Provisions.

Today we spent more on groceries than we ever have before. We used carts, people. For years I have been a wee basket girl. We hit up the United and Trader Joe's, because we can, they're right next to each other. Hoping I'm actually prepared for a lifestyle without daily access to diverse fresh produce and convenience foods. Our cupboards (and bilge) are full. Would anyone like to guess, Price is Right style, how much we spent on these items?

Untethered. Or, leaving all your stuff behind.

Living on a boat is a fairly simple way of life. There are, by sheer constraints of size, limits to what you can own, collect, stash away. That being said, cruising on a boat is a different way of life. You must take everything with you. And you must be able to secure your various items so they don't disappear when a wave hits you unexpectedly or hit you in the head after flying across the cabin.

The task of winnowing and securing is the one we have been tackling the last few days. The surfboards have been moved onto the boat and given a nice strappy resting place. SCUBA tanks, jerry cans for diesel, and many spare engine and mechanical parts have been moved aboard and found their places tucked away. Chris designed a nifty little wooden contraption to stabilize our new propane tanks to the mast. The deck and cockpit of the Liberté, which have always seemed spacious, are getting crowded. Our boat looks like the self-sufficient vessel she needs to be.

On the way out are winter clothes, books and cds, art supplies and some of my less important girly things, like a curling iron. I sold my bike - it was kind of sad.

Things, possessions have never been all that important to me, but it is never easy to choose the things to carry with you and those to leave behind. Some have memories attached, good times and good lessons. Gifts from loved ones, super finds at thrift stores. Letting go is a decision, but it's never an easy one. Well, sometimes it is - does anybody want a DiscMan?

The Green Machine

I haven't been surfing for very long, five years and a day or two. I started with an eight and a half foot Johnny Rice longboard that Amanda and I shared. It wasn't too long before I ended up breaking it in half on a big day at Sloat Street, Ocean Beach. Since then I've had a bunch of boards, some I liked and some that didn't quite fit me. Since I hope to spend a fair amount of time surfing some deserted waves in the next year, I wanted to get myself a perfect board.

I'd seen some boards that caught my eye at 2 Mile with a Mystic logo, and had met the shaper, John Moore a few times before. We chatted a bit and I said the hell with it, lets do this, lets make something for me, a board that is exactly what I want.

I'd had this really great JD Rockets board, 7'3" an orange pintail that was nice and wide and fat. It helped me get a lot of bigger waves and I definitely became a better surfer on it. John was able to get the dimensions for that board and we mixed it into a couple other designs I liked. A few hundred bucks, a trip to OSH to pick out a color (freakin' jungle green) and wham, bam, shiny new ride. John was awesome about everything, he understood what I wanted and was totally able to turn it into a board.

No One Left Behind!

Today we experienced a near tragedy - an important team member went overboard. We got ‘im back, but it was close. We almost lost a SunShower.

This is the little guy. He’s in recovery. The SunShower is basically a bag that is made out of thick magic plastic, and somehow heats up magically to about the same degree as a car interior on a hot day (Chris says it's something about solar radiation, but I say MAGIC). We have procured two of these to provide ourselves with an occasional fresh, warm shower. Each holds four gallons of water, and it may not seem like it, but two bodies can definitely get a good rinse from one bag-full. We’ve tested it out a couple of times, here on the boat and on a recent camping trip. They’re marvelous.

We were sailing along, heeled over fairly well on a starboard tack. Headed toward Treasure Island, we were going through the infamous wind tunnel known to SF Bay sailors as the “Slot” when Chris yells,

“Oh shit, we lost a SunShower!”

We’d settled them on the cabin top as we sailed, to let them heat up. We caught a quick wave, heeled over hard and then, PLOP, there it went. Well, the next few minutes were pretty chaotic. We immediately began to round up to come back to it, but failed to take into account how much we were getting bounced around by the waves and wind. Our sails were all swinging and flapping with the quick tack, and I was trying to keep the little bag in sight. I got out the boat hook, Chris pulled alongside, but I couldn’t pull it in. Then we decided to take down the sails and turn on the motor to give us a little more control. After wrestling with the main and jib for a few minutes, we got it under control and turned around to try to grab Sunny. I took the helm, and Chris had a shot with the boat hook. Again, no cigar. We almost gave up. The wind was howling and we couldn’t spot the SunShower in the choppy water. Then Chris saw it, just off the port bow. He lunged with the boat hook, snagged the handle, and pulled it onboard. Hurrah for Chris!

So another Bay sailing adventure under our belt, we’re tucked in here at Clipper Cove for the night.

In other news, we wore our almost matching new jackets today for the first time - don’t we just look soooo nautical?