The Countdown to our Pacific Crossing

Before we sailed away from San Francisco on Cool Change in 2014 heading south, Rick had entitled our blog’s byline as “Preparing for the voyage of a lifetime.”  We had no idea.  Preparing to leave San Francisco for coastal cruising was child’s play compared to preparing to cross an ocean.  As Latitude 38’s Andy Turpin called it, this is preparing for “varsity”cruising.

Granted, we are likely more prepared than most, but I think reducing your chances of mishap by being as prepared as you can before a potentially life-threatening undertaking is not only logical, but also, it is part of human nature’s way of reducing anxiety.  And if you don’t have the least amount of anxiety before a trip like this, you are nuts.  This is the largest stretch of uninterrupted ocean on the entire globe. On the other hand, I am told that most of the boats preparing to leave the dock to cross the Pacific are already more prepared than most of the boats already out there cruising.

Had I realized how anxiety-producing this process would be, I am not sure I would have accepted the challenge.  I guess that is true with almost anything that takes a lot of effort.  After all, we are supposed to be enjoying our retirement, meandering on some remote beach searching for unbroken seashells, not sweating inside a cramped boat compartment over 12 hours per day for weeks on end.  The only thing that keeps us going sometimes is keeping the goal in mind, and that is against our nature at this point in our lives: we want to enjoy the journey, not just focus on the destination, and in this case, the journey of preparing for a journey has not always qualified as living the retirement dream.

However, this journey we are preparing for, shall we be so lucky as to complete it,  will top all of our other adventures in our lives; certainly that it true for me.  I may have wandered around Europe alone at age 18, driven across the U.S. on a motorcycle alone at age 21, jumped out of airplanes at age 24, and moved alone to Mexico without speaking the language at age 30.  But all of those pale in comparison to this voyage.  Fortunately, I apparently have outgrown the need to do it alone; I am so grateful to have Rick by my side, the absolute best co-captain, teammate and lifemate in the entire world.  I wouldn’t do this without him, and frankly I don’t think I would do it with anyone but him.

So, what in the heck is there to do that requires almost four months of nonstop effort?  After all, we have already been cruising for three years, have already learned a lot, and have made a bunch of improvements as a result.  Well, there were literally hundreds of items on our list, but I am happy to say that the tasks that remain, short of the final 3-day countdown, can be counted on two hands. Writing this blog was one of them.

Here is just a sample of what has kept us busy since we arrived back in Mexico over four months ago:

Boat Projects: wind generator added, more solar panels and arch added, stainless steel work completed. margarita seat added, cockpit shower added, steering cable replaced and later tightened, toilet replaced, fuel tank removed and reinserted, cap rails stripped and retreated, throttle cable replaced,  new preventer system added, rig tuned, sails resewn or replaced, and necessary boat parts and spares identified, purchased and delivered. I also sewed new tailored sheets for our sleeping berths, modified and added pockets to our weather cloths, covered our new fuel cans, made a cushion and cover for our new margarita seat, and remade our cockpit enclosure, amongst other sewing projects.

Sewing custom sheets for our sleeping berths

Replacing the throttle cable

Adding a new preventer system that will eliminate the need to go to the bow before jibing

Safety Equipment:  we wanted to revisit our safety equipment on board and make sure everything was up to snuff. Last year we got our liferaft recertified, but that was just the beginning.  In the last four months, we bought a fire blanket, had our fire extinguishers recertified, organized a flooding kit, reorganized our ditch bag, and updated our patching kit. We bought more tethers, and changed batteries on our personal AIS beacons and strobes.

Preparing for French Polynesia: I have tried to brush up on my French but I am afraid I am loosing that battle; I was required to go back to San Francisco to pick up our long term stay visas for French Polynesia; we ordered electronic and paper charts for the area and spent a lot of ineffective time trying to learn a new system to impose Google Earth images over charts to be used offline for the atolls to better see the shallow depths; we attended weeks of seminars, some an hour by bus away, that were designed to give us more information about our destinations; we are studying blogs and books and articles and guides all about the crossing and about French Polynesia, written by those who have gone before us, and there is SO MUCH INFORMATION that sometimes it seems overwhelming; we had to contract with an agent to help us with our immigration paperwork when we arrive, and we had to make reservations for a place to keep our boat next fall during cyclone season.

Rick discussing electronics with one of the seminar presenters

Traveling all the way back to San Francisco in February just to pick up our along Term Stay Visas for French Polynesia; fortunately, I was also able to include a very heartfelt night on the town with my sister Sharon and lug back more provisioning supplies.

Medical Preparations:  We have had our bodies checked out from head to toe and had everything fixed we could; we have had immunizations we never knew existed; and we reorganized and updated our ship’s medical kit with current prescriptions and recommendations from three different medical professionals as part of the seminars.  We contracted with a medical consulatation service who we can call 24 hours per day to walk us through a response to whatever medical emergency may arise while underway; Rick took a bus eight hours away to stay a week in Mazatlan to finish his dental implant, and I had some gum work done here in Puerto Vallarta.

Preparing for Communications and Weather information underway:  so, this is a big thing.  We each spent endless hours studying tons of rarely used facts about electronics and radio frequencies to pass two levels of HAM radio operator certifications, just so that we would have permission to participate in a daily radio net called the Pacific Seafarer’s Net, made up of people who will track our progress across the ocean and help us if we need it. You have to be a General Class HAM operator to participate. We also bought, installed and are learning how to use the Iridium Go! satellite phone.  Making calls is easy, but you can also send and receive emails, post to Facebook, and most importantly, download current weather information underway using this satellite connection, and learning all that takes some doing.  Besides, it all has to be set up ahead of time while we still have internet.  Not to be accused of falling short of overpreparation, we also have contracted with a professional weather router who will give us a specific course to start and is available all along the way to give us advice about which way to turn to avoid bad weather but maintain favorable winds.

Saying Hello and Goodbye:  this is one of the most enjoyable yet hardest parts of leaving on this adventure.  Our families are universally supportive of our pursuing our dreams, but everyone is a little afraid, just like we are, of course.  Nine of our family members came down to here to Paradise Resort for the last week of January to visit us, and we had an absolute ball.  My favorite part, though, was our last night’s dinner together.  Everyone went around the table and toasted to our journey with a quotable sailing quote, and then they presented us with a bundle of little wrapped gifts to open each day of our journey.  I was crying the whole time.  This was organized by my youngest sister Kim, who I absolutely adore.  In fact, I adore each and every one of those who were there that night, and many more who weren’t. I hate frightening my sisters with this journey and it is one of the most difficult parts of leaving to bear.  And then there are all the individual phone calls with family members and friends, and visits for dinner with so many people we have met through our three year journey here in Mexico, who want to get together, give us little goodbye presents or just wish us well.

Kim presenting me with the goodie bag of wrapped presents for each day of our journey

A visit from our family members was a highlight of our time in Paradise

The Winslow sisters

Rick, our son Drew and Bob, our nephew, after walking the plank for a bottle of tequila. Drew got it!

My sister Kim and her husband Pete at the Mexican Fiesta night

Visiting with my sister Sharon in San Francisco

Food Provisioning.  Ok so imagine trying to plan for enough food in a small space for 30 days with a small refrigerator, no freezer, and absolutely no access to a store! One of the very satisfying components of sailing is self-sufficiency; one of our friends likes to say that each of our boats is like a little city, with its own power generation, water generation, disposal system, etc.  And although some larger boats may have the luxury of a few plants, most of us don’t yet have the ability to grow food.  Fishing is not always as reliable as you would hope. So you have to bring food.  Fortunately, there is no shortage of information about recipes, how to buy and store food without refrigeration, and other provisioning tips.  I generated our menu and ingredients list back in the U.S. using several sources including our friend Lacey Anderson’s books (Go Light Outdoors) on whitewater rafting extended trip food preparation, based on the fact that she organized some excellent meals when we went on some whitewater trips with her.  And then I ordered a lot online in the States, mostly freeze dried foods and canned meats, which took quite the effort by lots of family and friends to get down here.  It has been a huge ordeal, but I am completely confident that there is no way we will starve!  If anything, we probably have too much.  But from what I hear, provisioning is very difficult and expensive (U.S. prices x 2) in French Polynesia if you want to eat anything besides bread, breadfruit and cheese.  So I think all the work will pay off. I was advised by an experienced ocean voyager that crossings are not the time to go on a diet because meals are such an important part of the day, so I have insured that we will be well-fed.  Rick and I will share the cooking.  And if we are lucky enough to catch some fish, I just went to a sushi prep class and bought all the fixings, so we can have some delicious mani mahi sushi along the way as well!

Sorting out where to put all the nonperishable provisions

A seminar to learn to make sushi!

Trying to Squeeze in a Little Fun:  when Rick was about reaching his too-much-work-too-little-play limit, we went to the resort pool or took Cool Change out sailing a few times, under the excuse that we needed to go to a few meetings at the other marina an hour away by car, a few hours away by sailboat.  Sailing always restores his soul.  And the whales in Banderas Bay this season have been just incredible.  They are everywhere.

Finally, a rare dip in the pool and a ride down the Crocodile slide

Below is a whale video.  This whale came up ten feet off the side of our boat and then dove underneath us just in time. If the video doesn’t show, click on this link:

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And Finally, Why are we doing this?  Well, good question.  Aside from the shear thrill of an adventure that we have been planning ever since we started sailing eight years ago, I am really looking forward to seeing what it is like to be at sea for such an extended period.  After the sleep, watch, meal and chore routines get settled, I am looking forward to having some moments of sheer bliss, whether it be lathering in the awesomeness of the night sky and the southern cross with no light pollution, sensing my body in sync with the wave motion and rhythm of the sea, being in tune with the subtle changes in the air pressure or humidity or temperature or wave action that only comes from observing the vast expanse of nothing but ocean over weeks at end, or having some spiritual epiphany or other that comes from the semi-meditative state of relatively consistent and subtle stimulation of the senses.  Of course, mingled in with that will certainly be the more challenging aspects of big winds or strong seas or squalls or the effects of sleep deprivation, and maybe a few (hopefully minor) boat maintenance issues, but that is all part of sailing.  I am also looking forward to improving my sailing skills by having an ocean crossing under my belt.  And of course, I am looking forward to having so much uninterrupted time with the love of my life, although I will look forward to the time when we can sleep together and in the same bed again!  (We sleep in single bunks for safety and comfort reasons during all overnight passages, and one will always be on watch while the other is sleeping.)  Last but not least, I am looking forward to discovering the exotic and beautiful islands of French Polynesia, far different than anywhere I have ever been, made all the more sweet by what we will have gone through to get there.

Chow for Now:  Well, that is about it before we leave.  We are still waiting for a sail to be delivered, so it looks like we will miss the first good weather window coming up this weekend.  However, there should be another in 7-10 days or less. This is probably the last post we will make from land with internet for quite a while. You can follow us on Facebook, as we intend to make posts there while underway using our satellite connection.  Unfortunately, we cannot connect with our blog using satellite.  Should you wish to send us a message, go to the top of this page and click on “WHERE ARE WE NOW” in the header on the right, and you will be brought to a link for our map page.  There, click on SEND MESSAGE.  Or else just click here:

https://Share.delorme.com/RickandCindyPatrinellis

I can’t wait to write our first blog entry from the Marquesas!

A napkin on my head at the Mexican Fiesta night to protect me from the rain. May Rick and I weather all storms in our path together with smiles on our faces!