First Day

I went to bed late and tossed and turned until at least 2 am. That was the last time I checked the clock. I woke at 7 and got up and made my last preparations. I unpacked my backpack and loaded up my old sea bag from Cal Maritime. I watered the plants and Dad took me to the Airport. Standing in line a gal asked me if I went to Cal, looking at my sea bag from Cal Maritime. I said yes, from Cal Maritime, but of course she meant Cal Berkley. So we chatted in line, parted ways and met up again on the same flight to San Diego. We ended up sitting together talking. Her name is Emily, lives within walking distance from me and is off to New Mexico to walk precints for Obama. It was nice to have company on the plane and talk about lots of different stuff. Amber picked me up and we went to her apartment, which she has decorated quite nicely. We shared a lovely lunch at the Cottage in La Jolla and then she dropped me off near anchorage #9. Gary and company came by and we rowed the dingy to the boat. Yes, rowed as in no engine. We have tinkered on the boat all afternoon. Me cleaning battery terminals, Gary and Jordon cleaning the hull bottom and Larry washing dishes. The boat is large and spacious and we are anchored about 400 yards off shore. I am wearing my wrist bands to ward off feeling sea sick and it is working well.

Monday Morning Commute

This morning I rode the motorcycle to work but not after bundling myself up as it was a bit chilly this morning. The bike I have has 48,000 miles on it and it runs quite well on cold days for two reasons. There is more oxygen for combustion and the engine is better cooled and doesn’t sound like a bucket of bolts ready to dump parts all over the road which makes me quite uncomfortable. And the engine seems to be quite happy to run right at 65 mph which is about 5 to 10 mph slower than the commute traffic would like to go. Besides I am not in that big of a hurry to get to work. I am already a half hour earlier than I need to be. Cars want to pass me and it seems that they are racing to get to the office. I can recall a time when I would race to work in the mornings as well. And while I was watching all the cars spar for position in their quest to get to work, I just had the oddest thought. When I am at home in my family room I sit there in that box of sorts doing whatever I do. Then we race off to work to find another box to sit in. Our office, cube, work space and we do all the things we are suppose to do and some we are not. Then at the end of that experience we race home to sit again in that other box of comfort. I thought, “Why do we race during the time in between each box?” Why do we not enjoy this in between time, slowing down a bit, enjoying the chill of the morning air, the blue of the sky, the aroma of a hot cup of coffee, and for those on public transit the company of each other? Perhaps I am becoming more aware of our / my odd behaviors as I get closer to my sailing date of Oct 27, 2008.

The week before

As most of you know this past year has been full of challenges and in the face of all that, I decided that I am going on an extended vacation. To take a break from work, commuting and to recharge my batteries. Not wanting to go on vacation by myself I was able to find a crewing position sailing from San Deigo to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on the Baja haha leaving October 27.


The thought occurred to me that I could document my trip and share via the web, assuming I have access to a computer and the Internet, so time will tell if this works or not. Unfortunately the boat/ship at the right (Maltese Falcon)isn't the boat I will be crewing on, but we saw this majestic boat on San Francisco Bay on Sept 28, 2008 and it is just beautiful.


The first boat I will be traveling and crewing on is Crystal Blue Persuasion, a 55 foot catamaran with a 30 foot beam and 6 double staterooms. I don't know anyone on the boat and this adventure will be with perfect strangers who are to become lifelong friends or not-LOL.

Smoke Free

It was lovely today, free from the smoke we have experienced the past several weeks from the hundreds of forest fires in California. Spending most of the morning gardening, enjoying the summer warmth and wind on my skin.