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......

Tracking Hand Full

If you want to be able to track us anywhere in the world just click on the link below and you can track our position. We just started doing this and wish we would have done it along the way more than once...but...here it is:

http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=WDF3009

Week in review

                                     Above is a quick little video Stewart took just before sunset.         

I thought I took more pictures....funny isn't it? The pictures are etched into my memory especially those of the dolphins and the incredible chasing waves. You know, I can't wait to be in those waves again. They really were breathtaking. So much force and energy pushing them on. You can feel really small and insignificant out there, in a good and humbling way. The dolphins made several small appearances after the morning show. Not as showy, but still just so wonderful to see. We are really looking forward to even clearer water so we can see the whole show. We were able to see at least 30 feet down. I didn't realize how much time they spend swimming on their backs...like they were down there looking up at you and saying..."hey, whats up?" haha! .

We had a few gorgeous sunsets. A double raindbow...although it didn't show up as well as we had hoped. Several bouts of lightening and thunder. Rain, wind, no wind, sunshine.....ah the sunshine. It was here the morning we pulled into the Port of San Diego Police Dock. It was shortlived as the clouds settled in around noon. Either way, their "cold days" here are nothing like up north...I'll take it!!

Their is A LOT of Navy and Military activity here! Ships, helicopters, raptors, hmmmm Neil and Stewart should fill in the blank here...but needless to say there is some bad ass stuff here that I would not like to see coming at me!!! haha!

After checking in we made our way passed the city front and over to the anchorage area. It is a litlle ways down and around.but we are in a little town called Coronado. So far I would say it is pretty upscale...we hope to go and check out a few things today with the dinghy. Their are about 8 other Baha boats here too. So that is fun...oh yah, our view is of the bridge, the navy ship yards, and the golf coarse and resort next to the yacht club.

Yesturday after a nap Stewart and I headed into town to see what was around. Lot's of tourists. A huge community pool and rock climb. Several resorts and 5 or 6 very large condo's....we saw a gentlemen with a camera crew taking "glamor shots" of his Nissan car....he even had a shirt with it's picture on it! The town has a lot of artsy fartsy shops (yes!) and a lot of bar and grills. You name the food, they have it. We did find an ACE close by and a VON's. I am relieved about that for any last minute stuff.

So now that we are all rested up here are some pictures for you to look at and thank you for the comments and emails. We do really love hearing from you all....don't be shy! Oh and please disreguard my "poofy hair"...I had been wind blown for a few days and well......haha! I did spend a lot of time in the hammocks with pup's on my lap!

We made it!

Safe and sound in San Diego. We are super tired and on anchorage. I will post on here later today.

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coffee and dolphins? yes please!

That is exactly how my morning started out. Neil and Stewart finished up the night shift with a "come quick". Katie and I rustled out of bed and saw what was one of the most spectacular displays I have ever seen.

The little dolphins made quite a show. They were hopping up on their tales..like they were bouncing like tigger on their tales on the waters surface. They were doing a little synchronized ballet 6 to 7 wide from all different angles. There had to have been over a 100 of them. They were pushing each other almost directly into the bow.

Remember in the movie Nemo, they dared the little guy to "touch the butt?" Well I think there was some of that going on with these guys too! It was great. We shot a few pictures and a little video but this time we mainly watched for almost a full hour.

Than just as they disappeared we saw some whales off about a quarter mile. They just popped up for a quick breath, flashed their tale and away they went.

That was my morning...way better than folgers that's for sure!

We are loving southern Cal but hating the lack of wind. So far we have only had to use the motor a "hand full" of times but today we have had to start her up to get to the next patch of light wind...I am fine with that though as I have thoroughly enjoyed the day.

We are about 50 miles from San Diego now. I think that Daisy is beginning to wonder if she will ever be able to sniff the grass again. The kid's are doing great! Katie has become the best navigator ever. She understands the charts, and all the AIS and radio business. I am really proud of her...and I thought she wasn't paying attention. Stewart has been a great little helmsman also. I have had such a great time with my family. I have had one on one time with everyone, but not as much time as I would like with Neil....soon enough we will be on anchorage and the kids will have to walk that dog!! hahaha!

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bright was the night!

The foamy swirls were forming as they did the night before making me all excited for a show of the "sea angels" once again. This time there was more of a wave show. It is amazing to zone out over the endless waves. They look like they are chasing each other as if they were a team of wild horses. Some are huge, others just really fast. Catching each other. Running into each other. Constant. It is easy to become distracted by this little show with its sprays and swirls of foam. As the night falls it is a little harder to see until your eyes adjust and the moon,if you're lucky, comes out to offer assistance.

Pretty soon after 10 pm. the moon hid behind the clouds. The sea was dark, than BLAM! Thunder. Ok, thunder does seem rather loud when it is echoing on all four sides! No worries. We knew that there were storms coming....CRACKLE, BANG, THUD, POUND...POUND....POUND...(that last part was my heart!) haha.

Lightening! Thunder! Rain! And surprisingly not a lot of wind. At some point the sky just stopped making all this commotion and it seemed as if God had made a path for us, just above our heads. Their were stars overhead. Lightening all around off in the distance. The rain quit for a while, just a light drizzle. The wind was light. THe moon was still unseen. So I thanked the Good Man for his little protective bubble that seemed to be around us. Stewart and I did the 1 am to 5 am shift with no problems. The lightening show around us was spectacular, leaving me with no need to have a second cup of coffee. haha.

Around 3 am. I did see an unusual florescent green cloud come up from under the boat! It lasted all of 20 seconds than disappeared. So either Moby Dick had indigestion underneath the boat or it was some sort of alien oil spill...haha you make up your mind on that one. Either way it was a bit odd, but that's what is fun about the night shift. You always see something; even in the dark.

We were happy that we took the route we did. Coast Guard came on the radio several times to broadcast the many whales in and around Santa Barbara and Catalina. That is also where most of the storm was focusing all its energy as well. So I am very thankful we took the long way.

This morning Neil and Katie took over the early shift and had a bit of a scare. The lightening came back and this time they feared it was going to strike the boat. They had two or three hits fairly close by. So they shut down all of the electronics and unplugged everything from our outlets. Just as they finished this they said the lightening struck less than a mile behind the boat. It was a huge flash than a KABOOM!! As quickly as it sprang up on them, it was gone. The next thing I heard was...." Double Rainbow!"....haha, if you haven't seen that one on you tube I suggest you google it! It is hilarious. Now we weren't all like "what does it mean?" it was more like..."is it over?". Then the rain came.

Today it has been mostly rain with little wind followed by no rain and holy moly we're going 7 knots! We are south of the Channel Islands now. We are about 51 nautical miles out of Santa Catalina and about 8 miles north of San Nicolas Island.
We hope to blow on through and pull into San Diego early Thursday morning, if not sooner.

It has been a great trip so far and I hope it continues. I was happy that Stewart got to meet his friend Gabby and had a great time together. I am glad we are almost completely over the flu. I am sorry we didn't get to meet up with and say goodbye to a few others, but am thankful for the times we had. I am glad that we have taken the longer route and given ourselves a good shakedown cruise. I think our little boat and crew are going to do just fine and will take us wherever we want to go. The kids are great navigators. The puppies are unfazed by the movement. Neil is loving it of coarse. I am getting over any fears I had previously. I am loving the ever changing water and am "respecting the elements."

The seals are chasing the boat again. The are like a bunch of dolphins, jumping out of the water, together in formation...perhaps they are fleeing from something?? yikes! I haven't seen them do that since the Farallon's. Now Neil is anxious to catch a fish...I think I will go give him a hand. Here's to some fair wind with following seas tonight!

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On Passage

We have just passed the first of the Channel Islands. We have spent two successful nights at sea. We have put in roughly 260 miles so far. We shot straight out of Santa Cruz and went about 70 miles offshore. We have been heading steady all the way down to Point Conception with plenty of wind and decent seas...nothing over 15 feet. The winds seem to fluctuate between 12 knots and 25 knots. We hit one little squall that produced a bit of rain and some choppy waves. We were planning on heading in to San Migeul Island to anchor for the night but decided...what the heck...lets keep going and see where we are tomorrow. The wind is steady blowing and it is has all been downwind. We have put up the 180 Genoa and are using it as our mule. We did put the Gennaker for a little while and have retired it for the night.

We are stoked as we haven't run the engine since Monterey Bay. We are keeping a steady pace at around 4-5 knots. We aren't breaking any speed records but it is a comfortable yet steady pace. We are going to be heading on the backside of the Islands than on into San Diego where I think, if you can't smell us already, we will head straight for the showers and laundry mat! haha!

The air is a bit warmer. I have taken off my foulies entirely in the day time, but not at night. I could probably go without, but I hate being cold so.....I keep myself rugged up. I can't wait until the temperature changes dramatically.

Night before last, Neil and I were out getting ready to switch off shifts, I think it was about 3 am. and the moon was shining through the fog...this was the first time we saw the moon at night...and I was zoning at the seas swirling beside the boat. There was already a lot of phosphorescence in the water..they looked like little glowing disney balls! ((think "Tinkerbell")) and the foam swirls...those foam swirls all of a sudden got brighter and brighter. They were almost florescent blue. It looked like someone had turned on a black light. Next thing is that you can make out what it was...yep...Dolphins!! Tons of them. They were swimming under, beside, back and forth, zig zagging at like 30 miles an hour. You could make out the slower ones who were taking there time to get a good look at you. They were glowing "Sea Angels" as Neil put it. It really was trippy! They stayed with us for about a half an hour than took off as fast as they appeared.

This is why I love to sail. At night, the world changes out here. By day you get to see just how beautiful the colors of the ocean are. Deep rich blues, greens, teals, white...black and grey.

We are all feeling better. Neil and Katie got hit the worst but have gotten some good rest and we are going to be 100% by the time we hit San Diego.

We have passed several tankers. The only one that got me was the 1000+ ft. cargo ship that passed within a half a mile. At night it looked more like 200 feet...it was just so huge! Thanks to the AIS the cargo ships have been no worries. You still have to have a nightwatchmen as not all ships we have passed have AIS! So we are breaking up the watches at a rate of every 4-6 hours. We started with more like a 10 on 10 off, but sometimes its hard to sleep when the boat is pitching side to side so badly. I think we have all gotten used to that now and no one has gotten sea sick!

We are still about 30 miles off the Channel Islands heading south running parallel to them. We hope to be in San Diego in a few days. So far it has been pretty pleasant. It's a bit rocky, but pleasant. Stewart and I have spent many a shift in the hammocks. Just "hanging out" . haha! I am so thankful for the side panels. We have used them a lot. Typically we put up the windward side and it makes it almost completely windless in the cockpit. It has also saved us from some breaking seas that slapped us on the beam. A couple of them have shot 8 feet over top of the bimini...thank goodness we were covered! Phew!

I think that after we take our first trip to land though, that we will look and walk a little bit like "Captain Jack Sparrow" and have a bit of a waddle!..."why isn't this land moving??" haha....oh ya and "where is the rum?" hehe...Keep us in your prayers, as so many of you are in ours. Now I am off to make some hot cocoa and turn on the "radio re runs" on the satellite radio.......

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sick but sailing

Well we spent one more night in Santa Cruz...yep we are sick with the flu. The kids, who were still feeling good, went to shore to play in the arcade for a couple of hours while Neil and I took naps.

Today we left around 9 am.

We are heading straight out and then south.

I think we will be putting in a few hundred miles before we head back in.

I am excited!

If the wind is steady we can set the windvane autopilot and take long naps in hopes of getting over this nasty bug.

Yes I am whiny! I hate being sick! Wha!!! (haha)

I will be updating the blog via SSB.

If you don't hear from us for a few days, no worries...if a week goes by....send the troops!! haha...nah we are more than confident in our little boat and fantastic crew.

The nice thing about our set up is we can all divide the watches so evenly that no one gets overly tired.That is key.

Since we have been delayed so long we will have to make up time now.

So to our friends down south....see you soon!

Good Bye Home Port, Hello Adventure

We left Half Moon Bay a little later than we had hoped for but are glad we are finally off and running.

When we left yesturday we had little to no winds. We motored out (reluctantley) until we were about 15 miles offshore and hit a little bit of wind. That was soon shortlived as it was blowing from the south at about 4 knots, the air was warm, the seas were flat and the hammocks were being used!!

It was so pleasant that the dogs were running around the topside and Daisy even tried to jump up on top of her lookout above the Bimini...I, of course, discouraged her but it was neat to see them all enjoying themselves.

While sitting in the hammocks and putting along at a whopping 3 knots, (didn't want to push our little engine too much) we happened to see a fin about 20 feet of the starboard side. It was a sunfish! We circled around him a few times. We haven't seen one of those guys since we were in the bay over by Angel Island a few years ago. It was pretty cool.

We didn't see any dolphins this time. I think they hide when there are no waves for them to play in. We did, however, see a huge yellow balloon about 20 miles out, barely visible, with about 4 or 5 others attatched to it. Just as we got close to her, she sank!

The sunset was gorgeous and I am looking forward to many more to come as I have seen others pictures of just how beautiful it is when there is no fog getting in the way.

We tried putting up the Ginnaker but didn't have enough to keep her full either. Bummer!

Just after sunset the fog rolled in super thick, like pea soup! We put the radar on, the AIS, and set the chart with her coarse heading for Santa Cruz.

After 2 am. the fog let up and I got to see a shooting star. I really do like night sailing, when you can see.

I did learn a lot about all of our equipment on board and I am amazed at how much nicer all of our "improvements" have just made it so simple, relaxing, and safe!

We pulled in around 5 am. Dropped the hook on the northwest side of the Wharf (thanks Jack...haha) and got to enjoy my first time in the hammocks in my bathers...the sun was so warm!

Around 2pm. the fog rolled in and the waves picked up so much that even with our flopper stopper out we were pitching side to side about 15 - 20 degrees! I think all of us were like...blaahhhhh...where's the crackers!

We were hoping to meet up with a few people while here but it doesn't look like we are going to be able to say our goodbyes in person. That's ok though. Around 3:30 pm. we all started feeling a bit icky and I think we may have caught a tiny cold.

So we are going to rest up tonight and hope to leave at a decent hour tomorrow morning as long as everyone feels better.

We hope to shoot straight out, and not stop until we clear past Point Conception. We hope to be well offshore and hope the conditions there will be better than running close.

That and if there is no wind again we can sit and wait for it to pick back up without the fear of land nearby.

I must say that it was a strange sensation leaving our home port of Half Moon Bay, for what may be the last time in a very long time. So long little harbor...we will miss you! (and all of our great friends/family as well)!

If you want to see a live shot of us today or first thing tomorrow click on the web cam link below! We are all in blue!

 http://www.walknet.net/mylife.shtml

Blast Off!

And away we go! :o)

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a bit of sunshine!

Yeah! The weather was lovely today! As much as we would have liked to go for a day sail..the sunshine made for a bit of "spring fever" and we scrubbed the boat from bow to stern. The boat got a good going through once again and we were able to unload a little more misc. "crap" that we can live without.

The dogs spent a good portion of the day on the deck and I am pleased to announce that they are becoming sure footed little boat dogs. So much in fact that they freak out a little bit even when going for a little ride in the skiff. They love their boat...they're not the only ones! Daisy has her little lookout tower (on top of the Bimini) that allows her to make sure that there are no other dogs or people too close to her home! It's cute!



The kid's (this includes Neil) are getting very excited to be heading out..The promise of warmer, clearer water is something that they have not ever experienced and it has been too long since I have been swimming or playing in warm water......

The next few days prove to be busy ones, but not stressfull. I have a good and anxious feeling in my tummy!

2 steps forward...

You know what is the hardest part of waiting?

WAITING!!!

It looks like we will be taking off this Sunday and heading south and this time I am not just blowing smoke up your keasters! haha.

We still have some unfinished business to attend to but instead of waiting here in the fog and heavy mist....we shall venture south...yipee!! I am looking forward to catching up to and with a few friendly boats we have met along the way!

I must say thank you to all who were praying for Joyce and Barry...they have been through a lot these last few weeks and I hope that things will work out for the very best for them...either way I support whatever choices are to be made and have been so thankful to have them in my life.

I am very excited to be leaving this harbor, don't get me wrong, I think it is fantastic...maybe its the weather...(brrr!) but I am just done hanging out in Central Cali and ready for a bit of Southern Sunshine!

Here's to Fair Winds!