We got to San Diego a little earlier than most cruisers as my family was flying in and meeting up with the rest of the San Diego contingent for a last farewell to us and a much needed family reunion…my mom, dad, aunt and uncle flew in from Chicago. My cousin flew in from New York. We all gathered up at my aunt and uncle’s house outside of San Diego along with my other cousin, her husband and their two kids. It was a great 5 days. We went to the best fish taco place this side of Mexico, had fabulous meals at the local family homes and got to talk for hours on end catching up with each other after years of being apart. We even got to be slave labor by helping my cousin wrap product for her new company. It was great…the most often asked question “what do you eat on the boat?” CB’s response…”astronaut food”:-) On Saturday we got all 13 ppl loaded onto the boat and went out for a sail. It started out a little windy and ended up a little beery. It was a great sail…even my uncle Mike who feared he may chum the waters had a great time…maybe it’s time for a boat Mike?:-) As usual CB pushed the envelope and provided entertainment/butt puckering as we sailed very close to a cruise ship.
CB says “we have right-away…he needs to yield to us:…uhhh okay cappy????
When I say “close”…I mean my uncle Tom could ask the guests where they were going and what they were having for dinner. Overall it was a great sendoff. We even got t-shirts to memorialize the event (thanks Jenny).
Front: “Palarran – San Diego Send Off 2103”
Back: “Where in the World are Tawn & CB…Charts…check, Life Jackets…check, Beer…?”
Funny thing, we had to go to West Marine to buy a bag of life jackets before everyone went out on the boat…and beer?…never an issue:-)
Fiona and Eliza came up with the idea to sign the back of the shirts….great idea girls.
Although we will miss you all, it was good to show everyone our seaworthy boat and share the knowledge we have gained over the years of research for this trip. We will be safe and think of you often. Here are some more photos of the weekend.
This is a first world sweat shop…imagine if you will CB wrapping fanciful little things in tissue paper…I got asked to opt out after my “field testing” the razor handles ended in to many broken razors…hey…you wanted to know if they were strong enough Jillian :O
Catching up on the back porch of my aunt and uncle’s home in Alpine, CA.
Thanks Mom & Dad for making me the sailor I am today…
Between family and a list of projects, we decided to get a dock for 2 weeks. I do not like being tied to a dock…it means no late morning coffee followed by noon breakfast as well as crap load of work. But we buckled down and got to it. Parts were bought, awnings and dinghy chaps were made and provisioning was done. We had to make the best of our time at the dock and the use of a friends car (no amount of thanks can cover how appreciative we were for this and all the other assistance you gave us Dan). After 2 weeks we left the dock and pretty much did nothing for a week before leaving for Ensenada.
The best part of cruising is taking more photos of your boat that anyone would ever care about in weird and out of focus framing options.
San Diego was cool…but much like any large metropolitan city…expensive and hectic. We can’t wait for the bottom job to be done and get back to cruising…let this adventure continue!
P.S.
You may be wondering what this dirty waffle thing is about…our friend Dan Freeman has been trying to get this going for years and we’re just trying to help him out. Here’s the breakdown: San Diego…Sandy Eggo….Dirty waffle….got it? I don’t know Dan…I think that may be second tier stuff:-\