Ruby Slippers

This is the song that has been running through my head, over and over:

She sailed away on a bright and sunny day on the back of a crocodile.
You see, said she, he’s as tame as he can be; I’ll ride him down the Nile.
Well, the croc winked his eye as she waved her friends goodbye, wearing a great big smile.
At the end of the ride, the lady was inside, and the smile was on the croc-o-diiile!

I think it is the “waved her friends goodbye” part that has put this song in my head. It was so nice of everyone to come see us off, and to ride out on Mark’s boat to gives us a final “love push” out into the ocean. You looked like a bunch of Vietnamese boat people, escaping to a brave new land, except none of you look very Asian… We felt a lot of love, prayers, and good wishes come from that boat – thank you!

This first week has had its ups and downs – just ask my stomach. Molly and I have had a little trouble finding our sea legs, while Jessie and Jim have been singing sea shanties and talking about all the meals they would eat, if only someone was in the mood to cook… I have spent many hours staring into the pewter-colored sea, trying to find ways to calm my stomach.

Night watches are an interesting phenomenon. Jim and I take turns standing watch every 3 hours through the night. The problem is, when I am supposed to be sleeping, I am terrified that Jim has been yanked off the boat by some invisible force, so I am up checking on him every half hour or so. Then when it’s my turn, I am sure that some huge ship will come careening towards us through the fog, and I won’t be able to get out of its way fast enough. Jim says it will be nice when my confidence level rises…

Last night, the wind was blowing about 25 knots from behind us, and we were flying through the water at about 11 knots, under mainsail only, in pea soup-thick fog. I was praying about the radar, and the fact that it really needed to work well. Our ship is truly small, and the ocean is truly vast. God has given us little gifts along the way; the stars, pelicans, and one whale. We have some lovely notes, books and gifts from our friends and family.

Right now, we are in Crescent City, getting some much needed sleep and clean-up time. We have made it past two states; I know California is a long one, but it feels good to know we have come this far. I know, I know – we could have driven here in about 10 hours, but how fun would it be to brag about that????

We received a lovely surprise gift from a band of our friends and family, led by Mark Schrader. It is a great big spinnaker, all white with a beautiful pair of ruby slippers right in the middle of it! A spinnaker is a sail used for the most fun point of sail: downwind. We hope to have many wonderful days of flying our Ruby Slippers spinnaker in warm, tropical waters. Thank you so much for the useful reminder of all the people we love so much!

We should be south of San Francisco sometime late tomorrow. That’s when our little adventure really begins – this first week has been a test, only a test… Jeanna

Going under the Golden Gate Bridge late at night was a gorgeous site. It took forever to get through the channel, because the current was against us. We tied up in front of the San Francisco Bay Yacht Club in Tiburon. Moorage has doubled from Crescent City to here. I hear it is even more expensive in San Diego. We are about 50 hours from San Diego – about 2 days of sailing. Our pattern so far has been to be “out there” for about a day and a half, then find some harbour to duck into to get some actual sleep. Thankfully, the weather has allowed us to be flexible. We’ve not had much wind, so have had to motor more than we like. Some days and nights, the waves have been huge. The boat bucks and leaps, twists and jives through the waves. When you are lying in your bunk, it feels like you are in the back of a race car gone out of control. The motor is roaring, and the car is swerving and weaving like there is a mad drunk at the wheel. It’s a lot less extreme when you are out on deck. The motor isn’t so loud, and you can see how the boat is negotiating its way through the seas.

The nights on the ocean are achingly beautiful. The sunsets are unobstructed by buildings, and the stars are out in abundance. The other night, they were so close, I was sure the big dipper was going to tip and pour chocolate sauce into the bowl of ice cream I wish I had in my hand…

Molly and Jessie have been begging to start school. Now that I am no longer leaning over the side of the boat every couple of hours, school sounds like a good idea. Jessie, of course, has read the entire teacher’s manual and knows exactly what we should be doing at all times. That girl loves schedules…

Yesterday we went to a lookout point above the Golden Gate Bridge and saw the entire area – what a beautiful site! We went to Sausalito and wandered around the shops a little bit, then had a great dinner. It was nice to be a tourist for a little while, but there were a lot of people. It was nice to come home to our quiet little boat, rocking gently in its slip…

We are leaving today, determined to get to San Diego. We aren’t quite sure how to prepare – I guess we just untie and go. We’ve got food, clothes and our sea legs – what more would we need?

We are learning a lot about the limitations of our communication systems. It has been very difficult to receive e-mails and update our website. I think we are getting some of the bugs worked out, but be patient with us. We love to hear from you, and will respond as soon as we are able. I think we will be able to post some pictures, so check out the gallery section of the website. Thanks for your thoughts, prayers and e-mails. We think about all of you A LOT! Jeanna

I could tell we were getting close to Los Angeles; the pelicans were all wearing bling, and the mother seals were carrying their pups in little pink plaid purses…

We arrived in Marina Del Rey yesterday, and are feeling very yachty here. It’s about 80 degrees and it feels so good! We have had a few days of great sailing. We got to fly our new spinnaker, and we were flying downwind at about 12 knots! That doesn’t seem like a lot to you car drivers, but when you are on a box in the middle of the ocean, it feels fast!

We spent a couple nights anchoring in the Channel Islands, Southern California’s answer to the San Juans. We who live in the Pacific Northwest are very fortunate to have the San Juan Islands, the Gulf Islands, and southeast Alaska as cruising grounds. Apologies to all our California boating friends, but the Channel Islands look like big piles of dryer lint sitting out in the middle of the ocean. There is not a tree in sight, and the anchorages are woefully inadequate. Maybe it’s just the wrong time of year to be visiting the islands, but we found ourselves missing the green Northwest immensely! We did, however, find some very friendly seals on the beach at San Miguel Island.

I have been thinking a lot about prudent sailing. We have done a few very prudent things, like changing to our smaller headsail while we were still at the dock, in anticipation of heavier winds. We were very glad we did that, when it was blowing 25-30 knots through the night watches on our way down here. We have also done a few un-prudent things, like entering moorages and anchorages after dark. It was scary trying to anchor in Cuyler Harbor on San Miguel Island in the dead of night – no lights, shallow water, and the beach was looming dangerously close ahead of us. Jessie was on the GPS, calling out, “More to starboard, Dad; stay in the middle of the channel”. Molly was calling out the depth’ “12 feet, 11 feet…” – we draw 8 feet! I was shining the flashlight on the rocks and the beach, and Jim was calmly driving to the right spot. It all worked out, and it was a nice spot to anchor, but we are learning lessons about timing and entering places with some daylight left. Our girls make great crew members. They are very comfortable with the boat lingo, and are good on the navigation equipment.

We finally have started school on a pretty regular basis. There is one historical fiction book that we read out loud each week, and one that the girls read on their own. Then we have math, history, grammar and spelling, and a Bible class. It seems like a nice full curriculum. We also have science and a navigation DVD that we haven’t dug into yet. I feel like we are a little shy on art and music, but I think being in the South Pacific Islands will take care of that. Phys. Ed takes the form of swinging from the dodger, driving the boat, and playing on the beach whenever they get off the boat.

Things I miss: church, friends, weekends, family, work, and Butch.

Things I don’t miss: traffic, television, school pressures, feeding chickens, and rain

Molly and Jessie are writing journals to post to this site – they will finish soon! Happy Halloween – we’ll talk again from San Diego!

On our departure date, all of our friends congregated on the Anacortes fuel dock at 5:00 to wave us good-bye.  Before we left, we took all of our friends up on the boom and zipped our selves into the mainsail cover.  Also, (to our good friend Mark Schrader’s dismay) we happened upon piles of colorful confetti hidden in the folds of the main sail!  Upon our return to the ground (and after a few pictures), everyone went aboard Mark’s boat, Dancing Bear, to escort us out of the marina.  When we raised our sail, what should come out but loads of confetti!  (What a surprise!)  That first night Dad took most of the night’s watches because Mom, Molly, and I were too tired.

That was about two weeks ago.  Now we are in Avalon Bay on Catalina Island, and are heading to San Diego for the start of the Baja Ha-Ha race (it starts on the 30^th, yikes!).  We have had one MOB (man overboard drill) to retrieve a piece of paper.  Dad and I are the only ones that have not gotten seasick yet, but I was really queasy on land once.  I really like being on the water, but it still sort of seems like we are going to go home soon, just like one of our Alaska vacations.  I am doing well and am eager to start the race, but I do miss my friends, a lot!  I will try to start an online journal for the race, and then my next website project will be finding a map for the site to chart our course on. I hope everyone is enjoying the site!

About a half an hour after leaving L.A., we quickly executed a near perfect MOB (Man Over-board) drill.  I had been working on crocheting a hat for myself out of some light blue yarn (of course), when a small yellow bird flew on deck and scuttled beside the dinghy.  Molly and I went to investigate and take pictures.  Mom and Dad watched it for a little while and then went down below.  When I was walking back to the cockpit (with my paper still in my hand) the wind tore it away from me and it blew out to sea!  Swiftly, I ran down below and screamed to Dad that I had lost my crocheting instructions paper, it was way back behind the boat!  Dad followed me up the companionway, put the boat on standby, and turned it around while I grabbed the boat-hook.  I handed it to him just as we reached the paper, and he scooped it up and handed to me. The paper was sopping wet and ripped where he had skewered it with the boat hook, but I could still read it, and the rip was not on the words, so I carried it to the galley and set it gently on the counter to dry.  I worked on my hat the rest of the day.  That night when we got to Catalina Island I finished it!