Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Weather and shipping

Our progress toward departure has been slow and steady. Now, we're in the final stages, ready to go,..... and, the weather looks iffy, also, the shipment of our radar bracket won't be here until Friday!
Patience....patience...patience!  Our motto is, we'll leave when we're ready; not before. There are always more details to take care of, and, things to check. Hopefully,weather permitting, we'll set out this weekend. The only thing we know for sure, is that things can change; so, no worries... we'll be on our way soon!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

1st sail in a while!

Well, it's been a hectic few weeks, but finally, we got her out on the water again.
Last week our friends, Mark, Tom, Pam, and their dogs Ziggie and Cokie, all made the trip down to Rocky Point. On Friday, we got Toms boat Sovereign in the ocean for the first time!
We had an enjoyable, and uneventful sail for about three hours.Once we returned to shore we came to the realization that we had arrived in Rocky Point, the same time as the largest Harley Rally of the year. It was loud everywhere! 
So, on Saturday, we headed out again with both boats; we got pictures under sail, headed up to Sandy Beach to anchor for the night, and have some burgers.
The next morning, we rafted up for breakfast, in total calm conditions. Of course, just before the eggs were ready, the wind came up, and started pushing us toward shore! After rushing through breakfast, we untied, and set sail. The conditions were perfect! We buddy sailed for several hours, and started heading back to the marina. Tom elected to stay out a little longer... like 10 minutes, before the wind started getting stronger, and he decided to follow our lead. The channel coming into the harbor is not marked at all, due to shifting sandbars. At one point we were in 7.8 ft., with shallow water alarms going off!
Unfortunately, Tom found the sandbar twice; but managed to get off, and make it into the marina.
The new Yamaha started up and ran fine. We also managed to get our Radar, and storm anchor on board. Driving across the border into Mexico is always thrilling; will we get a green light, or red; and get searched? Green light!! We got everything unloaded, and had a great weekend with friends. We managed to sail, party, have some good meals, and get ourselves back to Arizona.
So, we're back in Scottsdale, making the final arrangements to set out again. Just a few more things to do, and we'll be on our way.