We moved aboard S/V Sweet Dreams four days ago and sailed across the Sea of Cortez. We have been anchoring in pristine aqua-water coves as we make our way down the Baja coast toward Cabo, from where we will launch out into the Pacific Ocean.
It feels good to be off of dirt and rock and instead to roll on ocean water. (Well, the rolling didn't feel so good the other night when it was big and mixed up and making me puke). Even so, it feels good to finally GO!
The last five weeks have been full of accomplishments and setbacks. Two steps forward one step back, as we prepare to depart for a sailing journey across the Pacific Ocean. A sailboat is complicated, with electronic systems, plumbing systems, sailing systems, engines, and mechanical and structural issues. And when it is going to be your home and your means of transportation for weeks on end in the ocean, making sure that all systems are more than OK is critical. Thus, the to do list grows and grows and needs to be thoroughly completed. Not any time for sleeping or relaxing.
Preparing for something like this makes the actual journey itself feel like the reward, the easy part. The "work" involved once actually sailing involves taking shifts at the helm through the night, checking engine systems, changing sails, cooking for the crew, tracking the weather and plotting our course. It may mean lots of time to read and nap. Stargazing and sunrise/sunset and wildlife viewing. I don't mean to sugar-coat it, for it may also mean days on end of weathering a storm and not sleeping much but even a storm will eventually come to an end.
After weeks of preparation, this ocean-bound lifestyle feels simple and refreshing compared to the massive amounts of planning, organizing, preparing, hauling, tweaking, fixing, installing, painting, sweating and tearing that have comprised the weeks leading up to departure.
So for now we relax, knock off a few more to do items, and wait for the perfect weather window to cross.
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