Life is good. It is bright and sunny outside, a little breeze but not enough to sail at 5 knots so we are motor sailing. We are headed to San Diego today with Mungo. It is a 50 mile trip and so we need to maintain 5 knots in order to get there during daylight hours. I have the stereo blasting and I just finished cooking some bran muffins and the water maker is humming away making 7 gallons an hour. The VHF radio is busy with all sorts of chatter, some with heavy foreign accents asking where they should anchor, some vessels needing assistance, some friends just blabbing. Life is good.
We have now not been plugged in at a marina for 16 days; our solar panels are keeping up with our energy needs if there is lots of sunshine. A few cloudy days we have had to run the motor for an hour or two. We haven’t bought groceries for 2 weeks so we are basically out of fresh food, we have some moldy cheese left and a couple of carrots and cabbage but that’s about it, thus the need to bake muffins. I haven’t had a major shopping trip since we left Canada so after almost 3 months our can cupboard is almost empty and my staples such as flour, sugar, oatmeal, pasta, etc. are non-existent. It is good to know how long the supplies I bought in Canada will last although I did supplement them with a lot of fresh food so I would have to take that into consideration when planning our Pacific crossing.
At the moment that looks to be at least 2 seasons away, probably happening in March/April 2008. Barry really wants to spend some time learning Spanish so we will probably head up into the Mexican mountains,, where it is cooler, next summer and immerse ourselves in a Spanish school. All these are just vague plans subject to change at the whim of the crew of Cat’s-Paw IV, that is one of the joys of cruising, no deadlines, no one to answer to except the bottom line. We are looking forward to visits from my Mom and her partner Bill, our daughters Trish and Jen with Trish’s significant other Graeme, perhaps Barry’s sister Kim and her husband Brent, as well as our friends Ian and Helen, and Janet and George from Yellowknife. It should be an enjoyable fun-filled winter, Barry says may the visits be short and sweet.
We have now not been plugged in at a marina for 16 days; our solar panels are keeping up with our energy needs if there is lots of sunshine. A few cloudy days we have had to run the motor for an hour or two. We haven’t bought groceries for 2 weeks so we are basically out of fresh food, we have some moldy cheese left and a couple of carrots and cabbage but that’s about it, thus the need to bake muffins. I haven’t had a major shopping trip since we left Canada so after almost 3 months our can cupboard is almost empty and my staples such as flour, sugar, oatmeal, pasta, etc. are non-existent. It is good to know how long the supplies I bought in Canada will last although I did supplement them with a lot of fresh food so I would have to take that into consideration when planning our Pacific crossing.
At the moment that looks to be at least 2 seasons away, probably happening in March/April 2008. Barry really wants to spend some time learning Spanish so we will probably head up into the Mexican mountains,, where it is cooler, next summer and immerse ourselves in a Spanish school. All these are just vague plans subject to change at the whim of the crew of Cat’s-Paw IV, that is one of the joys of cruising, no deadlines, no one to answer to except the bottom line. We are looking forward to visits from my Mom and her partner Bill, our daughters Trish and Jen with Trish’s significant other Graeme, perhaps Barry’s sister Kim and her husband Brent, as well as our friends Ian and Helen, and Janet and George from Yellowknife. It should be an enjoyable fun-filled winter, Barry says may the visits be short and sweet.
