December 7, 2014 - Ensenada Mexico

Buenos Dias from Mexico!

Customs and Immigration was most of Friday and very confusing.  Well, we did sit in the marina office waiting for about an hour and a half for the harbormaster to help us even get started.  Then it was off to the immigration/customs/bank/port master office.   I cannot imagine it without Enrique from the Cruise Port here in Ensenada or someone else to help.  Anyway, the waiting brought us together with other families on the same adventure south so that was time getting to know them a bit better.  Now we feel part of a family of cruisers moving south.

The process at customs and immigration went like this.  Go to desk 1.  Get immigration forms.  Fill out immigration forms.  Go back to desk 1.  Have them review.  Go to Banco (another desk 10 feet away) and pay immigration/visitor visa fee.  Go back to desk 1 and let them see receipt.  Immigration provides visitor visa and stamps the passport.    Immigration - Check!  Get number from Port Master (thanks Enrique for just giving to us).  Wait until number is called although there never seems to be a real number being yelled.  Steve goes up to validate that we have not been called yet.  When finally our turn, they take more paperwork and send Steve over to Banco (remember 10 ft away) so that he can pay port fee.  We did not have to go back to the Port Master desk, I think Enrique did that for us.  Then we had to go to Customs, just 10 feet another direction and desk.  Fill out the forms you see from an airplane visit.  Another stamp or something it all seems a blur and we are done.  All of that took about 4 hours, if you include the wait time back at the marina office.

We met tonight with a wonderful group of cruisers.  Many are actually from the Pacific Northwest and Washington which seems like we live in such a small world.  Anyway, we met and had dinner.  A couple and their two year old had to leave to take their son for a stitch or two to is head, he fell while we were waiting for the group to congregate in it's entirety.  Our kids are feeling quite bad since they were playing with him when he took the fall.  Many of us are leaving tomorrow but all on slightly different schedules with circumstances.  Everyone is taking precautions to be safe.  There is some serious weather coming by the end of the week.

Art in Mexico.  This was about "Responsibilities"
Cindy and Kevin could relate to this.  Their schooling
has been turned 180 from what they know a school year to be.

hummm....

Our slip in Cruiseport Marina!  Ensenada

We are leaving December 7th for the longest transit yet for us, motoring from Ensenda to Turtle Bay.  We expect 45 hours of motoring to get there before a storm will probably keep us there through the weekend.  Back at our group dinner tonight the group spent the last 45 minutes or so reviewing the weather forecasts, sailing plans, and when we will all be together again.  It was a very fun evening, and a REALLY nice group of people.  It will be fun to spend more time together in Turtle Bay,

December 4, 2014 - Fall Home School

So everything is not just fun and games here on Adagio. We have home school, not every day and not specifically on the weekdays but it is happening.  Thought I would share some of the more recent work of the kids. Now, Art is not necessarily meant to distract the teacher from the subject of the day, the kids just thought that would make things interesting.  It is quite fun.  Here are some of the pictures and their thoughts about it all that you will see in their art.

Traditional school- when the kids are at the same table (does not always work so well).
Separation is best but sometimes heat or other situations make it best to be so close!

Home Boat school - EPIRB operation (major emergency situation)

Home Boat School - VHF radio operation

Kevin and Cindy people drawing using geometric shapes.  Think you can tell which one drew each?

Who is this?  Self portrait and all done for fun., not for school but I thought it was cool......

What do you think she is seeing?

nice flowers to distract the teacher!

A pirate ship to distract the teacher......

they keep trying!

Stories now in their lessons......

Stories are now appearing to distract from the lesson of the day.

Enough said.  The kids would rather be out playing!

December 4, 2014 - Goodbye USA

Well, tonight is the night!  We are leaving here for Ensenada tonight.  We wanted to give thanks to some of those who helped us make our vessel a home.  Please do not be offended if we did not include you in this list.  There are many people that have been a part of our journey physically and emotionally.
*    To Frank Liddel who spent many hours creating spaces for us to sleep and to store our many belongings.  Your woodworking skills are incredible!
 *   To Chet and Terry Whitney from Sagle Idaho and the Floorshow store who helped us quickly purchase and choose the right blinds.  When a piece was missing they even got that to us prior to leaving.  These are easy to use and have already helped keep the sun and heat out, and therefore us cool!  I think we could have used some of Terry's interior design skills to bring more color to our salon, we are quite beige!
*    To Carol Lopushok, from Montana, who sewed three sets of sheets and mattress covers for our bunk room.  There is not a normal angle on any of the three bunks and she was able to do it without even seeing the boat!  The kids continue to switch and move around in the beds and the sheets are all working well!
*    To John Hill who gave Steve a generator water pump repair kit.  It has already been used as it was needed here in San Diego.
*    To all of the boaters and worldwide travelers in our circle; thank you for your knowledge, it has helped and continues to help us.

The transit down the coast started with anxiety about crossing ocean bars.  Now we have new ones to make us nervous.  The main two right now are weather and customs.  We will miss the NOAA forecasts as they are only available in the US.  Tomorrow is customs and immigration which I imagine will be fine since we will use the marina staff to help us through it.  We know of 5 other sailboats headed in tomorrow as well so they will be busy.  We are all traveling overnight tonight and everyone will try to keep tabs on one another.  I guess they close by 2:30pm on Fridays so we are preparing to arrive early.   We should have wifi at the marina in Ensenada.  After leaving Ensenada, it may be Cabo before we post again, we are just not sure.  It looks like we will have several long passages ahead with several being overnight.

Happy holidays to everyone.  We hope you are in the spirit of the season!

Attessa coming into dock last night.  Imagine seeing this coming at you!  250ft long and she was backing in.
I noticed it always seem these mega yachts come and go in the dark.  Less attention by people maybe?

Attessa is backing in.  Less than 5 ft from us or so, we could have jumped on board.
They did have crew with a HUGE fender at their stern watching us closely.

This gives perspective.  Kids and I are headed off to Starbucks for wifi this afternoon on our bikes
so Steve took this of us just before leaving.

December 2, 2014 - San Diego - countdown

The weather here has turned much cooler since Thanksgiving when we enjoyed perfect 85 degree weather.  It is now in the upper 50's at night, and in the low 60's during the day.  Today a storm is rolling through and is expected to dump up to an inch of rain and sti up the winds.  We will wait for this system to pass before leaving for Mexico.

We are happy to report that Cindy is back to normal after her concussion of last week.  Phew, that was a scary few hours.

We are counting down now for leaving the USA.  We moved over to the Police dock one last time for final laundry, filling water tanks, and final preparations.  We will have to leave San Diego in the dark to make it to Ensenada during daylight hours. We expect to leave on Wednesday or Thursday night, middle of the night (as of now).  Remember that plans change so if we are sitting here longer than expected then there were probably a few low-priority items we decided to check off the list.

It is nice to be on the Police dock once again.  The A-9 Cruisers Anchorage is a bit rolly with all the boat traffic as well as noisy from the airport and flights all day long. They do not run late at night which is nice.  Finally, when the wind is just right the jet exhaust fumes can be quite noticeable. We were able to meet and spend a few wonderful days with a family sailing the Pacific.  They are a Dutchman, an Englishwoman and their two boys, ages 10 and 7.  They have spent the last two years living land-based lives in England, after spending 12 years on their previous sailboat exploring New Zealand, the South Pacific, and much of Asia.  After two years back in England, they decided land life was not for them and searched the world for a new boat, finding the one they wanted right here in San Diego.  They have been in America for a month now working on their 48' sailboat.  They are anchored in the same anchorage we have been in for the past few weeks (the A9 cruiser's anchorage) where you can stay for free for up to 90 days.  We will see them again in Mexico in a month or two.

We had a few fun days with our new friends.  One day we used our dinghy to let the kids go tubing, kneeboarding, and even a few attempts at water skiing and wake boarding.  Amazingly, our 12' dinghy with 2-stroke 25hp Yamaha was able to get Hons (the father in this sailing family) up waterskiing.  He was on two skis, doing a deep-water start, and it took a while for the boat to get up enough speed to get him up.  But it did it!  Kevin and the boys played Lego's quite a bit, on both boats.  Cindy got out our surfboard and paddled around our boats for a while too.  We got together with our friends for a few onboard movie nights as well.

Dylan and Kevin flying around the bay in the tube

Kevin goes knee boarding.  The other family's 48' boat behind.

Hey, it's my turn!!!

Towing Hons water skiing behind our dinghy

This afternoon we are running some last minute errands, like going to the bank to get some Mexican money, buying our Mexican fishing licenses, and Mexican Liability insurance, and hitting a Starbucks to access the internet.  Somehow, our laptop went berserk trying to synch our pictures to our cloud storage and totally used up our 10GB monthly data limit on our Verizon jetpack in just  one day.  So, we have had no internet on the boat for a few days now.  It's not worth upping our limit with Verizon, as we are likely going to be switching to a Telcel (Mexico's major cell phone company) plan in Mexico, which should be in a couple of days.

We hear that the Baja Naval Marina in Ensenada has free wifi.  If this is true will post an update after we clear customs into Mexico and get settled into the marina.

November 27, 2014 - San Diego - Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! 

Thanksgiving morning.  Going to be 85 degrees Fahrenheit today
in San Diego

We wish we could be with our friends and family this thanksgiving.  We miss home but at the same time are having a great adventure.


We are still in San Diego, due to some strange circumstances.  For the past few weeks we have been doing quite a bit of shopping, loading the boat with items we realized we were lacking after 3 months of living onboard, and/or we wanted to buy in America before we possibly could not find it in Mexico.  My parents have noted that it seems like partying all the time.  Well, life on a boat is not a constant party.  There are chores to do, homeschool, maintenance, planning, checking weather, figuring out what each new port has to offer, etc.  Since arriving in San Diego a few weeks ago we have been shopping almost every day when we had our car.  Unfortunately, despite attempts to avoid it (advanced notice to our credit card company), our credit card company has declined our card numerous times here in San Diego.  We have to call to verify our transactions, explain our travel plans, and answer a bunch of security questions designed to protect us.  Then, a few days ago, after being declined for the 3rd or 4th time, they informed us that we had to have new cards due to the recent Home Depot mass-compromise event.  OK, no big deal right?  Well, actually when you are living on a boat and have no permanent home address it is a big deal.  I (Steve) spent almost an hour on the phone working on getting our new cards.  We figured out that we could have them sent to a UPS store a few miles away, although this took manager approval from the credit card company.  They overnighted the new cards and Kathy rode her bike over the UPS store to retrieve them on Tuesday.  Well, guess what?  They only sent my card, not Kathy's, and my new card expires in a month!  In addition they have now deactivated our existing account so we can't even use it for shopping.  So, back on the phone for me, for another hour.  They say they overnighted new cards for us to the UPS store, but when Kathy and Kevin rode bikes over there yesterday afternoon, there were no cards.  Today is a holiday, so we won't be seeing our cards today.  Maybe Friday?  We will see.

The other thing that is keeping us here is that yesterday morning, right after breakfast while I was washing the dishes and Kathy was downstairs getting dressed for the day, Cindy took a fall in our pilothouse.  She was sitting on the top edge of the settee (like sitting up on the back of a couch) and she somehow lost her balance even though it was flat calm with no waves.  She fell backwards and the back of her head hit the windowsill and then she fell to the floor.  She popped up right away and other than being a little startled and scared she seemed fine.  Within about 10 minutes she was very tired and cold.  She laid down with a blanket and wanted to sleep.  Within about an hour she was becoming very confused and mumbling.  Classic symptoms of a concussion.  We watched her for another 15-30 minutes while we made some phone calls to walk-in clinics, and also looked up concussions on the internet.  Cindy was getting confused and couldn't explain what had happened in a coherent sentence so we decided it was time to see a doctor, just in case it continued to get progressively worse.  I called a cab and we got in the dinghy.  Before we could untie though, Cindy climbed out, went back in the boat and took off her life jacket.  It was very hard to convince her to get back into the dinghy.  She clearly was not herself.  In the cab she started to say she was going to throw up.  She didn't, but these are all the symptoms of a concussion.

We arrived at the Emergency room of a children's hospital about 10 miles from the boat and Cindy was immediately sent back to the ER doctor.  Kathy and Cindy were back there for more than two hours while they monitored Cindy's condition.  At about the 1 hour mark Cindy did throw-up in the examination room.  Unfortunately, she had yogurt and berries with breakfast so the mess was a  wonderful raspberry bright red color.  Kathy still can't figure out how so much vomit came out of her body, given how much she had to eat for breakfast.  Kathy says, it was a BIG mess!

The Children's Hospital we took Cindy to after
her fall and concussion.

The check-in counter for the emergency room.

As soon as Cindy threw up she felt much better.  When Cindy came back out to the waiting room she was back to her normal self.  Phew.  That was scary!  She has been instructed to take it easy for at least the next few days, perhaps up to a week.  They say she did indeed have a concussion.  We caught a cab back to the boat and we did take it easy for the rest of the day.

I am happy to report that today Cindy has been just fine.  She slept well last night and has been absolutely normal all day today.  We are taking it easy though, following doctors orders.

So, we are still waiting for our new credit cards, and we are monitoring Cindy's recovery from her concussion.  As a result, it is unlikely that we will leave San Diego until early next week.

San Diego is a beautiful city.  We are loving it here!

We are very thankful on this Thanksgiving that Cindy's fall was not more serious, and that the rest of us are all healthy and very much enjoying our family adventure.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We miss you all and stories and happenings from home.  Please share things as we are all missing our little La Conner town.

November 20, 2014 - San Diego Part 3

This past week we purchased the four day San Diego Go Pass from Costco.  We spent much of the four days out at attractions as part of the pass.  I believe the cost for two days at Sea World is close what we paid for all we did in four days, it was  definite bargain for us.  We spent hours trying to figure out our itinerary to maximize the 4-day pass.  On nomal days (without the pass) we are typically back to the boat by dark (5:00PM), but on our Go Pass days we were leaving by around 8am and returning between 6-8pm, in the dark.    All has been safe, but Zappa has been a bit lonely.  All of the below attractions were included with the pass.

Day 1, Monday's first stop was Legoland.  We had been there before but decided that this would be one stop the kids would really enjoy.  Especially since they had been talking about LegoLand for the past month.  We spent about three hours there before heading off to go kart racing at the Miramar Speed Circuit.

They had each of the main scenes from the Star Wars movies recreated in Legos.
  WOW! 

Life size Chewbacca, entirely made out of Legos.

After three hours there we sped off to Miramar Speed circuit for a race.  This was nice as we could all race together.  Kevin is still a bit small for the adult size karts and in other facilities we could not all race together.  It was just the four of us in the race which was nice (school kids were still in school).  Following that it was off to Boomers for a few rides and miniature golf.  They had two courses (not in great condition) and we played both of them.

This is the closest our kids have been to a school-house this school year.

That was the end of day 1, three stops with lots of fun.  This was the day we traveled the furthest and got to experience San Diego traffic, which I think rivals Seattle's infamous traffic.

Day 2 was all day at SeaWorld.  We also spent half of the next day at Seaworld, as we could not get through it all in one day.  It was great, there were NO lines for the rides. We saw all the shows and on the first day received a special surprise gift of a one hour "behind the scenes" tour just by being at the right place at the right time when two employees came up behind us and presented us with our tour certificates.

Mom and a baby (will turn 2 years old on valentines day)

Steve, Cindy, and Kevin on the Manta ride - I had to hold the backpack :) 

Steve, Cindy, and Kevin on the Manta roller coaster.
During the 2 days here Cindy and Kevin rode this about 20 times and sat
in every seat in every row!

Dolphin and Pilot whale show - the Christmas special

The Shamu show!  Not many people here this time of year.

The Shamu show.  SeaWorld has 10 whales and a baby expected next month

The Shamu show.  Wow!

 The backstage tour that we won was awesome.  It was an hour-long walking tour where we got to see the animal care facility.  There were several rescued sea lion pups (no Mom could be found) so they are being cared for and will be reintroduced into the wild when they can take care of themselves.  Below is a shot of Cindy and Kevin looking at a pool where a mom and baby dolphin were swimming.  They are really curious and came right up to take a look at us.  Did you know that dolphins can have one eye looking at you and the other in another direction?

Curious dolphins come to look at us

Following the care center we got to see the Humbolt Penquins which is a threatened species and not available for public viewing.  They are working to study and breed these penguins at SeaWorld.

Humbolt penguins.  We were the only people visiting the park
to see them today.

The final part of the tour was learning and feeding a turtle species; the Green Turtle.  It is named green not for it's color but because it's blood is green!

Cindy and Kevin at the turtle pool

Tree at entrance to SeaWorld

Beluga Whale tank.

Yes, that is real snow in SeaWorld and Cindy and Kevin on the little sled run!

Day 2 we came back and prepared for getting wet.  Cindy and Kevin went a second time
but said it was too light without Dad and I for a good ride.

Cindy and I on the Bayride at sunset, it was beautiful.  This is a chairlift-like
ride that takes you high above the water and over a marina.

Day 3 included SeaWorld but the morning was spent at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.  We spent two hours in the exhibits and then went to an iMax movie about the Nile river.

A catenary - the curve that an idealized hanging chain assumes under its own weight 

when supported only at its ends.  Cindy and Kevin built this one!    

Cindy and Kevin's image in low-resolution boxes.
There were lots of interesting exhibits in the "illusion
and vision" section of the museum. 

Day 4 started with turning in our car just after 8am and walking over to the Go Car.  We had a free half hour that we could use for it but decided to pay to have it be an hour.  What a fun adventure as the car told us about buildings, architecture and some history.  Kevin and I were in back so we did inhale some fumes from the front car but overall, it was a fun and informative hour.

Steve and Cindy in front just about ready to head along the waterfront.
These are registered as motorcycles.

Kevin and I in the back.  These things go up to 30mph.

Next up we walked over to the USS Midway Museum.  It is an Aircraft carrier that we have been looking at now for a week from our boat.  It was commissioned right after World War II and was decommissioned in 1992.  There are many facts about this ship that we would love to share but too much time for us to spend now.  Steve and I were excited to go aboard.  I realize it probably was not so but it sure seemed that most of the vessel was open for viewing.  We highly recommend this for anyone coming to San Diego.  It was HUGE!  The Audio Tour was a great benefit and they had two choices, one for kids, so we could choose what to listen to.  There is a device you hang around your neck and headphones plug into that.  You simply typed in the number for the audio tour when you arrived at a particular section and inform you about that area and even offer additional commentary from someone who was on the ship and working that part of it.  It was very well done and there were perhaps 100 audio segments aboard.  They had many planes and helicopters to tour as well.  You could sit in the cockpit of some of them too.  The Docents were incredible and many were retired military with experience at the area they were stationed. We listened to two talks, one on how they brought in aircraft and another on launching from the ship.  We also got a guided tour of the bridge and Captains quarters. We saw much of the ship, everything from the hospital/medical area to several of the galleys (kitchens), berthing (sleeping areas), heads (bathrooms), engine room, brig (jail) and so much more.  Each had audio tour information as well as informational boards telling about it's history.

Cindy and Kevin in the cockpit of a plane on the Hangar Deck

Kevin and Cindy on the Flight Deck

Kathy, Cindy, and Kevin on the flight deck,

We had a nice lunch at a waterfront restaurant and then a quick stop to the Maritime Museum.  We were able to tour a Soviet Submarine and as well a tall ship.  Back when it was in service this B-39 Soviet Submarine was most likely tracking some our our US ships that now are located here in San Diego.

Following that we took a quick tour of the "Star of India" ship.  It is 150 years old! Following that we walked about a block to go on a 1 hour tour-boat ride of the south bay.  Steve and I were once again excited to do this as we knew it would include much information about all of the Navy ships that we saw on our "Adagio" cruise through the bay a week ago.  The person narrating was x-navy and told us much about the ships as we passed by as well as other landmarks and information.  We were quite tired at the end of it all.  When we exited the ship there were bicycle powered taxi people offering up a ride. We really were not wanting to spend any money but were also very tired.  The gentleman negotiated a deal after stating that he too had kids.  Kevin had already gotten on his "bike" and rode it a few feet but had to get off since we had decided not to take the taxi.  30 seconds later the taxi driver agreed to our price so we all hopped on.  He could take us to the top of the ramp where our dinghy was tied up.  I felt bad to short change him and the ride was so much fun that we ended up giving him close to what he was asking for.  He had music, lights and a disco ball.   When we got off we all commented on that it was farther than we remembered so were glad to end the day and the four day pass with some music and lights.  Getting back to the boat at 6pm, we were exhausted.  Cindy asked if she could sleep in and we said yes but it is a school day.  The kids had not had school in a week.
 

Our crazy bike-taxi ride.  Music, disco ball, and lights!

Today we got back to school.  Cindy did three days in one day today.  Did she sleep in?  Nope, it was probably 6:30am again.  The daylight savings time change is a contributing factor to our early rising kids, plus we moved to the anchorage area next to the airport.  At 6:20am life at the airport seems to start with jets roaring down the runway.  There is also a major construction project off the point here this is in full swing by 7:00AM with air powered tools, hammering, sawing, and construction workers yelling over the noise.  We are not complaining, the sun is out every day and we are enjoying this beautiful city.  Plus the anchorage is very calm and quiet at night.

Next up, several more days to prepare for our Mexico entrance.  We are close but not quite ready.  Our departure is now sometime next week I imagine between Tuesday and Friday depending on weather.

Oh, I have to mention that we saw a catamaran come into the cruisers anchorage here. Steve just knew he had seen this boat somewhere back in the NW and most likely from Shelter Bay.  It is called "Dueling Dragons" and has some Chinese writing on it,  Anyone remember it?  It was moored in Shelter Bay on Nootka Place, it's 48' long and looks to be just about as wide :-)  They are here and headed south as we are.  Steve just chatted with them this AM.  What a small world we live in.  1500 miles from home, on a boat, and here is one of our neighbors on their boat just 200' away.

More to come just before we leave the United States of America!