loving SoCal!

We headed up the coast on Wednesday for a little fun in the sun. We finally got to sail the whole way with decent wind, big waves (for here..some hitting close to 10 ft) that were fairly close together at times making for a fun ride. It made us feel like we were back in good ole San Fran for a while. We got a nice little dolphin show as they seem to be moving closer to shore to round up fish into a tight little bait ball. One of them jumped a good 12 feet in the air. It was amazing to see. This is why I feel so fortunate to live where I live and how I live. I never get tired of seeing the sea creatures put on a show.

The sun has not let up and we are certainly enjoying the heat. Yesturday the kids and I started a water fight on shore that ended with some wrestling type moves that resulted in some dunking. Later Neil took them back to the boat in the skiff and I ended up swimming back. Then we proceeded to do our best to splash Neil and the dogs by doing cannon balls off the bow of the boat for the next hour!

Today Katie was my diving partner and after we were done scrubbing Hand Full's bottom we got to sit and watch the many tiny fish, who seemed to be stalking us, swim around. I was sure proud of her and of Stewart for being such good helpers. Foster was not sure what to do with himself this time while I was in the water. He kept pacing frantically back and forth watching me go under the water and than follow the bubbles. Neil got a little video clip of him. It was sure cute. That dog is so attatched to me that he really does spend the majority of his day just being near me. When I am not, he drives everyone crazy. I sure do love that little guy! The water was not as clear today as before, but that is to be expected now that the season is changing.We all can't wait to be in clearer water that's for sure. The water was so much warmer this time than last time and it made it hard to get out of the water...yet after a few hours the hunger bug grabs hold with a vengence!

We hope to meet up with some friends who are returning from Chile. They left their boat down there and have been in Cabo running a charter boat for a while. I am looking forward to chatting them up with 20 questions about their adventures below the equator.

On the way back to San Diego we may head a little further offshore  to see if we can catch some "Feesh." However, the boys are starting to wonder if there are in fact any fish in the ocean! We are open to suggestions!

It has been a wonderful start to spring for us. Neil is getting treated and progress is being made. The kid's are getting to know more local kids and enjoy the perks of living in a warmer environment.We try to keep our sense of humors at all times especially when faced with all of lifes little obstacles. It is like Plato said " Life must be lived as play." I must say I, at least,  can't stop grinning! :o)`

time flys when its sunny outside

It seems as if I have forgotten about blogging now that the sun has come out in full force. I do apologize for leaving you in the dark. It has been a daunting couple of weeks what with Neil's string of doctors visits followed by our trip to Los Angeles again yesturday. I got sick on the way home..I think it was the alfalfa sprouts that only I ate and since Katie came with us and Stewart stayed home, we said, "alright, let the 50 hours of logged drivers ed begin." We put her behind the wheel and even though she has only done some around town driving, she drove nearly 60 miles home on good ole I-5. She did rather well but since the rental we got had superior shocks we had to keep telling her to slow down as 80 mph (the speed of the traffic flow) seemed a bit too much ..yet quite normal for down here. These people in SoCal are leadfoots! Neil and I were very proud and so was she. It did make us feel like a bunch of old farts(ha ha) as our daughter was now in the drivers seat and  I had mixed emotions about it; mostly pride. It looks like we may need to take a few more trips back up there in order to get all the information the QME needs to finalize things for Neil. In the meantime we have been thoroughly enjoying the lovely sunshine we have had over the last few weeks. We got in a few good sailing days. One of them was with the kid's new friends Meil and Summit, who are just a little bit younger than Katie and Stewart. They are new to living on the water and even though they are on a sailboat, had not ever really been sailing before. So we took them for a cruise around the bay and out into the ocean. We had hoped to see some dolphins but instead had to settle for another submarine and a few seals. This time we got a better picture of the sub which I think was either part of a tour or some sort of private charter. This was not the same submarine, but still very cool nonetheless. You would almost certainly never see anything like that up north. The "new" kids got to run the helm, and pull lines. They sat on the bow and dangled their toes over the edge and caught a few choice waves. It was a lot of fun and cute to see their reactions to everything that we have become so used to as "no big deal." I am realy starting to fight the "sailing bug." So much of me wants to go go go, yet I know it is not time yet. So once again I will enjoy the poop out of our little day and weekend trips, not taking for granted one second that I have an amazing life on the water and I would not trade it for anything in the world...except, maybe, for a bigger boat!  haha.

we have twins

We are now the official owners of a set of twin motor scooters. Neil had taken over the blue bike, claiming in  the name of man, and Katie and I have declared the silver one as ours. We went out and got some nicer helmets and have been having a ball with them. Neil is only able to ride for a short distance without being in discomfort but we are hoping that this next week when they start his new injections that some of it will be lifted.

The sun is beginning to shine and the "heat is on." I have really enjoyed "scooting" around everywhere. I am convinced that I will never own another car. I may, however, get a bigger bike downline! haha! This climate down here is almost perfect for it.

This next week Neil is going to be office hopping at the doctors and on the following Monday we will be heading up north again for his QME visit. He seems to have his good days and his bad days, and we are hoping that with some more therapy and what not, that he will start to have more good days than bad.

The kid's have become good friends with some of our neighbors. I am glad they have someone closer to their ages to go and "hang out" around town with. Granted I like to be the one they "hang" with, but you know how it is with teenagers!! (nah, they aren't the typical run of the mill). :0)~ I am sure proud!

I will keep updates on Neil this week as I think starting Tuesday he has a doctors appointment every day for the next week...or so it seems...

I will post pictures of the "twins" tomorrow! Love to everyone.

Update on Neil

We got the results of the MRI and it looks like instead of one herniated disc, Neil has six and this is only in the one section that they shot. It was mixed emotions when we heard the news. We knew there was more there than what they were telling him before, and to have it layed out like that was like "ok, that explains alot" followed by, "oh crap!" At the same time he has a lot of tissue inflamation along with a small list of other related ailments.

To remedy this, they are going to continue with his chiropractor visits and start injecting his spine and disc's with cortezone shots, via epideral. They want to do a series of three. Along with physical therapy and other, they will see how it goes before considering surgery. Yes, surgery is on the plate as a last resort; something we are hoping to avoid if we can.

He has his QME appointment at the end of the month. This one will be the big one. This appointment will be one of the last big factors in his ordeal, so pray all goes well. In the meantime we are all doing well.

I am having a ball with the bike. I am all like "you need what? Let me get that..be right back!" haha! I can't wait for this summer.

So thank you for all your prayers once again. We have made progress but still have a ways to go. Overall I am so completely thankful that Neil is getting the help and attention  that he needs and I am pretty sure that if it weren't for us being here, we wouldn't have gotten such good doctors. We also wouldn't have accomplished as much nor enjoyed the winter as much. So in hind sight, we were "led" here, even though at the time we were unsure and maybe a little dissapointed...but it was all in "His Plans" and boy, am I thankful for that!

new wheels

Since we are going to be here for a while and I am going back to school we went ahead and bought some new wheels. It is not what you would expect though. We bought two motor scooters for little over wholesale. We have been looking at cars but for the small amount we wanted to spend we were finding ones that were questionable as far as reliability and the last thing we can do is wrenching on an old car. These come with a great waranty as well, so this takes the pressure off. Katie is almost 16 and here in the good ole state of CA. she will be able to ride around on one of these as well. We think they are so much fun. Granted Neil is unable to ride for very long, but with Katie getting her learners permit, she can put Stew on the back of hers and I put Neil on the back of mine. (yep the girls are in charge now, haha). These are not your grandma's scooters, they are only little 150's but they do have a lot of zip and fully loaded with two on board and some extra gear, we can still rap them up to about 70 mph, not to mention the fact that they get about 70 mpg. This is going to be a tremendous relief beings that gasoline is averaging well over $4.50 per gallon. The good thing is that even if we only stay for a while they have a high resale value, although Neil is still deciding whether or not he can strap them to the bow! I would like to see that! haha. Above is a picture of the one we have now. The other is on order. One is blue and one is silver. The kid's at first were unsure but after I carted them around for a day or two, they are all into it! It will be lots of fun this summer for sure. Tomorrow I hope to give you all an update on Neil. Thank you for all your prayers and continued support. Keep em comin!

A beautiful sail home

Yesturday we had a wonderful sail for southern cal. The winds were about 10-15 knots, the water started out a little choppy at first but soon began to smooth out into long drawn out swells. We were running between 5.5kts and 7.5kts! (nice clean bottom).The sun was bright and we decided to head straight out into some deep water (about 15 miles offshore) and try our luck fishing. We saw a few different pods of dolphins rounding up bait balls. They were jumping out of the water like crazy! There was a flock of Pelicans that did circles around the boat for a while. After several hours, we started to turn and head towards San Diego. When we were about 8 miles from Pt. Loma, we heard over the radio, "This is Navy Warship calling sailing vessel" (such and such degrees...such and such navy ship). We listened and heard it again only this time they said "sailing vessel 8 miles due west off Pt. Loma." I was like, "Neil! they are hailing us!" So I went inside and answered back with "This is sailing vessel Handfull responding to call, over." They came back with something like "We are traveling 12 knots on a fixed course. Our charts indicate a possible collision on current course. Do not alter position. We are altering our course." Then they gave their coordinates and I said "Roger that, Over!" Within a few minutes we were passed closely on our starboard side by a very beefy and stealthy looking Navy Warship.

We have never been hailed before, so it was kind of exciting. (yes I am a geek that way!). Once we got closer, about 5 miles off Neil yells, "What's that?" We look over and on our port side a submarine pops up! We were all just dumbstruck for a while followed by a brief discussion about how we would not like to be on the firing end of either one of these amazing marvels of man.

The wind never let up until we were tucked away far inside the bay. It has been a while since we have had a full day of sailing without having to "motor sail" for some of it. The sunset was gorgeous and even though we didn't catch any fish, we certainly had a very relaxing and fun time playing offshore. I cannot wait until we can do this fulltime, every day...until then, I cherish and am thankful for the ones I get!

(below are some pictures..the one of the submarine `pic 2` was hard to get and a little blurry...but it looked like a small black building followed by a tail...sorry guys, better luck next time).

worlds away

We sailed back to Mission Bay for a weekend of fun and sun...to be met with mostly cloudiness and a little sun. The kid's and I went to shore and tested out our "skills" at volleyball. Needless to say after a full afternoon of hitting the ball around with several references to "Top Gun" we were getting the hang of hitting the ball in the right direction. (ha ha). The dogs were super excited to have full run of the beach once again and Neil was able to catch up on some fishing.

Today Stewart and I hopped in a gave the boat a nice scrubbing below the waterline. It looks as if we are in dire need of getting her in for bottom paint within the next month. It looks good, but is starting to show through to  the primer coats. Neil used to be the one to do this chore, but this time it was up to Stew and I. I am happy to announce that my lungs have recovered very well since my bout with pneumonia and it was nice to be underwater again. I was able to relax a bit while scrubbing and enjoy the warmer waters of southern Cal and thoroughly enjoyed the circling fish around me. I saw lots of "lizard fish"and mackerel. I would put out my hands and they came right up to them, like a dog, sniffing my fingers. They would "bump" into my legs, freaking me out just a little, and then they would dissapear into the void. I am amazed at how well I can see here as opposed to up north. In Half Moon Bay it was clear but cold water. In the bay it was hit and miss as far as clarity.It was nice to be back in the water, diving, feeling worlds away. Afterwards, Katie and I went and played tourist at the local hot spots..it is always fun haggling for bracelets and post cards with  the local stands.I am partial to wearing the same old sea shell necklace and a hemp anklet...but they are wearing thin, so off we went in search of a new one. Done and done. We now have new "treasures" to bestow.

Tomorrow we head back into the bay of good ole "S.D." and Neil is off to the doctor's this week. We have our big appointment bumped up from June to the end of this month. We are very happy about that. I wish we had more time to spend here. I love this area so much for all of its laid backedness and we always seem to have such a great time here...this is only fuel for when we head south.

This next week I am  going to start my project of making chaps for the dinghy. A good friend of mine onboard SV "Camelot" is also in the process of doing the same...To Lori..I wish you nothing but the best, and hope my own experience with this annoying but necessary project goes well. I will keep you posted with pictures and the occasional urge to curse! (haha)

All in all I have enjoyed being close to home yet feel worlds away.