Honestly, we haven’t sunk. Tangaroa is afloat and Tom & I are still enjoying yacht life. It’s been kinda crazy since my last post nearly 5 months ago and I know I’ve been remiss in posting on social media and in putting out new blogs. Because, well, ya’ know…life! It’s been a busy summer with a lot of family & business stuff. If you’re still here with us, thank-you for staying on board!
It was bittersweet making the decision to leave Baja. Not only had I spent almost every morning going out for long bird walks in the nearby desert (I had high hopes for some posts about those glorious mornings) but also we’d made really good friends with people on other boats. And many of the staff at Marina Puerto Escondido, some of the warmest, friendly, and most helpful people we’ve met, came to feel like family. It was so hard to say good-bye.
But in February of 2021, facing another year of astonishing insurance costs to stay in Mexico (almost 3 times that of being in the US – and it has nothing to do with pirates!), and things to attend to back home, we turned our bow northward and headed back to the States. It was quite an adventure making the 1,000 mile voyage, much of it out of sight of land as we traveled up the Baja peninsula coast. We cruised all day and all night. Unlike our voyage south, in the summer of 2020, we knew we would not be stopping at overnight anchorages to get any rest. We had a very small window of good weather in which to make the long haul, so we invited our friend Pancho, who captains & caretakes a boat at the marina, to help out. We’d divide the night into 4-hour shifts so we could each get some rest.
Watch this video to see our WildLifeVoyage as we return from Mexico:
We ended up in Ventura, California, which will be our home port for the rest of the year. It’s close to the Channel Islands, where Tom has been diving since the 1970s. So far, the wind has been blowing a lot, the seas have been pretty rough, and the water a murky green rather than blue. When we see a good weather window, we head out of the marina. It only takes an hour to get to Anacapa or Santa Cruz island. So far we have yet to do much diving!
Tom & I have some more stories to share with you and we’ve been getting a bunch of questions about life on the boat.
Now that you’ve had a little taste of our adventures, and Tangaroa, what would YOU like to know about boat life?
Drop me a comment and we’ll answer those questions in future blogs and other postings.