Sunrise in the Baja

Getting ready for anything... is a sort of anti-Zen proposition.

You are forced to imagine so many realities, that the one you actually exist in ( or do you?), is sometimes neglected.

Especially, when you are preparing to cross an ocean.

You try and remain present...

but preparing for a future, so vast, so unpredictable... requires an almost ecstatic commune with the fates.

Sometimes, I feel I am throwing the I-Ching.

"Will we encounter winds over 50 knots?"

"Did I stow enough paper towels?"

"Will tossing the iPad in the dutch oven protect it if we are struck by lightening?"

"Should I make three casseroles ahead of time, or five?"

My boat responds with stoic resolution.

Her voice is heavy with fiberglass and resin.

She is tolerant and generous.

"Do whatever you need...to feel prepared" she says.

Then she groans,

and makes more room for us.

Ten more cans of tuna...

one last bag of ice, 

eight final sticks of butter...

just in case.

Jon does not appear to be casting coins to my oracle.

He has a sort of methodical, artisanal approach.

It is puttering and peering, mumbling at the engine, climbing the mast, flexing the rig...

He spreads out his tools  for a 1/4 mile on the dock,

hoses and clamps and bits of line and rope.

New machines are invented everyday, they materialize on our decks.

Jon's "to-do" list is long and mysterious.

I don't know what half the stuff on it even means.

"Don't you F-ing fall overboard..." I say to him.

This is is my mantra.

He nods and shakes his head.

We climb into our bunk at night and cling to each other in the darkness, 

We are thinking about all our friends from home and the other boats we know that are already out there, right now,

This is how every day ends.

When I wake up in the morning, I will look over at him and he will be staring at the ceiling.

I can't imagine how much is going through his head these days.

"Hey, baby...you excited?" I will ask,

and he will look at me and smile.

In three days time, we should be ready to go.

As long as there is the wind.

And then,  if the fates will have us...

we will be back in the Zen.

My boys

mom canning more peppers!

Kai finds a moment to contemplate the whole deal

Peek-a-boo

The bounty of Flora farms

Heavenly greens

 Nyon pulls out from the dock next to us...Next stop Marquesas!

Jon breaks down the compressor for below deck stowage

Rivets us some new mast steps...So we can spot our entrances into the atolls!

Evening stretch