Ready, Set, Go

February 1, 2008
San Diego, California

We’re just a few days away from sailing out of the U.S., and prepping like crazy. After multiple trips to Trader Joe’s and Target, I finally feel like we’re well stocked – both for the trip itself, and for being out of the U.S. until June. God forbid I should run out of my Tom’s all-natural toothpaste!

Now we’re on to final details... Mark’s checking all the lights, rigging and lines, while I file our taxes, plan menus and optimize stowage below decks. Today we filled up with diesel and gasoline for the dinghy. At $3.80 and $4.15 per gallon, we’re highly motivated to sail as much as possible down the coast.

We consult multiple weather websites daily, searching for the perfect window. Right now, it looks like we’ll leave early Tuesday morning. We’ll sail to Ensenada and spend two nights there, taking care of all our customs and immigration paperwork. Then we go south.

Our current voyage plan has us sailing from Ensenada to La Paz, with possible stops in San Quintín, San Benito or Cedro Islands, Bahía Tortuga, Punta Abreojos, Bahía Magdalena, San Jose del Cabo, Los Frailes and one, or more, of the beautiful anchorages on Espiritu Santo Island. Mark will try and post our position daily via the SSB radio, so you can check the link in the upper right corner of this blog (Where is Cheers?) to see where we actually end up. Once we arrive in La Paz, we’ll post some pictures and fill in the details of the trip. We’re hoping for good sailing conditions, some good pelagic bird sightings, and maybe a marine mammal or two.