Clawing North to San Diego

As I write this, we are clawing our way north towards San Diego. Yes, San Diego where my brother has a dockslip waiting for us and US Customs is awaiting our arrival. They were terrific to chat with on the phone and I don’t expect any issues clearing back in.

As I was recently reminded - read this in a crusty, old salt’s voice - Yup, Northing is Tuff. No shit Sherlock. 

Some of the other Puddle Jumpers who left 4 days before us are heading to Hawaii. It’s not the 2500 mile crossing to the islands that makes that a no go option for us. Heck, that’s what we came out here to do! It’s the uncertainty of another island... It would be at least 3 weeks to get there... what is said now about it being fine to go there may not be the case then. We want a bit more of certainty.

We have 900 miles to go and it will be at least a week. There are bigger winds at the Baja Coast so we are staying 300 miles offshore to avoid them. Typically, we would just duck in to a cove in big winds. But these are not typical times and we cannot enter or go in to Mexico. That coast has 2 Mexican Navy patrols so we just can’t take that chance.

Sailors will understand the challenge we face this coming week. So, the winds are from the NW and pretty strong. Waves are their usual ocean size - GIGANTIC (just my humble opinion here). So, we have to tack back and forth. If you look at our track, you’ll see it looks like a stair step. Head as close to north as we as we can on the west tack which eventually takes us about 20 miles off course. Then we can only try to go perpendicular to our course to get back to it. It’s complicated and a sailing thing.

Spirits are good onboard and the more we hear of the issues on land the more we appreciate the beauty and freedom out here. The water is a remarkable indigo blue, we get a dolphin show once a day and its sunny and warm. It’s hysterical to try to walk with a 20 degree constant heeling of the boat. And, cooking... well lets just say its a challenge. We are so happy to have Kris with us! He is a calming influence and a darn good ukulele player! One of his notable sayings is “Love What Is”. I really, really try to do that when I look at the big waves but...

Folks are asking us through emails and text messages what we will do next. Most who know me know that I like a plan! But, honestly we have no real pulse for how things are at home. We are focused on our task at hand - get the three of us and Salpare back to the US. 

Feel free to email us at sharps@myiridium.net; we would love to hear from you. No pics please - its already slow enough on our SAT phone. Or comment on this post and Carolyn will send them to me. These are the types of things that I love to read while on my 10pm to 2am watch.