There we all were, excited and ready to get underway! The Port Captain had already received our exit paperwork (we hired an agent to take care of all the paperwork - our Spanish isn't what it should be by now) and we expected he would have it signed and returned to us no later than about 10am. While we waited we finished up our final preparations. First and most importantly was a safety briefing and making sure we all understood the expectations (not just ours, those of the

Once we'd made the decision to join the rally, we thought we had a reasonable handle on everything we had to get done before our departure to Cabo San Lucas. We had 4 weeks to get the car sold, find crew, get the boat ready, provision..plenty of time, right? Yes we thought so too. Things started off well. We had a great cash offer for our car and we started to put some feelers out on the rally crew list for potential candidates to join us on the trip down. We took another

We've had lots of fun with guests onboard lately. Phil and Kristi from Texas spent a few days with us, culminating of course in yet another wonderful trip out to the beautiful Valle de Guadelupe for wine and food! We love taking our friends to our favourite haunts in Ensenada as well as getting a little sailing in! Samantha came for a few days of paddleboarding and chilling with us too and finally Lauren and Griffin were coming down to Mexico for a few days before they heade

Complete and utter shock - best description by far of the look on his face when a bunch of people came up behind him and screamed "Happy Birthday!!" I love it when a plan comes together, and with the help of our friends, this one worked out way better than I thought it would. All the pieces just fell into place and there we were, in Thailand with our besties. So fabulous! Of course, there was much excited chatter over breakfast about the where's and what for's and how every

Despite his request for a quiet, inexpensive birthday this year, I couldn't let Daz's big 50th pass without something a little special even though living on our boat in Mexico is certainly that every day! We had a little dock party with our cruising friends on the actual day, but the big stuff was yet to come! It all started months ago. I was thinking about places that were different from anywhere else we'd been and wracking my brain to come up with a location he has mentio

We love it when people want to come visit us on our little floating home, so when our dear neighbour from Maple Valley asked if she could head down for a long weekend, we couldn't wait for her to get here! We had a lovely weekend of being tourists in Ensenada - we jump at any chance to go to the magical Valle de Guadelupe for some delicious food (if Merlot the Las Nubes winery dog didn't sneak it off your table first) and wine tastings, took a drive out to La Bufadora, atte

It's been a year since we sold the house and moved aboard. That year went really quickly! People often ask us about the transition from house to boat:- how we cope with sharing close quarters without killing each other, and life in general bereft of luxury things like a washing machine or our lovely snuggly deep plush sofa. While there are times I do miss aspects of life on land, the pros overwhelmingly outweigh the cons thus far. I think too, that when people hear we're li

We've come to understand this very well. The last month has been filled with taking trips to the US, conjugating spanish verbs, researching solar panels and anchors, being social on the dock, hosting the morning cruisers net on the radio, having the boat hauled out for maintenance work, canvas repairs, cleaning, sail repairs, happy hours, playing tourist for a day and for Daz, lots of development work. After much hand-wringing and anguish regarding the pro's and con's of sola

The last month has flown by! We’ve both been busy with our various work commitments, travelling, family visits and visiting and also got to spend a long weekend together in Ensenada! Since my last update, Darrin has been to Texas for a week to do some on site work, went back to the boat and I met him there for a 4 day weekend, went to Columbus Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with his daughter Lauren and her husband Griffin, met his Mom and Dad in San Diego so they could all trave

As a million other women throughout history have done before me, I stood on the dock waving, a little weepy, as my husband (and my home) motored smoothly out of the marina and on to the adventure of sailing the high seas for the next few weeks. I had seriously mixed feelings - sadness, excitement, trepidation, loneliness, relief, nervousness, turmoil...so many things. Sadness because a chapter of our life was ending, excitement for a new chapter to start, trepidation because