat down to San Diego (he's the guy I recently took sailing lessons with) but he will not be on the organized portion of our trip. But our friend Kevin Mulholland will actually be going on the organized part of the trip with us. Kevin is an ocean fisherman (a builder who once was a commercial fisherman), a great surfer, and a guy with a lot of ocean knowledge but no specific sailing experience. He is bringing gear to get us fish (especially Amanda) and my recipes are designed around "just add fish." Now that the boat is within a few hours of anchoring in Morro Bay, the plan is to leave it there for a week. The guys (Mark, Lawrence, Michael Sevy) will rent a car and drive home for work and drive back to Morro Bay next weekend (likely).

From Morro Bay, Kevin will be onboard for the duration (I haven't quite explained that part yet but I'm getting to it). Also, if you're still awake, Lawrence's friend (and our friend too) Andrew McMullin will join us at some point, at least by San Diego.

Which brings me to the organized portion of our trip.  We are signed up to do the 19th annual Baja Ha-Ha (http://www.baja-haha.com) which is a rally (not a race) with 150 boats, 14 of which have children on board that we hope to meet. The event is from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas Mexico approximately 750 miles. The event starts in San Diego with a Halloween Costume Party and BBQ in the parking lot of a West Marine boating supply store and then a kick-off parade of boats on October 29th and ends in Cabo San Lucas on November 10th. There are only 2 stops along the way, Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria which have beautiful beaches and protected anchorages for lots of boats. This crazy organized event is how some people start their cruising adventures to other parts of the world.

Once we get to Cabo San Lucas (the very tip of the Mexican Baja peninsula), we have loose plans to then head North into the Sea of Cortez to La Paz (approximately 150 nm) where we will make arrangements to leave our boat and fly home. During the next few months (Christmas 2012 and the new year 2013) we are hoping to fly down to Mexico and have more adventures exploring and fishing. Eventually, we might hire someone to bring our boat home, beating into the wind. However, Lawrence and/or Mark might be convinced to do the journey themselves. But in that case, they might just decide to sail away to a new location.

Glad you asked about trip logistics. It is a work in progress. We are scrambling to have fun. So if you lost track, there will be 6 of us on the Baja Ha-Ha (Mark/Liz/Amanda/Kevin/Lawrence/Andrew) from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. We have a LOT of luxuries onboard including solar powered refrigeration and freezer compartments plus DC power outlets for our computers and phones. However, we will likely be out of range with no cell service. I am experimenting with a blog and you might see it soon. I have no idea what it will take to update it.

Below is the latest from BLUEWATER: I have completely lost track of who received what updates and it is all scrambled. Enjoy!
Liz

p.s. You'll get photos eventually. Questions?