Goodbye Ensenada, Hello Canada!

June 3rd ( I think). The past few days have been a blur. That’s an interesting and even foreign thought!! I haven’t thought that for a long long time – about a year or so. The past year has not been a blur, but as we get closer to living in the ‘rat race’ again, time seems to be speeding up a bit. We had thought we would depart here by the weekend. Now it is Wednesday, and we are finally leaving tomorrow, and flying to Canada. We have prepared Kenta Anae for our time away from her. Merle has washed down the decks, stowed the gear in appropriate places, removed sails and canvass and she is ready for a hurricane essentially. Except that they don’t get those here. Our fridge is empty, the laundry is clean, and the boys have packed toys and clothes, and are really excited about flying in an airplane – a big one!! It’s good we will be able to fly at least one leg in the day light so they can see what it looks like up there. Thanks, Love Song. We’d never be going home this way if it wasn’t for you!! We are very grateful! I found, as I was packing, that I am taking way less stuff home than I brought. And I notice that I am less concerned about it than I used to be. Just throw in what you think you’ll need, and what you love, and the universe will take care of the rest.

I never did write about what it’s like to cook in the galley when you are at sea. When the boat is healed over, and I am cooking, I stand on the cupboard wall. Sounds crazy, but its true. Chopping stuff is funny because after you cut something, it wants to slide right off the cutting board (because the cutting board and the rest of the boat are at about 30 degrees off horizontal). So you have to chop stuff so it slides against the cupboards rather than off the counter and onto the cabin sole (floor). Getting the chopped food into the pot or pan is also a good challenge (much like pouring a liquid, see below), but once in the pot, as long as the stove is gimbled, that’s the safest spot for it, as it is level with gravity. So I can cook soup no problem, but pouring the soup – well that’s a completely different story! Pouring liquids is like being on another planet. As you pour, the liquid does not go where it looks like it should go based on previous experience. Rather, it goes down with gravity which is not straight down, but on that 30 degree off-kilter slope that doesn’t match the way the counter sits, and if you actually do hit the catching container (which you have to hold with your other hand or it will slide off the counter), the liquid often zig-zags its way down, depending on the movement of the boat. If I am lucky, the funnel will catch my eye before I begin pouring, and using it increases my chances of hitting the container by about 300%. If not, the sink is the drip tray. I always think how good I will be at pouring when we get back to land and how I’d love a photo of that process because it must look just hillarious! Don’t have one yet. I will put it on next year’s list of things to do while sailing.

I found Shandro and Matero’s wish list two days ago of the things they wanted to do while sailing. All four of us stopped what we were doing and read them – and smiled at each one – until we made our way to the bottom and discovered that we did every single thing on the long lost list. That was a very satisfying few minutes that we all shared. This is the list:

Things to do while we are sailing
1. Go swimming (at night too).
2. Take pictures of fish and go snorkeling.
3. Find an island while sailing.
4. Find treasure.
5. Find a good beach.
6. Find a coconut palm tree.
7. Make music.
8. See a shooting star.
9. Throw anchor into ocean.
10. Sail at night.
11. See flying fish.
12. Taste new fruits and new weird things to eat.
13. Play lots and lots of games.

Goodbye Marina Coral and Ensenada. Goodbye friends. We have truly loved your company and are grateful for the ways you have shaped our lives.

And Canada, we are looking forward to being there again, mostly to see our family (yes, Chilko!) and friends we have so missed while we have been gone. I get a warm fuzzy feeling just thinking about it. See you soon!

June 1st - the boat threw up!

June 1st. The boat looks like it threw up, and I have no mind to do anything about it tonight! I have just returned from a lesson on the unconscious mind, provided by Mark Bagnall on sv Horizon, just across the water from us here in Marina Coral. He is Victor and Andre’s neighbor, and working on much the same things as we are – manifesting, improvement of self, reaching for a higher consciousness, so the sharing has been fun. Tonight we did a ‘float’ along my timeline, to discover my first experience of anger, and hopefully dispel the anger in my life by acknowledging that. The first time I experienced anger was the day I was born and the doctor slapped me on the bum and I was mad at him. And the lesson was about forgiveness. I can forgive him now (as I could have then, but I chose anger instead), and get the lesson without the anger. I could see other anger events along the timeline, and they all blew out their anger out the side door as I watched. I wonder how this will affect my life now and in the future!! How exciting!! I want to do the releases for sadness, fear and guilt now. Mark says we should do all 4. Also learned a little how to talk to the unconscious mind, and how to ask it questions and receive answers. Could be amazing for teaching my kids, or for releasing bad habits, or for creating good habits, or for changing my perspective on something!! Excellent!! Will try it now before I sleep and see how I do.

I went to the gym this morning. Every time I go, I think of you Trina. It’s very cool how people come to mind with different activities. I don’t know if I will ever go to a gym in this lifetime again without thinking of you. Isn’t that so neat? I love it. Anyway, you’d love this gym. It is surrounded by glass that looks out onto the courtyard with pools and grass and a few patios. It’s beautiful to go there and be in nature while you are at the gym. I can’t believe we are here at this spa-resort hotel. It’s just way over the top. But it’s totally competitive price-wise right now, so here we are!

Yes, the boat. We have everything scattered everywhere. It’s hard to live in here right now. There is no food in the fridge (hooray! No waste!), stuff to take back to Canada is strewn about, the bags for the stuff are outside (Merle bought them today – and he got some nice ones for cheap!!), the clean clothes are in bags on the settees, the electronic devices are covering the chart desk about 8 inches deep all over it. Every surface has something on it. What a mess!! But slowly it’s coming together. The shrouds are clean, we’ve been through the big storage lockers to figure out what stays and what goes. Merle wants to move the boat and clean it tomorrow. I want to pack and finish with food storage and fridge cleaning and toilet cleaning. Hope we can get it all done tomorrow. Might be a very long day. Or might stretch into Wednesday. Guess we will see. Flights are available both Wed and Thurs, so we have some give. Now I have to sleep. I was going to try to burn some music tonight, but am too sleepy. Good night!