Tue Jul 20 2021
We launched from Puerto Penasco, Mexico in February 2019 after an extensive refit. Close to the American border, it was a great place to haul bits and pieces down from San Diego or Phoenix down to the boat. We provisioned heavily with all the goodies one can find at Trader Joes or Costco. We built up a spares package for various boat systems. When we got to La Cruz, Mexico we ended up buying more provisions and spares. Isabel even made a Costco run with Behan Gifford and came back with Idahoan instant mashed potatoes. Never had ‘em before, never leave home without ‘em again. Quick, easy, delicious.
We departed Banderas Bay in April 2019 and cruised French Polynesia until returning to the US in April. For the most part we were in remote locations with few inhabitants, minimal provisions, and no such thing as boat parts for sale. We spent about 2 months putzing around Hawaii before departing for what was an expected 3 week passage to Port Townsend, Washington. If we’re lucky we’ll make it in 4 weeks.
For all this time Isabel has been complaining about how much room my spare parts and tools take up. How heavy they are. How they eat up prime real estate in cabinets and under settees. I’ve been returning the favor for the same amount of time, pointing out that she’s got a “provisioning problem”, obviously stocking enough food for a zombie apocalypse. How are we ever going to eat all that? Why did you buy so much? What small island nation are we planning to host a potluck for?
Well, Isabel keeps dishing out delicious, hearty meals and in this chilly climate hot food and plenty of it is what makes Mark a very happy boy. Hey! That reminds me of a tune by the Beat Farmers! Anyway, the larder is being depleted and we’re still eating well, and we’re not there yet. This passage will have been at least a week longer than we expected, and not only are we not going hungry, we’re going to have great meal choices until we arrive and let someone sell us a cheeseburger.
We’ve broken stuff on this passage. I’m guilty of not hiding a spare bow somewhere on board so I couldn’t mend that, but we’ve had problems with turning blocks breaking and damaging halyards, water maker malfunctions, a raw water pump and belt failing on the starboard engine, and the starter going wonky on the port engine. With the exception of the starter problem I had spares and the knowledge to repair everything and keep us up and running. I had ordered a spare starter but the knotheads shipped an alternator instead. I also had enough epoxy resin, plywood, fiberglass cloth and mat, Poxy Putty and other stuff to deal with the broken bow pretty well.
We’ve got tools, materials and parts so we can fix stuff, and we always dine on great groceries. We’ve depleted spares and we’ve gobbled up a lot of food. Isabel and I have declared a truce about who’s stocking too much food or spare parts or tools. She does her job extremely well, and I’ve managed to muddle through mine.
When we purchased JollyDogs we fully intended to spend time in the Pacific Northwest and perhaps Alaska, so I fitted a diesel fired forced air heater in 2014. There’s not much call for one of those in the tropics, but in the past couple of weeks we’ve enjoyed our heater with reckless abandon. For years Isabel pointed out what a bad use of financial resources that was as well extra weight and complexity and it taking up space. All she does now is sing its praises and I myself am delighted to have a warm boat.
Our Canadian friends on SV Maple got the bright idea to sail for Kodiak and they’ve been freezing their butts off for weeks. Somehow they forgot it gets cold out here, easy to do after living in board shorts and flip flops for years on end. Now they’re talking about the diesel heater they’ll purchase and fit. I sure hope they don’t become human popsicles before that happens.
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