Extra Ball

Or extra balls :P

Mexico !!!!
It has been a while I wanted to do a real solo trip, with several night at sea. See how I handle the watches, the stress, the sleeping, the sea sickness, the solitude.
I could take the easy route, along the coast and stop along the way.
It will be simpler, and safer.

Let's pretend ....

Instead, I am gonna pretend I am going offshore, for 2 or 3 days, we will see how much I can handle.
Idea is to go as much as possible to the West, wind and swell permitting.
Then, When I reach the latitude of Ensenada, I go full east, motoring if needed, as usually the wind goes lighter closest from Mexico.

Over there, I drop the boat for winter, rebuild a crew, and in spring, we try it again, certainly from San Diego.
Spring is the best season to do the crossing, if you can leave early enough to avoid any hurricane warning. Overall, we would have lost 4 or 5 months.

But at least, for a bit, I will be able to pretend I am a famous solo circumnavigator.
Right now, I am dealing with paperwork, trying to find a slip in a marina in Ensenada, and dealing with insurance paperwork. Of course, my Californian insurance do not cover Mexico.

And Mexico, it is a little bit like vacations...
Even if it became the backdoor of the US.

As Ready as can be

Not sure when I leave exactly, I am kind of anxious to move on now.
Just in case, here is the link for the trip.

https://share.delorme.com/OlivierVandenBos

The good news is I have so stressed by this past week events, than leaving solo for one week at sea seems almost reposing.
And actually, it might be.

Bernard Moitessier is remembered primarily for his famous 1968-69 Golden Globevoyage, in which he blew off a chance to win the first non-stop singlehanded round-the-world race and kept on sailing halfway around the world again to Tahiti to "save his soul."

Some get totally addicted to the solitude at sea.
And who knows, maybe I will not stop, like Bernard....
And end up in Hawaii :P

Game Over

Yesterday night, my whole crew bailed out.
Cook, Doctor, Navigator, Watchman.
Alright, this is only one person.
Still.
Not that it was unexpected. I had some funky feeling about this a while ago, and played with the idea of recruiting another crew.But it was very very late in the process, and I wanted only people I could trust completely.
Well.
Two days before the departure date, it is a real bummer.
It is true that the weather is really sh**ty this year, and it would have been quite a though ride, specially for rookies like us.
I am still convinced it was doable and safe. Funny and pleasant, maybe not.
One lifetime adventure, certainly.
In those conditions, it would be foolish and really sketchy to do it alone.

She was ready to go 

Damn, I learned a couple of lessons from this.

- Until you are self sufficient, you have to pick your crew very very wisely. I mean very very.
Make sure that expectations, risk level and comfort level are aligned. At the first sign of misalignment, split.
I sailed with my crew (+1) but did not act when I detected misalignment (-10). Thought it might go through. Well, it didn't.

- Have a plan B. Boats are all about redundancy. If you need a crew, it has be to be redundant.

- 3 crews is a certainly the minimum if not solo. 3 allow a balance and momentum in the group. It allows some kind of weighting of decisions and inertia.
2, at least, when you are not a couple, is easily prone to the fracture and opposition, without a 3nd opinion.
Odd numbers seems better to me. Oddly.

- Simplicity of communication is  a must have. People who are particular will be hard to deal with. Just don't. Really.


Now, options are quite limited.
But as always, I have a plan B.
And actually I am quite excited about it :)

D-Day - 2 : Up and Downs

When I thought I was done with the critical stuff, ... Did I talk before about the emotional roller coaster ?
On the good side, I finally got the WeatherFax system to work.

Weather Fax Setup

On the bad side of things, I realized my alternator is not charging my batteries anymore. I can only suppose I tripped on a wire by accident somewhere. The alternator is working fine, which is good, but somehow the juice does not go back to the batteries.

I have the electrician coming tomorrow morning, in case I don't find it myself tonight.

Of course it is ugly and corroded, but so far, it was working.
I think.

Well, there is always a backup plan , which would be a small gazoline generator, Should not be longer to get than another trip to Costco. 

Let's cross fingers.

Has been a while they all been crossed in every yoga boat direction possible.

Gosh, I am extenuated, and the trip did not start yet.

Day D - 4 : Do you want to live forever ?

The actual yelling was way more colorful, it seems.
" "Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" from Daniel Daly.


Shame on me, I only knew the Starship trooper version.

Come on you apes, you wanna live forever?

I really like this saying as it both remind you , that you won't live forever anyway, and that you might have to do something inspirational do get remembered forever.
Obviously, this is not my goal, I am not that narcissistic.
However, everything that makes sense for me now, I had somehow to take risks for it.
And at the moment of truth, moment of jump-in, I usually think about this phrase.

Do not get me wrong. There are risks and risks. I firmly believe that the risk of being lost at sea during this trip is infinitesimal. Specially if you take the precaution to stay attached to the boat at all times.  The risk of being hit by a storm that might actually sink the boat is almost null.

However, loosing the boat at sea is more probable, even if the probability is really low, in my opinion. And the main reason is that crew usually breaks before the boat. And call for a rescue.
Then, you actually sink your own boat, for it non to become at hazard at sea.

Fears ? Yes. I strongly believe - this is a common saying as well - that fear is good. This is what makes you feel alive and what will makes you stay alive in danger. However, you do not want to succumb to it, and this is when you need some courage to go over it.

Most of the "achievable dreams" take risks to reach. By their intrinsic nature. You do not have to try for it, but if you do, you  will have to take some risks.
Hopefully calculated risks.
but risks nevertheless.

D-Day - 5 : This is the final countdown

The focus is now to load the boat with food and supply, and for this to organize things a little better.
My strategy was to reorganize the huge space under the cockpit, ideally to move all the sails from under the v-Berth into this space,
And create some free room for the trash to come.

First, I had to mount blockers on the hull, as I did not want to drill directly into it.

Quick Epoxy glue for the initial setup

Stick It, and let it dry.

Another epoxy mixture,
I thought last time was the last time !

It is ugly, no time to sand.
But it is hard as steel...

Now I can drill into the blocks,
and add the nets,

Eventually, I am surprised how much stuff I can put.
There is even free space !

Now, that I have free room, timer to run to Costco
and grab the "survival package"

Still plenty of room left here too.
I am gonna get another 6 gallons of water tomorrow

Once I moved all the sails under the cockpit, I had plenty of space for the food and water. This is not the final list of groceries, but the backup, in case the trip takes longer than expected.
I counted around 80 meals - won't be good, but it will work, and 12 gallons of water (on top of the 90 we carry in the tanks).
We are almost ready for an all around the world !

I took the time for a very nice sail this afternoon, mostly to test the engine consumption.
I motored in the same direction for almost 2 hours using different engine regimes.
Now, I have to do the math and find the ideal ratio distance/consumption.

SoCal does not get better than this.
Notice the extra diesel jerrycans...

The downwind sail - after 2 hours of motoring - was gorgeous.

This is not final final round, but actually, I could leave now.
The boat is ready.