Reflections

Reflections at 20 days
Lynette:

My biggest challenge is getting things done! It seems everything takes so long to do. For me, having the cabins, galley and head orderly are really important. I wonder if it's because at home you can leave things until later and it really takes the same amount of time to do but because I’m doing it as I go, steps seem to take longer? Dishes have to be done after every use or it takes longer to get the next galley operation done. I will be glad to have a dish drainer again. That is on the purchase list. 

My wardrobe is being redefined and I’m figuring out what needs I actually have and what needs to be out and off the boat. It’s a 4 seasons thing. In this 20 days we’ve encountered temperatures from 42 to 96 degrees! I definitely need a light to medium weight wind breaker type, the sweatshirts I have aren’t pulling their weight. I am also less concerned about my hair, it’s always been brushed but it’s always out of order! I wear ball caps and my bangs get all kinked and then when I wear the beanie or stocking cap my hair is simply crazy! When we get to port or we leave the boat, I do what I can and the rest I don’t worry about. I go without eye make-up most of the time now.

I’ve been pretty tired. Now that we are in a slip again here in Santa Barbara, I slept deeply and soundly. At anchor I found it hard to just let down and sleep because different sounds would wake me up. My mind racing with: Are we dragging? Are we in the same place? Are we getting too close to another boat? What’s that sound? Is there a seal on the boat? I also sleep pretty well on our overnights. I’m sure once we get really great at anchoring I won’t have so much trouble sleeping. All the places we have moored or anchored have had wind and strong currents, issues that can cause an anchor to pop free if not completed well in the set. I’m also in a steep learning curve, it seems there are things every day that are still very new or the first time I’m doing it. These items use lots of brain juice and take time to settle into memory which requires sleep. This feels a little like boot camp, but different.

Since I have been tired, there’s been a general lack of motivation. We have no shortage of things to do or fix or to try out. Having the strength of an achiever, I’ve had to dial back what achievement looks like. For instance, today I’m going to clean the head and that’s enough. I can always find a cleaning chore, but I need to make time for reading up on using our wind steering vane, learning knots and practicing, planning with Tim our next leg of our travels. When I sit down at that end of the day and list off all the “things” I accomplished, the list is always long. I’ve learned now to list every little thing, because that’s what I’m doing right now.

Physically, I’m sore all the time. I feel much better when I take the branched chained amino acids (body builders use these for muscle building). My knee is a challenge, it’s all muscle imbalance and I have to do self care to get those loosened up so my knee moves freely. Tiger Balm is my friend these day. I am getting much stronger! That’s good! I have to remind myself to eat! Tim is really good at not eating, so part of my support role is to help remind him it's best to eat now. When he looks at his watch, he will agree. I’m thinning out and my clothes are beginning to be loose. I feel like I’m eating more, but I’m not 100% on this thought.​

The challenge of getting around and finding things in town at our stops has been filled with many feelings. Frustration at not being able to just get into a car and drive myself to all the places. Feeling that Ubering or Lyfting was more expensive than I’d like, and then feeling limited by how far I wanted to walk and the lack or selection at the places close by. Also the pricing close in is expensive! I’ve resorted to calling to see if the things we need are available at the store before heading out. Laundry facilities have been scarce and I’m glad to have them now in Santa Barbara.

Tim:
The following has to be taken in the big parenthesis of (we're sailing down the coast of California on our own sailboat, so any whining should be ignored or discounted.) 
I really love sailing, so the 20 hour motorsail we just did was OK, but I much prefer to have enough wind to really bomb down the coast. For the sake of comfort and risk management we are avoiding the biggest winds. We are looking at the weather, the isobars and NOAA data to see what we can handle. I don't need to have sea stories about how we managed in a 35 knot gale to survive another day. Lynette does not need to have a traumatic experience either. So we are taking the conservative approach at delivering our boat to San Diego. 

Sleep is nice, get it while you can. Generally I'm lacking in that area. I feel a sense of responsibility to keep things solid and safe at my own expense — which in the long run is bad for safety. Lynette is doing a great job at keeping the fuel in my body, food is important, I've heard. I am enjoying watching Lynette get more confident, make her own discoveries and generally becoming a capable sailor in her own right. 

There is a saying about cruising, "Cruising is doing boat maintenance in exotic locations." In a way, that is what we're doing. From changing anchors, running out the 200' of chain onto a dock and checking, measuring and returning it to the boat looks like a crossfit drill. To adding new gear, caulking, epoxiying leaks, troubleshooting all the electronics, care and feeding the engine, rigging up a better reefing system etc.

For those who struggle with ADD, I can really understand that. Just moving on deck from bow to stern (front to back) the internal conversation goes like this: Objective, to make sure the anchor is secure so it does not fly off the boat in a heavy sea. Go to the bow, on the way, see a line that is wrapped around the dorade vent, fix that, moving forward, oh! look at the sea lion in the marina eating a huge fish. What was I doing? I need to get that hatch opened for some ventilation, where is that bungie I used for that? down in the aft cockpit locker, pull that out as it grabs everything in the locker in its hook, letting go at the last second to snap me in the knuckles, which are already scabbed over from other similar events. I see the flag is wrapped up, so because I love my country I free the star tangled banner. Onward, back to get the hatch opened. Gosh why can't I finish a single thing? Oh, wait, the anchor! Go to the bow and come up with a good way to secure it, realizing that the line I need is in the same locker I was just in. Head back to the cockpit and cram my toes into the cleat on deck because I was looking at the pretty bird flying by. %$&*@ that hurts! Line in hand, heading back up to tied down the anchor. Good, done. I wonder, if there is a piece of gear I can get to make that anchor really solid on the bow. No need to replay the Morro Bay anchor hanging incident. I'll get on the net and look for something. 
Bottom line, it is REALLY hard to get one thing done on a boat. Everything is shouting for attention, there are so many things clamoring for improvement, fixing or tying down.
My hands are really sore, the pulling, smashing, crushing and general abuse they take is astounding. 

I spend a lot of time using navigation tools, weather resources and other geeky things to ensure we are not going to blunder into a storm or a gale. It has paid off so far, by spending 4 extra days in Alameda, 3 in Santa Cruz, then 3 in Monterey and 4 in Morro Bay add up to a slow trek down the about 400 miles to San Diego. Being an achiever you have to realize that most goals are arbitrary and pushing to hit those marks can be very costly. We've got a question we ask that seems to work for most things, "why not?" Why not stay, why not go? It's helped Lynette and I get on the same page for routes and timing. It's all part of the adventure. 
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