I wake up at 4 am...again.

My heart is pounding and I haven't gotten out of bed yet.

"Okay. It's jitters. Get up and write a blog..."

In the predawn gloom, I  tip-toe through the boat to find the computer under a pile of stuff I thought I packed already.

The STUFF must be multiplying in the darkness-like the cockroaches we picked up during our two weeks on the hard in La Paz.

(I am an environmentalist-but i draw the line at cockroaches-I feel that they have had their 200 million-year party on this planet and extinction is not something I should feel too bad about-at least on my boat).

Shoot. The computer is dead.

Plug it in.

Whoops!

The battery charger wasn't turned off on the breaker.

Oh god! That was close! Did I hear a "frrrzzttttt" as I nearly pushed the plug into the converter?

No?

Whew!  A mistake like that could fry the electrics on the boat.

Tip-toe back to bed. Quiet as a mouse. Don't want to wake Jon who might actually be getting five minutes of sleep.

Hang on, why won't the computer say its charging?

Oh god, the cord is broken...No?

MY GOD...I  did do it! 

I somehow fried the electrical panel on the boat!

I am thinking this, in my head. I am thinking, I just ruined our trip to French Polynesia.

I am thinking...i am the worst first mate on the planet and I should just go ahead and jump over board right now-but we are still at the dock and that would look pretty silly.

"what's wrong honey?"  it's Jon. He hasn't even opened his eyes yet and already he knows, some fresh hell awaits him.

 "I think I might of done something really really bad...'

"How bad?"  his eyes are still closed.

"Bad. Bad."

Jon never yelled. He never gave me an accusing look.

He just got out of bed, heard the panel making frying sounds and said quietly,

"Can you make me some coffee, babe?"

Yes. I can make coffee. I can also spend the next seven years kicking myself, if that would help.

An hour later-all of it spent staring at the panel board and flipping switches-and something was done to the power plug with some corrosive stuff and rubbing alcohol and q-tips-

Jon finally unscrewed the panel and a mass of indecipherable wires faced him.

More staring, some muttering, he takes a screwdriver and stabs it repeatedly into the mass of wires.

I look on, utterly dismayed.

It's over.

And we never left the dock.

Then, Jon flipped the breakers and the DC charge needle went up and stayed steady.

I took a breath for the first time in two hours.

" So, I didn't kill the boat? I asked, practically collapsing with relief.

"No. You didn't do anything. It was this..."

Jon held up the screwdriver ...a dead cockroach was impaled on the end of it.

(I kid you not).

I guess there was a loose connection involved as well but still...I knew I hated those things.

Disaster #1-narrowly averted.

We are now counting down the hours, waiting for a favorable wind shift.

On happier news...

A kid boat came to the dock today.

They were super nice and open and excited.

They are from the Gulf Islands in BC.

Home schoolers and new cruisers-on their way to sail the Sea of Cortes for the first time.

With a boy and a girl- exactly the same ages as our kids.

Just like us, one year ago...

We were in the same berth they had now, when we met Beau Soleil, this exact time of year...

and  Beau Soliel was hours away from a jump across to French Polynesia...

And WE are sitting in the Beau Soleil  berth now.

Cool, huh?

A heart breaking goodbye

We LOVE you Grandma Sara and we'll MISS you!

The Vortex crew...You will love it here!

Kai gives Henry some fishing tips for the Sea of Cortes

...and tries to convince him that everyone here wears hats like this.

Instant friends