Katies VLog and Happy New Year Everyone!

My talented daughter has just made her first of many to come video blogs :Vlog. Please check her out and follow her on you tube. I think she has some great potential, and I am not just saying that because she's my daughter.(sniff, so proud!!).

I am still on the chest tubes and plan on staying on it for a few more days. The antibiotics are working well. I am draining slowly but now I have a lot of swelling in my legs. They are going to be doing ultrasound on them tomorrow to check for blood clots or any other reason for the abnormal swelling. I am beginning to look a little bit like a stalky tree trunk from the waist down. Otherwise, Neil stayed the night with me last night,which I loved, and then the kids came to see me today! I was so happy. They are going to be videoing the fireworks for me tonight and Neil may come back for an overnight tommorow night. Thank you for the phone calls and emails. I love hearing from you all and hope that everyone has a safe and HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!! love to all.

some progress

Today I am feeling a little lighter. I am not sure the exact amount, but my chest tubes are doing their job of getting some of the gook out. I have the same if not more pain, but the medicine is keeping that to a minimum. I have 3 days to go and then they will take out the tubes. I am not sure what is going to come after that but will let you know. Thank you for all your prayers.

Chest Tube Baby,,,,

Well they had to go ahead and give me the chest tubes this afternoon. It involves 3 tubes feeding straight into my lungs. They go in just under my breast and down into the lung cavity, It was some of the worst pressure I have felt in a long time, but it immediately removed over 200 cc's of fluid, This is to stay in for about 3 days as they slowly fill it with medicine, than turn on the pump and slowly suck it out, All I can say is thank goodness for painkillers! I feel pretty loopy and typing is a chore so until things change significantly this will be my last post for a while. Keep up those prayers and I am sending love your way,

morning report

It looks like they may have to put tubes into my lungs via my back to drain some of the fluid out mainly on the upper left side. This should aleviate a lot of pain that I have been having. It looks like I will be here through New Years. They have  me on all kinds of medicine. It is still quite painful to take a full breath.The infection is pretty bad. I am hoping that the tubes wont be as painful as the needles were but.....I am a bit bummed yet optimistic. I have a great and attentive group of doctors and they are doing all they can to make this go away with no permanent damage. I am looking at is as my "spa treatment" . haha.

Thank you for all of your encouragement.

Neil and the kids are doing real well. I miss them terribly. I am very proud of my kids who are doing a great job helping out dad too. (yes my family rocks!!)

Well I am not dead yet!

Hello boys and girls. I am sorry it has been a while since I have been on here. Right now I am sitting in my bed at the San Diego Medical Center. It seems that I contracted pneumonia and not the easy to fix kind. After a week (just at Christmas) of feeling crappy, I had to have Neil pull in the boat to the police dock and call 911. I thought I was in a dream, my heart was screaming, and my fever would not go down....along with several other things. After a few x rays and sonograms they confirmed the pneumonia they have proceeded with the following. A C T scan, and they stuck needles into my lungs and literally punctured them and withdrew samples, I have had several sonograms since. I guess my left side is full of fluid and it had some bacteria in it that has now spread into my blood. My white cells are pretty high.

They are not sure yet how long I will be in here. It could be a few days or a few weeks. Neil was nice enough to bring in my pc so I can update everyone.

I find it highly ironic that while we are stuck in port waiting for Neil's mess to be over with that I am the one who is in trouble!

The kids and Neil are doing fine. Katie is a great cook( taught her well) and Stew is the dishwasher king. I guess Foster is going a bit nutty and is in turn driving everyone else nuts too! haha

We had a great Christmas. Thank you to those of you who sent cards, and sorry to those I havent yet sent out.

I wanted to post our family's Christmas pic on Christmas Eve, but will do it now instead...

Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well. I will try to update everyday that I can. We love you all and hope that everyone of you had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends!

Lighted Boat Parade!

Well San Diego surprised us all with their annual lighted boat parade last night. I was very impressed to see so many powerboats and sailboats completely decked out from head to toe with lights and Christmas music playing loudly as they passed by. We were fortunate enough to be in the cruisers anchorage as they passed right in front of us. We turned the boat around and threw out a stern anchor and pulled down the hammocks. I popped some popcorn and it was a lovely 68 degrees. This was topping off the record breaking 88 degree temperature for the day. My oh my what a  lovely way to end the weekend and get you in a festive mood. This year's parade was a bit more spectacular in memory of a young boy who was accidentally killed at last year's parade by the coast guard....sad...but I can understand with so many lights and boats and all the glare and noise it is easy to miss a tiny little boat. The kid's ventured out in the dinghy but stayed farely close and had all the safety gear...it was pretty awsome.

Next week the puppy's get their shots so they can go ashore. This is a good thing as we were made very aware with Stacy's visit that they are not used to having guests or being around other people. So it will be good to get them a little more socialized.

Today is our last super hot day for a few days...Darn!! I will have to say goodbye to the amazingly warm weather and pull out the sweatshirts again. This is kinda neat though as it will put us in the holiday mood...time to do Santa's dirty work here next week!

I may even hang up some stockings with care on our hand rail!!

Stacy was here 2010

We had a great short visit with Stacy. In between her meetings we were able to squeeze in a trip out to the boat, a bite to eat and an evening sail. (we even got her in the hammock with a Daisy on her lap).
It was great to see her and we hope to be seeing her again. The weather was in our favor and I hope she didn't freeze her butt off too much when she opened the airport doors in Montana! (haha, gotta rub it in I know!). We sure do miss her and wish we all lived a little closer but with the internet today and being able to send pictures back and forth it sure makes it nice to be so far away.

We have gotten some papers for Neil to fill out this week. It was about 3 1/2 hours worth! I hope it leads somewhere good and we can be on our way after the new years...fingers crossed (again!).

We are enjoying this little big city here though. I may have to buy a string or two of lights to put on the front and back stay. I can't help myself. The weather is so lovely I have to remind myself that it is in fact December from time to time, only Santa is wearing a hawaiin shirt and some groovy board shorts!

Tomorrow we are going to be cutting holes in the boat again. This time it is to put in our windows that we have been sitting on for a while. These will be opening ports with screens attatched. They will be for the smaller ones. We planned on putting them in at La Paz, but might as well do it now. I am excited to be able to have a little more flow through when it gets a little warmer, minus the flys and other bugs...yeah!

That about wraps things up for the week. We are looking forward to the lighted boat parade this weekend and the near 80 degrees that was promissed to us via the weatherman for Sunday...I will be holding him to it.

For those of you who haven't seen a picture of Stacy...look below and you will find the prettiest red head ever, I swear! Not to mention the sweetest. (Love you sis!).

And now for an embarrassing moment....

Okay, I may be showing my age in this little story...it proves that the glasses I try not to wear,unless I absolutely have to, should be worn at all times....This will give you a chuckle, here goes...


Saturday Katie and I went down to the Starbucks to check our emails and stuff while enjoying a coffee treat. We are members of facebook. Katie told me that they were doing this thing where you change your profile picture to that of a favorite cartoon character when you were little in order to raise awareness for violence against children..(against it not for it!....yes bad taste...)anyway..

So I was a bit rushed and wasn't really paying attention when I "googled: Bugs Bunny Dressed As A Girl Bunny." This produced a picture of ole bugsy in a Jessica Rabbit Red Dress Ensemble. I copied it and pasted it to my profile page. A few minutes passed and Katie leans over and with a red face said "MOM!! Why did you post that picture?" To my defense I said, "because it is of Bugsy as a Girl Bunny." She said, "YA, a girl bunny with ...well....LOOK!!" She turned her screen around and my face must have turned ten shades of red. It seems my girl bunny had, well, how should I put this...."a weiner!" It was hanging out below the slit in his dress.....

I quickly went into panic mode to sign back in and DELETE DELETE DELETE!! I don't think anyone caught it and it was replaced with a new one, minus the twig and berries hanging out!

Next time I shall zoom in on the thumbnail images and remember to wear my glasses when copying and pasting.....haha!!

Other than that, it was a good laugh to be had on my expense and something that I won't forget.

Why am I sharing this with everyone??Because we are all human, and we are all in need of a chuckle...This one's on me!

I did get an email from Vicki and I thought this was a good idea that I will share:

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq. You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.

Neil's sister flew in late last night. We hope to meet up with her later tonight in between her conferences. Yeah! The weather will be close to 73 tomorrow. This will make her not ever want to go back to the cold of Montana! (it works for me, sorry Bob, I think we may have to kidnap her!haha).

For those of you who have not sent me your addresses, please email them to me so that we can send out a little card for the holidays. I know that in the age of emails, facebook, and blogs that not many send things through the snail mail anymore, but I still enjoy it. Thanks!

Below is the "good one." No need to shield your eyes.

Almost Forgot..

Oh ya, I almost forgot that I have been passing the time by painting on our floor. It was in need of fresh paint so....I am painting it...see pics...

I have done it in little sections about 2 ft squares..I still have a lot more room..hey its only paint and I am having a ball with it! With pups and kids on board there is no rugs to be had  and not much room on the walls. This seems to be working! haha.

Time flys when you are having fun....

I can't believe it is the first week of December and it is still in the mid  60's to low 70's...Love it! It seems so bizzare to see the Christmas lights and decorations going up everywhere. I do enjoy seeing the city, which is growing on me, outside my window all lit up at night. I have gotten used to the 7am schedule change of the coast guard helicopters as they hover loudly overhead. I almost can't hear them and when I do it's like...time to get up and make some coffee!

Our 30 day city front permit is almost up! Wow! It has gone by so fast. We will be pulling bakc into Glorietta Bay for 9 days here real soon than back to the city for Christmas. I look forward to be right next to the beach again. Time to break out the surf boards and boogie boards for a couple of days anyway.

Neil has had some progress recently at least in the way of paperwork. It is rather frustrating playing the "Paper Chase" with everyone before anything starts to happen...all the ducks in a row I guess. Now the last of it is coming in and we should have a green light starting the end of the year. I think realistically we may be spending a good chunk of winter here. I am fine with this, New Year, New Advenure right? It has only been a year in the making but hey, that's what this game of life is all about.

We have gotten rather good at getting around town on our folding bicycles. It does look a little funny seeing two bikes and two people running around in a skiff every other day...but I am enjoying it. My leg muscles are still lacking but my stamina is better. I did invest in a padded seat cover in order to spare my "hiny" from any more discomfort..I do not know how the spandex wearing small seated bikers do it...my ass hurts just looking at them! haha!

We are looking forward to seeing Neil's sister here tomorrow. She is one of the sweetest ladies and also one of the prettiest red heads I have ever met! Although it will be a short visit I am glad that she is going to be here. I don't think Neil has seen her in person for over 4 years, maybe longer..same for me. Katie was the last to see her in person on her ranch last year...so watch out San Diego! haha.

To Jim and Kara...you know, we may just have our stuff together come February and you may just have us in tow afterall!! I think I can handle hot weather and warm water for...well....ever?? Keep me posted!

I know this one is a little lacking on the fascinating scale...the sunny days blend one into another...no schedules...just family, together, chilling out and enjoying each others company, exploring the city, on the boat, goofing off....sounds like a Halmark commercial, only this one is true! haha!

Stay warm everyone!

Lobster Leftovers??Never!!

The nice thing about living on the water is all the seafood that is readily available. Now this year I mentioned that for Turkey Day Stewart asked for Lobster...and well beings that they are so incredibly cheap down here we went for it!! So to all of you eating your leftovers I say...we have no leftovers! We hope everyone had a great day! We sure did.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. It is hard to believe. For the last 10 years if we are having the dinner with just our family, it has been nontraditional. By this I mean we ask the kids what is their favorite current food. It is prepared along with mine and Neil’s personal favorites. Over the years this has ranged from pizza, cheeseburgers, macaroni n cheese with garlic bread, 16 inch chocolate chip pancakes, pumpkin ice cream, shrimp and sushi. I have always gotten such a kick out of the answers to…”what will it be this year?” Last year it was shrimp and sushi. (When we have spent it with good friends and brought it along their kid’s reactions were quite funny when the sushi came out, however the shrimp was a huge success!).


I can tell that my children are getting older when this year’s response from Stewart was “Lobster!”Neil has always been predictable with his request for “Meat, wait, Good Meat!” Mine is always some sort of gourmet green salad. I can count on leftovers when I throw micro greens and beets in the mix! Katie, in years past, was the mashed potato and gravy queen along with the picker of “pie or cheesecake?” This year it is “I don’t know” but I think that may have something to do with her being 15! Ha ha.

Don’t get me wrong, I like turkey, but if it is supposed to be “Thanksgiving” I say let’s eat what we will be truly thankful for! Afterwards we pop in the usual “Christmas Vacation” movie which is one of my personal favorites and some serious game playing be it video or board games. I am “thankful” for my family and I cherish all my time spent with them every day. (Cheesy hey? But true!).

Aside from all that we have not had the internet that we used to have before so this is why there has been a bit of a gap in posts and email reply’s. It is a strange feeling when you realize just how much a part of your everyday life involves internet. We knew that while sailing you are always “offline”, but to sit in anchorage and not have it readily available is kind of strange. I am not sure if we will get a booster or just enjoy the extra time we have had playing board games and having more movie nights and evening walks along the shore.

In this anchorage there is a group of individuals that pull in here with a diving crew and a dolphin. Yes, a dolphin. I believe they are military and they are training the dolphin to do random “chores” like taking things from the sea floor to the surface and vice versa. They put him in the back of a beefed up inflatable boat wrapped in a sling style blanket. Once they pull into the anchorage they let him loose and start to set up a few “targets” which are floating and sinking hoops in the water. The divers, usually two, hop in to assist or watch? I am not sure. It is amusing to watch them over the course of an hour or so. They come in a couple times a week. This is something I have not seen any other place and at some point I hope to ask them about it.

In the meantime the squeals the dolphin puts out along with the whistles they use always makes for a loud response from our team of “killers”…yep, I mean the Chihuahua’s! Speaking of which if you were to look at Foster and Winnie ( the two pups) they do NOT look like they came from the same litter. I swear the joke before was “We should have named him Clifford” but really, he is HUGE next to her! **see pics**

To all of our many friends and loved ones, I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and I am curious…how many of you will take part in “Black Friday” this year? Let me know in the comment section! Love to all.
(Especially my good "family" freezing their butts off in Nevada! And my brave sis in Montana..Love You! Vicki and Crew Too!)

*****Foot Note;***** To Joyce and Barry: Remember when you showed up and gave me one of those military can openers?? Well I am soooo thankful you did as my super duper non sharp lid opening one went "Kapoot" about 2 weeks ago and I am too cheap to get another one! I have been using it ever since!! Ha Ha. I thought you guys would get a kick out of that!

My My My aren't we the popular ones....

We have officially changed phone numbers... Those of you who wish to speak to us via telephone be warned! Send me an email and I will convey the new numbers then...or comment...and so forth. (They will not be public post).

Neil has heard that he will be waiting up to a month for a new local doctor. What does this mean? It means Thanksgiving for sure in San Diego and perhaps a Christmas and New Years Celebration as well.."Crap!!" I say, but "ok" as well. What can ya do? Make the best of it.

Why oh why do the cards seem to be stacked against us? Well we are just so darn popular here in the states that we can't possibly leave without a fight! haha!

I had anticipated this, but hoped for something else. The good news is we have a few various options here as stated before...go south for the winter...(ie. Ensenada...or have a good time harbor hopping and island hopping in the so cal area...).

So much is going on right now that Neil and I seem to be pulled in every which direction...so pray for a moment of sanity and a good decision made soon so that we will all benefit from the misfortunate events.

I am beginning to feel that the "sailing handfull" title be changed to "handfull adventures"...haha! Love to you all!

Another sunny day!

We have made the transition over to the cruisers anchorage without a hitch. A couple of things to get used to would include a lot more water traffic making the flopper stopper an absolute must and the noise that comes from the airport and naval base. Actually the airport is not bad at all, it is the naval base and their jets that like to take off late at night! If you have ever been to fleet week in San Fran, those jets that burst flames from the tale and shake your whole body when they fly over head…yep, they take off here just across the way. It is pretty cool to see all of the different aircrafts coming and going.


We have the coastguard station right next to us also. We have sat in the dinghy just in front watching the big red choppers take off. These guys here are really nice and friendly. They like to put on a little show by hovering close to the ground and giving us a little wave before taking off. They are nothing like the coasties from San Fran if you know what I mean. (Sorry guys).

The only real annoying thing here is that this place is a huge pain in the butt to go and get water for the boat or find a pumpout that works and is not private. Yes, private. As if a yachties poo is better than yours…I know that sounds gross, but to have to key in for everything or be denied water is just hard to comprehend. When we went to the Coronado pumpout the Dock Master came out and said,” you can use the pump but not the water. It belongs to the Marina and its patrons. Oh and by the way you are on camera, like 30 of them!” How lovely hey? He repeated the camera phrase several times…so what was in the water?? Vodka? Ha Ha . Whatever! The other one that was on the charts, would only work with a key, and that included the water. The “public” pump out close by us here is currently broken. They had water but it said non potable water. The other cruisers told us that this was not the case, it was fine, just super chlorinated and to filter it before drinking. So we will more than likely have to head back to the Police Dock to empty or to fill. They certainly don’t make things simple or easy here…permits and private water and pumps…it’s way different from what we are used to but hey, I can’t complain about the weather! I am still glad we are here!

shop shows



We have not heard much news from Neil’s doctors and such, but we are making the best of it. They are still giving him some heavy duty pain pills which allow him to move around without intense pain. I am glad that he has them but also unsure about it. You see all those ads on tv….and later a lawyer comes on and says something like, “have you or a loved one taken blank and suffered from blank…” Ya, I hope that this will not be the case. But for now, that’s all we have.

I really do like being close to the city. The Embarcadero here is fairly similar to San Fran but much smaller. They have lots of really neat shops, bistro’s and lots of ships ranging from old war ships to “Pirates of the Caribbean” type ships. It is a lot less chaotic here that’s for sure.

We were walking by the shore a few days ago and came across a marina just next to the convention center and Stewart says, “hey dad! That’s Ken and Saundra’s boat, Aquila!” We looked over and sure enough it was! We actually ran into Saundra and talked to her for a bit. I guess she is down here for a conference and they decided to sail down rather than take a hotel..How cool is that? So we are hoping to get over to visit with them later today before they leave. It’s a small world after all! They were so much of an inspiration to Neil and I when they took off to sail over to New Zealand and back a couple years ago. I would read their blog and drool…I hope to be making others drool myself, in the near future….



dollar days 2





We are excited to hear that Neil’s sister, Stacy, will be heading down here for a conference the first week of December.(this is a popular place for that I am noticing). We have not seen her in person for a long time. If she will let us, we would love to take her for a sailing tour of the city and perhaps offshore a ways. Either way it will be great to see her again! (love you!)

So who else are we going to see??? Hmmm? Joyce and Barry? Haha (ya I am still trying to twist that arm).

We have gotten some good use out of the fold up bicycles. I was beginning to wonder if they were a good investment or not…but oh yes, they are! One thing I can foresee is that my leg muscles are in need of a tune up! And the seats are not old person butt friendly. Haha. I am going to be getting some new seats very soon! Here almost everything like groceries, gas, laundry, books, parts, etc is a few miles away. So to have wheels is a must if you don’t feel like taking the bus. When we went to do laundry yesterday, it was all uphill and steep! I pedaled all but the last block which I swear was completely vertical. I hopped off and walked the last stretch of our 2 mile ride uphill. I will admit it, I am weak! (For now! Give me a few more weeks and I will give Armstrong a run for his money…haha, NOT!)…So…How was the ride down you ask? Well I think we were going close to 30 miles per hour. We were passing the cars, and all I could think of was ”Brakes don’t fail me now!” and “Please let the lights stay green!” It was a fast and fun ride down! Neil and I just giggled at the bottom and I said to him “Let’s go again!!” haha! If we had more time we probably would have!

The puppies have enjoyed the sunshine. They are almost big old enough to get the rest of their shots so they can go to shore. Winnie is still only 2 pounds. She is so tiny but so fierce! She can definitely hold her own. Foster on the other hand is bigger than Daisy and I think he will be twice her size when he’s done. He is such a snuggle bug and a big chicken! He is super cute and has taken to me the most. If I even go into the bathroom for a minute or so, he anxiously awaits and then it is “hey where were you?” and jumps up and gives me kisses like crazy! It’s cute! Daisy is still “Queen” of all that is dog here, and we want to keep it that way. She is the only one allowed to sleep on our bed at night and that makes her feel special. So it is working having all three dogs onboard. They get along well and they definitely don’t allow anyone to sneak up next to the boat without sounding the alarms!

Surf and new turf

We just got our first 30 day permit on Sunday and it will start Wednesday. It was nice to go for a sail and actually have wind. The bay here is so tiny and busy on the weekends. It takes some getting used to as if feels like Fleet Week here. You have large beefy aircraft overhead, tons of power boats, ferrys, tour boats, cruiseliners and sailboats. They get so close! It was like running drills and we got our fast tacking down to a tee! It felt like we would go 1/8th of a mile, tack, go another, tack...about 15 times before we were at the end of the bay. It was a lot of fun! We also got to see two Amercia's Cup Racing boats (retired) close up. On the way back to Glorietta bay after getting our permit at the police dock we were heading back towards the bridge to go under where we came out earlier and noticed it was not 11 feet anymore it was 7, 6, 5!......ka pow! We hit bottom! Not once but about 6 times. We bunny hopped. There was no way to get around it! So we quickly tacked, boom! boom! a few more taps. The kids, who were inside, came out like" Did we hit the bridge? A Whale?" So after about 5 minutes of heart pounding excitement...we were in 40 feet of water like a switch was turned on..5 feet..40 feet! So to that we say, take her in the middle when the tide is out regardless of the fact that there is a mooring area just on the right....Monday Neil hopped in the water to do damage control...the keel looks good, but she is missing paint and down to primer where we tagged it. Like a quick sand paper rub down. I was glad to hear that the rudder was ok...I am glad we have a very stout and strong little boat!

We have one more day here in Coronado and are taking advantage of being so close to the beach. We are excited too to be moving closer to down town and play tourist for a few days and really check downtown out. I have heard that they have some really good farmers markets on the weekends...I miss having the local farms nearby. Yep I was spoiled in Half Moon Bay. I must say that this area does have some of the most gorgeous sunsets I have seen in a long time. Nothing is better than sitting in the hammocks with some hot tea and watching it drop, it's even better on the beach!



Not much to update with Neil yet, still waiting. He is doing well, medicated, but well. I hate sounding like a broken record but, I hope........you can fill in the blank here. It is so hard not to be bummed so I am doing my best to keep a good and fresh outlook on everything and look at it as just another chapter in my life, in our lives, that will prove, in the long run, to be a good life lesson and the outcome will be well worth the wait.

Since the quarantine time is over for mussels and clams here there have been tons of people clamming on the beaches. The last time I did that was in Washington. We had tons of them! Here though they are Huge! I am thinking that I may have to go and buy a little folding shovel and try my hand at chowder...any recipes handy?? I have really enjoyed our time in this little town. Once you get over the high doses of snobbery it's not so bad! No really. It is quite charming and some of the locals are very nice, down to earth people. This whole area is such a change from the Bay area up north. Even the newscasters are just a bit "off", or not? They play a lot more...it's like, "two people were shot today...and now let's dance to the new Justin Bieber song while we show pictures of panda's before we go to break."...ok, maybe not quite like that, but close..it's kind of fun to watch, wierd, but fun..or maybe it's just that channel, we are limited!!haha...Here are a few more pictures of the kids.....now for the music...... :0) (sorry no panda's).

fingers crossed?!?!

Thank you for all your kind words about the art page... :o)

We are still here in lovely San Diego. Some good news is that they are finally getting some things done here as far as Neil's spine and back issues go. We were supposed to have all of his medical, therapy, compensation, and other all done with, a few months ago...but...well...they are starting to move a lot faster now that we are closer to the corporate office here. With some luck and a lot of prayer, we can get the finalization we need to move on.

There is still talk of heading south soon..."soon" is a word I have been using a lot lately I see...but "soon" I won't be saying "soon" quite as much!





I was very happy to hear that some of our friends made it safely to Cabo. I heard that the water was over 80 degrees and super clear! Man oh man, talk about wiping the drool off my face!! To Camelot, Jane O, and Loose Pointer I salute you to a job well done and I look forward to hearing from you "soon."

We did hear from another left behind Baja er that there is another "late to leave" Baja fleet that leaves in about a month or so...I am excited to learn more about this and maybe could twist the arms of a certain couple...you know who you are...to give it a go...??

I also heard that the Baja fee's may be applied to next year....partial or full..I will be looking into that one further for a few others who didn't make it this year.

I am hoping to get a few other things going to help fund the "cruising kitty." I see some have hats, t shirts, mugs and what not of their vessels. I think that is awsome and we have thought about that one for a while. Oh and it is not that we are hurting....I would just like to be able to stay out longer once we leave and the more I can get started now the better. So bring me your ideas! I am open to just about anything except for pyramid schemes and relying on the lottery!! haha After all don't we all just want "to stay out a little longer? mom? please? I promise I won't ask for another thing??" Yep that's how I feel sometimes!! Like a child begging mom for a little more time. (and now a word from our sponsers!!)

Since we have been here the kids have been surfing and boogy boarding a lot. Stew has a cute little tan from the neck up! I am really glad we came down here and I love seeing them have so much fun!

Funding the Dream

 
In order to help fund the dream, my family has asked that I post some of my paintings and photographs on here. Of coarse donations are always accepted! haha...so here it goes and boy are my cheeks rosey!!


We'll see how she goes...either way, I love to take pictures and I especially love to  paint! Here are a few....

95 degrees....it's November right?

Hmmm...let me think about this. It is November and it is nearly 100 degrees on the coast today...am I upset by this? ...I am just wondering...what horrible thing did I do to deserve this kind of treatment??.....haha! Love It!

So we have called the Mooring office once again to extend our permit for another 3 days. After which we may stay 3 more or go ahead and get a new permit to anchor on the city front. This area has some strict rules about anchoring.....and they are as follows ( to the best of my knowledge):

When we first got here, we were offered a "special event" free anchorage permit because we were part of the Baja Ha Ha fleet. It was around the corner from the permited 72 hour anchorage here in Glorietta Bay. It was good until the 31st of October even though most were leaving on the 25th with the parade of boats. Ourselves and one other boat named "Emerald Star" have had lets say "delay of departure" and we stuck around. The 28th or so, we were met by the Harbor Police demanding we move our vessel within an hour, or be towed and ....well you can imagine. The communication between the Mooring office and the local police is quite poor and even with the permit they were insistant that we were quite wrong...so our little fleet of two made quite a little stink and were able to get everyone on the same page within 24 hours and could than breathe a little easier and go to shore without fear of coming home to no home!!

So with that, you just can't freely anchor anywhere here like with San Francisco or Half Moon Bay or even Santa Cruz for that matter...everything requires a permit. We have never tried to "pull a fast one" on anything so we have been very mindfull of the rules and so far so good. The permits need 24 hours notice. You get 3 72hr permits in a 30 day period. Than you must get a 30 day permit and move to the designated "Cruiser" anchorage. You may get 3 of these 30 day permits within a years time. These permits require a vessel inspection...the same drill you would get by coast guard...and off you go to drop anchor. There are no immenities, just a free anchorage. So worst case scenario for those of you wishing to winter...you can easily obtain 126 days here for free.





It really isn't bad at all, you just have to stay on top of it. I heard a lot of stories from other cruisers about coming back to find their boats have been confiscated by the police as a derelict vessel...and they were only walking their dog! As you know if you have been a boater for a while that these stories and other extreme tales of terror spread like the plague and are seldom true...but just in case...if you pull in to this bay, you'd better have a permit!

Well it is noon, and it is getting HOT! Stewart just put some wax on his board and they are fed and ready to head to the beach. The dogs are pretty much lifeless and are sprawled out on the couches belly up! I am going to make up a to go pitcher of iced tea and pack some grapes...oh the local grapes are to die for! Huge long finger looking green grapes that are almost crunchy. It's like candy, or crack, either way I can't get enough of them!!

I know the fog will roll in eventually, but in the meantime....."it's time to go catch some gnarley waves and hang ten Bra!" haha.

The weather outside is.....frightfully warm!!

A funny thing happened on the way to Mexico...life happened.  Neil and I have gotten many emails, phone calls, and other in the last couple of days to see if we are ok. Yes we are ok. We have had to deal with a lot of little things over the last few months both financial and physical (dealing with Neil's spinal issue) and we were hoping that most of it would be over and done with by this time. In fact we thought most of the headaches now involved would be over with....but they are not and we have not been given a definative answer as to "when" it will all be over. Some of you have said..."just go" and boy would I love to ..really you have no idea how hard it is to stay when I can see the Coronado Islands and can literally "see" Mexico. In fact for 5 bucks I can go to Tijuana for the day and back again!

Ugh! Most of our friends should be rounding into Cabo within the next day or so. Oh I wish the best for them. With that I will not lament over it any further...

We have had a really good time here so far. Having the beach close by is awsome! The kids are in the water all the time and the view is absolutely gorgeous. Today Neil and I went into the city to get a new sim card for the phones and I must say that it is night and day when compared to San Francisco..no offense San Diego! HaHa..The transit system is a lot less complicated here though and it makes for an easy run to wherever you need to go. We do plan on doing a lot of bus travel to neighboring beaches and quaint little towns. We also plan on cruising through the Islands here in the next few weeks as well as that trip into Mexico.

A lot of people have said it is far easier to just bus it in to Mexico, get all your visas and what not while you are there and bus it back...so we may just have to see if thats true.

All in all, we are all well, relaxing in the sun while we wait it out, and having fun with life....and yes, I am getting my "bronze on" haha....later I will get into the whole "permit" mess here...but for tonight....I give you more pictures... :o)

New Plans

I am sure some of you are wondering.."what the heck happened?". Well, it is a bit complicated but long story short is : we are going to have to stay in San Diego for a little while...does this suck a bit? Yes and No.
We had our hearts set on sailing further south but the "big man upstairs" has declared otherwise. How long must we be here you ask? Well we are just not sure. We are hoping it will be less than one month but are not certain.In the meantime we are planning on doing quite a bit of sight seeing, exploring the islands that we blew past, both here and across the border, we may sail down to  Ensenada and check the area out, lot's of fishing....there is a lot to do here and instead of pouting about it we are going to make the best of it!

Here's to a new chapter in the Rife Family journal......and it starts....now!

update

A quick update. We have had a personal matter come up that needs our immediate attention. We are unable to join the rest of the Baja Ha Ha fleet at this time. We hope that this will soon be resolved and will continue to keep everyone informed of our travels. To those headed south we wish them fair winds! We will be that way soon.

Sailing San Diego Style

Today we took "Hand Full" out for the full tour of the bay. This was a different experience as the "bay" is quite a bit smaller than San Francisco Bay. There is only one bridge to cross under and hardly any current to speak of. The wind is fairly light and there are a LOT of power boats zipping by...(Joyce it is like perfect lazy day sailing weather).  We took and sailed past the various shipyards which I am sure some of our friends who are military enthusiasts will enjoy as well. The boys took turns with the binoculars and it was cute to watch and hear them talk "ship".

( Jim and Kara if you are still reading the blog I have to tell you that I think I have seen about 20 BIG yachts that would make you drool...I swear one of them had a pool on top!!haha )

I hope to explore the city if there is time and see what the wharf is like here. I still haven't gotten used to the amount of military pressence both on the water and in the air.

Daisy, Winnie and Foster enjoyed the easy sail. Daisy sat up in her lookout spot as we passed by the ships being built or repaired. The pups also had a good time wrestling topside.

While sailing past the city we happened to look across and saw that the "Sand Man" had left his mark on the shore. That guy really gets around! It was a good relaxing day. It was warm enough that we took down all of the side panels. It was great to feel the warm wind in my face...until night, than I had to put them back up as I am now an official "woose" and start to get cold and have to put my hat and scarf on when it drops below 62 degrees!!haha...(Stacy I don't know how you do it....you deserve a medal!).

Tonight we are back on anchorage. We are going to be going to the meetings setup for the Baja Ha Ha fleet tomorrow followed by a costume party. It will be neat to meet everyone. Some we have only spoken to briefly so I am looking forward to having a bit more time to chit chat.....oh and as far as the costumes go, watch out!  I will have my camera ready!

And now for more photos....I am taking advantage of my internet card....while I still have it so enjoy the eye candy!...(not that kind!!haha).

A day at the beach

Yesturday the whole family hopped in the skiff and went to do a little exploring in Coronado. We took a quick tour of the town, grabbed some post cards, and headed to the beach. What a gorgeous beach it was. The sand was white and ever so soft on the feet! I haven't been in sand like that for a long time and it was very exciting! The whole family got to stick their toes in the much warmer southern Cal ocean!

One thing I didn't expect to find was a very unusual "shell". I always walk the beaches looking for "treasure" but we were all surprised to see the "so cal shell."......it was a 9 mm shell!

We met a local..."the Coronado Sand Man" whom asked us to promote his Myspace page self titled. This  little old gentleman walks around with sand and a dustpan and "paints" the sidewalks and streets with his art. He will take donation but doesn't ask for it. He was very sweet.

We watched the beautiful sunset and realized the resort behind us must give out complimentry robes...there were a lot of robes on the balcony...it was cute!

Someone had paid ohmage  to the boob god's and made a lovely little sand castle de boob.....no it was not Neil...haha!

Oh, I am just really enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the area. The weather is quite pleasant even on their "cold" days. I don't think we will be heading back north any time soon! And now for the pictures......