Part of the romance of sailing away on your sailboat could include getting rid of every material possession or perhaps storing everything at your friends' homes. In our case, we have done a bit of each, as well as contributed to the healthy business model of the national PODs business. Three years ago, one of the final steps before our departure was having two empty PODs delivered to our driveway. With the help of some local packing resources we picked up in a nearby parking lot, we carefully packed each POD to capacity with our "treasures". And off the PODs went to some undisclosed location. Out of sight, out of mind!
August 2012: Goodbye Precious Things
Fast forward three summers later. Now we felt compelled to check in on the PODs. We didn't even know where the storage area was. I had always described a PODS storage facility as similar to one of those non descript data centers, larger than several football fields, with semi-truck size containers inside, each housing hundreds of racks of computers. You know, where all of our secure data is housed in the Cloud. I have actually toured one of Microsoft's big ones in Chicago; it was an impressive field trip.
With one phone call, Rob arranged for us to look at our Pods. And we also brought more things to store, just in case there was room.
Not exactly Google Maps, but we felt confident we were nearing our destination...
A peek inside the Storage Facility - it was dark and scary
Our friendly warehouse and forklift operator. We are getting to know him this summer. He is a pretty cool laid back guy.
And behind Door #1...Rob opens the POD with great anticipation
POD #1 Things have shifted a bit. Miraculously nothing appears broken.
Note the custom made wooden box on the right; that stores one of our Christmas wreaths.
POD #2 And More!
We spent a lot of time reorganizing each entrance of the POD so that they would be packed better, and have room for more treasures.
Rob, don't fall in!
One more carload of things from the Attic go into the PODs
Ship Shape Organization!
Nancy finds a treasure in the PODS
We've had more time this summer getting things re-organized, downsizing a bit more and preparing for our return to Shindig.
The PODs business is continuing to work for us. Someday within the next year we hope to be unloading all these treasures, and giving up our space in the warehouse.
With the mast project finished, we were eager to meet Rob's parents and do some buddy-boating in the Sea of Cortez. Our boat projects in LaCruz went a little long so we made a plan to speed up our passage north and do a two day trip from Mazatlan to Isla Carmen. The crossing was pretty benign, leaving Mazatlan early in the morning, and arriving 50 hours later. Our overnight watches are now more fluid. Rather than a set 4 hours on/off we now start watches after dinner and target 3 hour shifts at night. If the person on watch is doing well they will extend and wake up the other person when they start to tire. This worked well for us and as a result we averaged 5 hours for day shifts and 3.5 hours for night shifts. We had plenty of food to eat, some prepared in advance, other meals easy to make during the passage. On the second day we dragged some lures though a pod of excited dolphin. We have learned that Tuna often feed on the same bait fish that dolphin enjoy. Sure enough we landed a nice Yellow Fin tuna. After two days and two nights, at 7:30 in the morning we arrived following an incredible moon set behind Isla Carmen. It was great to see Mom and Dad and share stories of our separate travels. We also started making plans together for our leisurely 130 mile trip back to La Paz.
Shindig sunset on our first night out
Excited dolphin spinning lead us to yellow fin tuna
Sushi anyone?
Elegante and Shindig anchored in turquoise green water of Bahia Salinas
Mom and Dad Novak on the way to collect some clams
After an hour of surface diving, we had plenty of clams
Amazing beach at Bahia Salinas
Mom and Nancy chillin' on the sun deck of Elegante
For those who have been following our online blog you may have noticed that there is a day counter on the right hand side. This served as a countdown meter as we prepared for our trip in 2012 and then started counting the days since departure after we sailed out of San Francisco Bay, September 15, 2012.
Day One! Sailing out the Golden Gate
Can you believe it has been 1000 days?
Well, here we are. It has not been 1000 days at sea, and thank goodness, not 20000 Leagues Under the Sea. But we have been "away". We've enjoyed our California and Mexican cruising aboard our beloved Shindig. We've enjoyed our summer couch surfing in the US and Canada. It has been an amazing journey. It feels like we've had 10 years of adventures instead of less than 3. We have met hundreds of cruisers, made many dear friends, and celebrated the little and the big milestones together. The ease at which friendships flourish with other cruisers and local Mexicans is truly amazing. The new relationships we have developed on this adventure are the most cherished part of the nomadic 1000 days. In addition to the new friendships we've also grown closer to many of our "landlubber" friends and family as we enjoyed the generous hospitality during our homeless summers. Many of our sailing friends have continued travel to Central America and the South Pacific. Others have completed their sailing adventures and returned home full time.
HarkerBoard SUP relay race team. Katie, Mike, Rob and Wendy. (La Paz October 2013)
One of the most difficult things we encounter when moving around so much is saying goodbye to new and old friends. Often it really isn't goodbye though. More times than not we are reunited during the cruising season in different anchorages or marinas or in the next season. Sadly, we have lost a good friend this year and must say goodbye. "Wendy on Willow" was an amazing woman. She single handed her sailboat to Mexico and brought the "sunshine" where she went. We bumped into her on and off for two seasons, shared birthday celebrations, dinners in remote anchorages and some impressive paddleboarding. We will miss her free spirit and endless optimism. Even as her cancer and treatment debilitated her she wrote inspirational love notes to all her friends. Amazing! While we mourn the loss of a good friend we also celebrate her spirit, sense of adventure and the positive impact she made on everyone she met. So what is next for the Shindig crew? As we write this, Nancy is in Northern CA, visiting her mother and Rob is in Southern CA spending time with his parents, and brother's family. Our remaining June travel schedule includes separate trips to Boston and Texas and a nice drive up the California coast together. Our plan is to walk into our house July 1st and begin the process of getting it ready for sale. It's time for a new home base, one that we can come and go from while we continue our travels. We both thank you all for your interest and support of our travels, and your friendship. "Gracias, Muchos Gracias!!" "Merci Beaucoup" (gotta start refreshing on the French for Shindig's eventual trip to the South Pacific) And Nancy's mom (age 89) just recalled this phrase, "Takk Takk Tusen Takk", (A Thousand Thank You's in Norwegian) With Gratitude, Rob and Nancy
Rob and Nancy delivering a candy filled "Shindig Man" to the children in San Evaristo
Shindig has taken good care of us for three seasons in Mexico; it was time to check her into the "Boat Spa" for some TLC. The tropical weather and heat takes its toll on wood teak decks, fiberglass, gelcoat and any painted surface.
One big project that we had been delaying was the removal and the painting of the mast, boom and spinnaker pole. It feels like an infrastructure home project, like replacing old plumbing in your house. If it all goes well, you still have water coming out of the tap in the end. And after a whole lot of work, it is still functionally the same.
The rig was 18 years old so this was also a good opportunity to inspect all the welds and mast fittings very closely. Mexico is a great place to do this type of work. It will make me feel more confident in the standing rigging for a Pacific crossing in 2017.
Lots of corrosion at the masthead. 18 years in the sun and salt will do this.
I did a lot of prep work, both on the outside as well as the inside to get the mast ready to be pulled. It was kind of like a tooth extraction but on a much larger scale. After a few days in the La Cruz Marina, we went over to the boatyard's dock, tied up and followed instruction as the "surgery" began. An hour and a half later, Shindig was already back in her assigned slip, tied up, and looking kind of odd with a mast.
Tied up at the yard, preparing for pulling the mast
Off with the boom
Peter Vargas is lifted on the crane to make the appropriate attachments
Mast is out and swinging into the yard
Touchdown
Work progressed well at the boatyard. Daily monitoring, encouragement for the 2-3 guys who worked on Shindig, as well as contributions to their Saturday afternoon end of week celebrations were part of the routine. Meanwhile in the slip, boat workers washed and waxed Shindig's hull, topsides and stainless steel. Even the dinghy and paddleboard now look sparklin' new.
Three and a half weeks later, the mast was ready to be stepped. With almost precision work, Shindig pulled into the boatyard at 830am, the Sea Tek rigging team led by Peter Vargas was waiting to help tie her up, and the crane began its careful work.
Here is a time lapse of the re-stepping of the mast.
Two more days of putting everything back together again, and Shindig was ready to head out.
We are happy to have this project done and behind us. Peter Vargas and his team were thoughtful and did a great job.
Everything went back together well and we didn't have any extra parts!
Here are some intermediate photos of the painting project.
Paint is chemically stripped
Then sanded
Detail work with a wire brush at the masthead
First coats of paint on the spinnaker pole and boom
Main furler gearbox and motor detailed and painted
Lots of little bits and pieces painted and drying
New Shindig graphics for the boom
Painted mast is reassembled and standing rigging is going on
When we left the Bay Area to go cruising, we had a decent amount of items with Shindig's logo: plastic tumblers, embroidered T shirts, and a really nice Shindig Battle Flag, which was designed by our neighbor, Jan Thomas, in Los Altos. Last year, we added Shindig shirts to outfit our racing teams and special guests. Well, this year, Christmas came very early in Mexico via our friends, Katie and Mike on SV Pangaea. In addition to doing some personal shopping for me while she was in the States for a long weekend (thank you thank you!), Katie brought back a very special surprise. Their good friend, Al, who likes to sail, is also in the promotional logo business. He had offered to try out some different styles with us, and only asked for our Shindig artwork. Just look at the great swag he sent down with Katie last week. Shindig bath towels, tote bags, kitchen towels and sunglass wipes. The towels are made from the microfiber that is absorbent and quick to dry.
We are so grateful and were excited to try out our new bags, chamois like towels and kitchen towels. (Do you remember the "Who moved my Brown Towel?" blog from Season 1?)
SHINDIG towel on Shindig at El Cid Marina, Mazatlan
Al's website and online business is just starting. Check back with us or through Pangaea on how to order your own special swag.
Our March anniversary had been postponed until we returned to Banderas Bay. There's nothing like saying "happy anniversary, honey" when you're in passage mode fighting seasickness, drowsiness or general irritability. :) Once we got to Banderas Bay, we enjoyed a very nice stay at Garza Blanca Preserve Resort & Spa, high in the Conchas Chinas hills overlooking the Bay. Just found out that Locals in Puerto Vallarta refer to Conchas Chinas as "The Hills" (as in Beverly Hills of PV). It was a beautiful hotel, with a grand lobby, several towers including an adults-only one spread out over many acres with old fashioned, gleaming trolleys to take you around the grounds. We had a few meals at the hotel, and the menus and service were just spectacular. Besides the brand new Sky bar which looked like a very chic, all white and stainless steel Las Vegas nightclub, Nancy was surprised to find she could search the web or send emails from the treadmills at the gym. (Unfortunately our workouts did not coincide with the live DJ in the gym from 6-8pm.) But the Toto high tech Neorest commodes in every public area were another highlight.
It sure is nice to get off the boat every now and then!
This Bathroom is bigger than our main salon on Shindig
View of our hotel room
We also decided to celebrate this anniversary by getting a couple of guitars! The influence of last month's International Guitar Festival in Zihuatanejo as well as our cruiser friends and their guitars really inspired us. After a few adventurous shopping excursions we ended up with two beginning Fender guitars, one acoustic and the other acoustic/classical. We are now sorting through the dozens of beginning guitar apps for the iPad to see which ones work best. So far, the "guitarzjam.com" is a favorite. Rob has a few songs he's targeted as his Goal Songs; Nancy is plugging away at her instrument, and was caught referring to the guitar as a cello, or a violin. Our friends Katie and Mike have been enthusiastic supporters and someday we hope to be able to jam with them.
We learned that the strings are "E, A, D, G, B, e", with the following mnemonic helps: "Edward Ate Dynamite...Good Bye Edward!"
