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The Journey continues....

   Four years ago, we stepped off of Mangas and back into our regular routine. We returned to our roots in Arizona and I took a position with a electronic components distribution company headquartered in Phoenix. 
   
   But, for those of you who know us well, normal routine grounds us for a bit, but our feet are soon attempting another liftoff. 
   
   Last summer, I was contacted by a recruiter for a position out of the country. I talked it over with Mike and he said, sure, go ahead and interview, after all, there is no offer to consider yet so no use getting worked up over something that probably will not happen. 
   
   I had Skype interviews and face-to-face interviews and weeks and weeks in between with no insight into how I was fairing in the process. With every new round, Mike would say, go ahead and interview, after all, there is no offer to consider yet so no use getting worked up over something that probably will not happen. 
   
   I suppose you can guess the rest. Six months and 2 weeks later, I was offered the position. Not just any position, but the position. An Opus position of sorts for individuals in my field of information technology. And, to make it even sweeter, with a global company whose mission and purpose are not just website tags to be dusted off at annual leadership meetings. The team I met actually live and breath the values that those statements espouse in their everyday work efforts. But, more to come on all of that later.

   
   The takeaway for now is that the family is headed to The Netherlands. This is not an "expat assignment", this is living and working for a Dutch firm as a migrant worker. The ability to easily travel throughout the EU will provide us opportunity to indulge our wanderlust, while we keep a constant home base.
   
   It also means that we will be joining one of the richest sailing cultures in the world. So we need to plan how we will get Mangas, from her current on-the-hard in Puerto Peñasco where Mike is taking care of a bit of the ol' boat pox, to Amsterdam. 
   
   The family heads out to the Netherlands during the kids' Spring Break of March 19th and we will take a look around at our location and housing options. 
  
   I decided to start up the blog again to keep family and friends up to date on our progress and to journal the adventure for our kids sake when they are much older and they inevitably ask why? . I won't just cover the odyssey of getting Mangas from Rocky Point to Rotterdam, but also everything it takes to move a family with 3 middle-schoolers and 2 Airedales from the US to Europe and what we find when we get there. 
  
  Updates coming!

All good things...

Departing beautiful San Carlos

Our last leg of our sabbatical adventure has arrived. We returned to San Carlos just as the last tropical depression moved safely out to the Pacific. The weather just broke from heat and humidity in the 90's to temps in the mid-80's with low humidity. Perfect. We said goodbye to cruiser friends who were heading south or heading home and we headed out north. The weekend before, we were so happy to secure a slip at Safe Marina in Rocky Point. This slip will mean only a 6 hour drive from Yarnell, AZ to go sailing in the future. 

The day we sailed out of the bay had fair skies and good winds (that actually were in the direction we needed! For the first hour anyway). 

So good to be at sea again!

The kids had been looking forward to their break off the boat when we headed to the Canyon. So it was nice to hear them say, "It's good to be home!" when we got back to Mangas. 

Back at their favorite perch

We wanted to get to San Francisquito bay, which meant an overnight sail. We were able to keep the main sail up and motor once the wind died in the evening. Meanwhile, Mike had discovered some freshwater in the bilge and was attempting to uncover the reason. Not able to track it down that night,  we continued on since the water was not a lot and because it was freshwater. 

We had a good night sail and Reid kept us company during our shifts. I think he will be ready for a solo night shift soon himself. 

He is still small enough and young enough to sleep on the hard bench without feeling it the next day.

The next morning was the twins' birthday! We pulled into the beautiful bay of San Francisquito and had the cove all to ourselves. We hit the beach and had a great time showing the ropes to our new boat puppy, Mia!

Mia with her safety harness on for the night sail :)

Everyone had a great time on the beach and then we returned to make the cakes for the birthday. Mike finally found the culprit for our leak - unfortunately, it was our freshwater pressure pump. The problem was a split seal and we did not have any way to fix it on the boat. We do have a manual pump, so Mike went to work unpickling our freshwater maker to get the tanks filled after we had gone through all the marina water. While the girls were making cakes and I was making dinner, Mike started the freshwater maker and KABLAMO! One of our membrane canisters blew up. Arrgggghhhhh! 

Cake fun before the Kablamo

A blown water maker and no freshwater pump, meant that we would have to hi-tail it up to Bahia de Los Angeles to get water ASAP. The following morning we headed out to BLA and got in late afternoon. We were able to make it to the tienda before it closed and secure about 15 gallons of freshwater - enough to get us up to Rocky Point. 

Bahia de Los Angeles

That night at BLA, we had an elefante come through with winds sustaining at 35kts and gusting up in the 40's. That is quite a blow to feel at anchor. The good news was that with only 2 other sailboats in the entire bay, we did not have any risk of hitting another boat if we dragged anchor. But, as always, Mangas held tight with no problems. 

The next morning, we sailed out to head for Rocky Point. We had 20kt winds and, wouldn't you know it, we hit a record speed for us on Mangas at 10.3 knots on a beam reach out of the bay. It was so sad to know that we were cutting this short by a couple of weeks when the conditions were so ideal. 

I got up at 4 AM to relieve Mike and found him extremely anxious. We knew that one of the hazards about heading north was the depth. We have a deep draft and the north of the Sea has a very extreme tide and lots of shoals in very inconvenient places. Mike was seeing depths jump from 60 ft to 30 ft in an area of the sea where the depth should have been about 250 feet. Very disconcerting. Especially at night. We saw nothing on the Garmin and nothing on the Mexican Naval Charts to explain. Then I booted up the Navionics on the iPad and Voila! There is was, a shoal directly under us that was marked on the map. Within another 10 minutes, we were past it and back in deeper water. But, the areas of five and six thousand foot depths was way behind us to the south. From here on out, we would be in the hundreds. 

Besides watching for unplanned shoals, we also had to keep an eye out for Rocky Points large and active shrimp fleets that were all around us as we approached land.

We saw many on our radar while it was dark, but they were easy to spot as the sun rose finally above the eastern ranges beyond the shoreline. Once we came close to shore, our next issue was the tide. We are lucky that the difference between low and high tide this time of year is about 16 feet. At some points of the year, that difference will be in the 20's. High tide was 12:30, so Mike went in to the harbor to announce our unplanned early arrival at the marina and we waited for the noon hour. I am happy to say that we made it in without incident and got to our slip just fine. The tide change here is so extreme compared to the 1 or 1.5 meter differences we are accustomed to in the south. 

Just some examples...

 

Once we had the opportunity to take a closer look, Mike discovered that marine growth, despite the pickling, had formed in the container and blocked it up. New water pump and new canister in our future.

So, here we are. We did not reach our original planned destination to South America for this sabbatical. But, we did get in a lot of sailing, and living, and spending time with the people we love. We met a lot of folks along the way that we will always remember and a few that we will be in touch with for years to come. We faced a lot of adversity and we experienced some incredible moments. All in all, a great year. Now we are back in Yarnell and getting back to a new normal. We plan on being on the boat again for the Christmas holidays and we hope to have Mangas for years to come. Maybe that global circumnavigation when we semi-retire? Who knows. But, it's always good to have a dream...

Kaibab National Forest

Mike and Summer at Locust Point (filter on to pick up colors on overcast day)

We are having a very strange summer. We left the Sea and Mangas and traveled to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to escape the unbearable heat and humidity. At the Rim, we have experienced an incredible amount of rain and, at night, we drop into the low 40's. We just can't seem to find that 70 degree - 80 degree range.  

We have our Ford Truck and the Toyota FJ40 and other than that, we have the tent and a shade/rain cover for the Coleman Stove kitchen area. My point is that we are doing this pretty old school.

The great news is that most folks now only come out in trailers. We have only seen one other camp site that had a tent and no trailer. As a result, campers are not getting very far back on the forest roads before they stop and we have the entire back country virtually to ourselves. Because of less traffic, many of the great forest roads we found had incredible growth and you might miss them if you weren't looking.

Unlike Mangas, where, despite numerous invitations, we have only had a couple of visitors take us up on coming out to sail and fish, we actually have had quite a few family members make the trek to the North Rim to hang out and enjoy this beautiful terrain. 

With every visitor, comes a must-do visit to the Rim to see the spectacular view. With all the rain, many of the days have been cloudy and we have made several drives out to points only to see white clouds instead of deep vast chasms of red and gold rock.

One of our few sunny days at the Rim. Summer and Keira looking out over Indian Hollow point.

 

Timp Point

North Rim lookout point at the Grand Canyon Lodge

One of the places we went was the Grand Canyon Lodge. We made of day of it by bringing our laundry and taking showers, so we actually look pretty clean in this shot. The North Rim only sees a fraction of the visitors that go to the South Rim because it appears so far out of the way. The lodge area was not at all crowded and we did not have any lines for showers, laundry, snack bar or any other service. Again, there had been a lot of rain, as you can see by the cloudburst in the background above.

Interestingly, there were a few points that did not have protective rails that jutted out over the canyon. These all had very unstable rocks (OK - here is where my geology friends are shaking their heads incredulously), but I have no idea what kind of rocks they are. They are just slabs and they move under your feet. You could not look at any of these and not see one or two people trying to make their way out to the very tippy edge with a water bottle in one hand and a camera in the other. Ever wonder how anyone falls off the side of a cliff in a major tourist area like the Grand Canyon? Just come sit at the lodge and watch for a few hours. 

Speaking of the lodge, will I sound too not-with-the-times if I comment on the kids that we did happen to see there? Every one of them, no exaggeration here, was on a small handheld playing what looked to be MineCraft. Every one. There was this huge picture window looking out onto this magnificent canyon and they all had their backs to it and their heads turned down looking at their screens. I'm judging, I realize that. Those kids' parents may have just had their fill, decided that they came too far to not enjoy this place in peace and handed out the iPad minis as a last ditch effort to salvage the journey. Who knows? 

North Rim Grand Canyon Lodge - where is everybody?

We did have a great time at the Visitor Center and the kids got to go through the Junior Ranger training and learn a lot about the area and the animals. Mike and I also stopped by the Back Country Office to find out more about where to backpack in, outside the normal trails, when the kids are ready in a few years. The kids will be fine, but will I be ready?

During our stay here we have had a lot of close encounters with deer, wild turkey, squirrels, and lots of lizards. We saw one buffalo near the park entrance, but the herd is supposed to be quite large. 

Horned Toad Lizard - There are 8 species and most are protected. I used to see the desert version of these all the time when I was a kid and then it seemed like they just disappeared. On this trip and with this species, we saw them everywhere. 

Charging Squirrel 

Squirrel seemingly minding his own business. Don't let him fool you. These guys were constantly pelting us with green pine cones. When pine cones are green, they are heavy. And they hurt. Hurled from 20 feet above your head by a dead-eye squirrel, they really hurt.

Can you see it? Never seemed to get the camera out in time to capture these guys. We saw a lot of Wild Turkey family units. Some with as many as 7 or 8 jakes or jennies in tow.

The gratuitous FJ40 Rim shot - She is a great vehicle and road like a dream in the back country.

It has been incredible to spend so much time up here. When everything gets back to a new normal, it will be difficult to return to only extended weekend trips or one week vacations. Taking 2 weeks to be in one spot is just amazing. Not everyone can take a sabbatical, or would want to. And, if you only have a few weeks of vacation a year, it is difficult to decide to spend it all in one spot. After all, that is one trip a year and there is so much you want to see. But one thing I have learned on this adventure is that the place is truly not so important. Spending two weeks in one spot with your family, away from home and normal routine with no TV or computer games or texting or any number of other technology distractions, is priceless. Great if you can throw in incredible views like the Canyon, or spectacular activities like fishing in the Sea of Cortez, but your options near home or far away are limitless and anything will do really. Having everyone together and just talking and listening to each other and playing is what I will cherish most as I look back. 

As a final thought on this post... as much as we love Mexico, we are so happy to be back home in our beloved Arizona. Not many places where you can see this....

What else do you need?! Ok.. food maybe...

North Rim Splendor

Once we decided to skip the heat and head for Arizona, Mike needed to take a little puddle jumper flight from Guaymas to La Paz to get the Bronco out of storage and get it back to San Carlos.  After landing in La Paz, he drove to Mulege for the night and then on to Santa Rosalia where he loaded himself and the Bronco on the Santa Rosalia Ferry. Ten hours later, a little worse for wear without much food or sleep, Mike and the Bronco arrived safely in Guaymas and headed to the boat.

Meanwhile, the kids and I had separated out all perishable food items to donate to the local orphanage and we got things pretty spic and span. The kids had one last sleep-over on Friday night with their good friend, Alec and then Saturday morning, we were off.

I was dreading the non-air-conditioned ride that the Bronco was offering up, but we were all pleasantly surprised. Once we got further from the water and headed up into monsoon activity, it was not a bad ride at all. Thanks to my not declaring that we had a grapefruit that I needed to throw away, this border crossing was much smoother than the last. We didn’t actually have a grapefruit this time, but I had learned my lesson to just nod, say we are citizens, hand over the passports and then keep my mouth closed.

We made it my sister’s in North Phoenix later that day and quickly cycled through showers and laundry.  Our next stop was our trailer in Yarnell where a majority of our camping supplies lived and then we were back in Phoenix the following day for haircuts all around. Mike seemed a bit sad to loose his pirate locks, but he looks 10 years younger. I got all of my hair cut off as well. I look just the same.

Looking closer to normal than we had for about the last 6 months, we traveled up to Payson to stay with my dad for a few days and acclimate back to the woods and off the boat.  The kids spent there days building forts and role-playing Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Mike and I mostly just slept. I think that the altitude was a hit after living on sea level for so long. But, after a few days, we felt once again refreshed and we were anxious to get to the Kaibab National Forest.

 

Vermillion Cliffs on the way to the North Rim

The North Rim is very interesting in that you will find a lot of people from all over the US and all over the world who have traveled hundreds and thousands of miles to see The Grand Canyon from this vantage point. But, you don’t find many Arizonans. It is a few extra hours of a drive compared to The South Rim for most people, but it is worth the additional time and gas to get here. Above 8500 feet, and with thick old growth woods and large sprawling parks of green grass, it is hard to imagine that the desert is so near.

Mike and I had been before pre-kids and then again a few years ago with the trailer. This time, we were just bringing the tent and doing it old school.  Driving in at dusk, we see lots of deer and turkey in the parks with the wild turkey keeping close to the boundary of the woods.

We see only a few camps occupied with RVs and trailers as we head down Forest Road 22 to the west. After a few more turns, we are on 222 and see an old forest road to the left that has been overgrown for years. Mike and I walk down a ways and find an established fire ring and a broad flat area bordered by Ponderosa Pine and aspen that will make a perfect site for us.

First order of business is starting a fire. Are you kidding me?! We did not bring a match, lighter or anything! Amateurs. It has been so long since we went camping, we were missing all kinds of things, but this was sort of essential. Luckily, as Mike says, the forest always provides. We found a spent little miniature Bic blue lighter on the ground. No fuel, but it had spark. A quick setup of the Coleman stove, light up a burner with the spark and use the flame for the larger fire. Voila!

 

Starting up the fire with the basics....again, a Tecate box saves the day

Since we have been here, the days have been flying by. I have been mostly cooking with either the Dutch oven in the fire or with the Coleman. The Coleman stove we have is ancient. The second burner won’t hold flame. The first burner sounds like a jet engine even at it’s lowest setting. We are going through propane like there is no tomorrow. 

The stove might be a pain, but it still produces a hearty gravy portion of a breakfast of Biscuits and Gravy. Good thing we are hiking daily!

In the morning, the kids do their school work. 

Language Arts with the girls in the morning

Then math with Daddy in the afternoon

After school we take hikes and practice archery and shooting. The kids are all doing well with the .22 Cub rifle. Keira got a compound bow that she has been wanting as an early birthday present. Unfortunately, she is just a bit shy of enough muscles to pull it back, but she is getting stronger every day.

Archery practice

Reid taking his gun safety quiz with Dad

The old growth aspen here are magnificent. I measured one this morning with a 5 foot circumference. Stunning. There are meadows ringed with these giants that make you feel like you just stepped into a Tolkien novel.

Our days have been hitting highs in the 60’s due to a few weather fronts, but we are looking forward to hitting high 70’s this weekend.  

The girls' fort

If it looks like the pictures are all from the same day, that is just because the kids wore the same clothes for nearly a week. But, we finally got showers and laundry from the Jacob Lake RV park and we are all shiny now. We also took a ride into Kanab, Utah for some fresh provisions and we got a new Coleman. Yea! I couldn't be more excited if I was discussing a new granite countertop for my (non-existent) kitchen.

We get internet here at the laundry facilities, so we should be checking in next week. Thanks for reading!

San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

We woke in Sweat Pea Cove, after the night's symphony concluded, and it seemed as if the sound abated for about an hour before beginning up again where it left off. It was beautiful to listen to and experience. We will definitely need to return to Sweet Pea Cove and get some fishing in at a later date. 

This morning, we still needed to find a place for provisions, nothing critical, but we had run out of fresh fruit and vegetables a while ago. Mike and I sit in the cockpit, enjoying our morning coffee, checking his toe, which is healing quite nicely, and listening. The sun is coming up and the heat is starting to get uncomfortable. It is nearing 90 degrees with a clear sky and promises to perhaps hit one hundred. OK, with shade and/or AC, but we have neither. 

The heat and humidity... it is again the main topic of the day. After a long conversation, debating our next move, I cannot wait to do more diving, but we decide to head to San Carlos and put Mangas in a slip for the remainder of hurricane season. It is a difficult decision. We will come back the first week of October, after the heat has broken and finish the year. 

"Where to then?", is the next question. We have a 5th wheel trailer in Yarnell that, since we sold our house in Colorado, we now call home. We could take that on the road. Mike asks where I would like to go since this is my sabbatical year. We explore many places, but all of them seem way to expensive to me given our budget and given that we will need to pay for a marina for the next two months. 

Finally, we settle on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Mike and I have camped there before and it is just gorgeous. Located in the Kaibab National Forest, it will be getting monsoon activity this time of year, which will mean that under the green pines and blue spruce, there will be a thick undergrowth of flowers and ferns. Decision is made, that is where we spend the months of August and September.

We head an hour north into Santa Rosalia to get a few items and it is hotter than hot. There is really no other word for it. Every chrome piece on the boat provides a potential for burns when touched and the teak deck is so hot, it requires shoes to be worn on board. 

We anchor just outside the breakwater at Santa Rosalia and dinghy to the Fonatur dock and head to the office to pay any docking fee. In the office, we run into 4 other cruisers who are taking a break from their two sailboats to enjoy the air conditioning in the office. We linger and chat, enjoying the adult conversation and the cool room. The nice agent behind the desk just charges us 10 pesos each for Mike and I. I give her a 20 and we head out to get beer and ice cream. 

One of the big treats in Mexico are the American Thrifty Ice Cream parlors popping up everywhere. We find one in town and get a cone for everyone to cool down. Summer promptly drops her bubblegum flavor onto the floor. After a quick cleanup, we head out. 

As we wander through town, I see the tell-tale signs of a nearby mining property. The buggy whips on the back of the ubiquitous white Toyota trucks, the gleam of reflective tape on pants and shirt sleeves and the picture badges hanging off pocket flaps of workers who come in to the Thrifty, seeking some reprieve from the heat themselves. The old copper mine in Santa Rosalia has been purchased by a Korean consortium and there is a flurry of work to get it to production. They may actually be already producing. I love the mining culture and it does make me a bit worksick for mining and I can't help but wonder where I will end up in 2015. The wealth it has brought to this town is obvious and you do not see the closed businesses or shut up homes, resulting from the recession, as you might see in other places. 

Putting our Spanish to work, we get the location of the mercado and head there for our provisions. The store is well stocked and we find everything we were hoping for. 

At only 75 nm, we will leave for San Carlos when we return to the boat, and should arrive in the early AM. We pull anchor and head out, motoring at about 6 knots. We have to make a pretty straight shot and there is no wind to really speak of, so we are likely motoring the whole way. We will later learn that experienced cruisers do not head out until about 1 AM, at which time they look across the sea to San Carlos to see if there is any storm activity. If they do not see lightening or thunderheads, they head out. Being newbies, we just went for it.

We have the autopilot set for course and I throw a cushion on deck so Mike and I can tag team the journey over. I go first, but when it is my time to give up the helm, I cannot possibly sleep. Usually, on these night passages, we will be far from any land through the course of the night. This time, we will be getting into the bay near Algodones at about 2 AM. If we fall asleep, or nod off, Mangas would just keep going until we ran aground right up the beach. I can't sleep. 

We see the lights of San Carlos and we see some lights from pangas off shore doing night fishing. On the radar, I see a large line about 500 meters off our starboard to the southwest, but it is complete darkness over the water. It is moving and getting closer. I hope that it is just a panga, but not being able to see something that close is a bit disconcerting. 

We have a large outcropping of rocks that turn into small islets jutting out of the water to the north that we cannot see, but we have put their GPS coordinates in the plotter to make sure we avoid them. We proceed in slowly to the bay and realize we have it all to ourselves. At 2 AM, we drop anchor and hit the sack. 

Bahía Algodones

 We join the local cruiser net on the radio the following morning and get some information from other cruisers on marinas and haul outs. As always, are unique consideration is our draft of 2.6 meters. 

We took our dinghy to Marina Real that lies in the corner of Bahía Algodones and we visit the office to check availability.  She has a slip that can take our depth - Yay! She asks how long we are looking for and we say until October and then there is big pause before she shakes her head. Right now, the high tides are gaining about 1 meter. For many of the channels that sit at 6 or 7 feet as they approach marinas, that means that we need to go in at high tide. In October, those high tides will drop to 1 foot. No bueno for our 8 1/2 foot draft. We can get in now, but we won't be able to get out again in October. Even at full moon and new moon, there is no guarantee that we will get the depth we require.

We return to the boat just in time to tie up the dinghy and sit out a chubasco that has built up in the afternoon. Chubasco's are a result of the monsoon activity on shore and the blow it creates off shore can be quite a thing for boats. This particular chubasco seems to hit gusts of around 30 knots, sustaining winds of about 25 knots. I watch as a shrimp boat comes in from the sea to seek refuge from the winds and swells. It rocks ominously starboard to port and back again as it navigates into the bay. 

Pangas soon join the now anchored  shrimp boat and everyone takes a siesta to wait out the chubasco.

Waters look deceivingly calmer than what we were experiencing

Meanwhile, we are contacting other marinas and haul outs trying to find a place for Mangas. We are disappointed that we will not be able to stay in Algodones, the green mountains and red rock are spectacular, we feel right at home here.





After the chubasco dies down, we decide to head out and over to San Carlos to anchor so that we will be closer to other options that we need to check out. We ask a local cruiser weather contact about the swells and they say they are dying down, so out we go.




OK, those swells did not die down. We are pushing through 15 foot swells and trying to hit them at a good 40 degree angle to ride them up and back down, but every now and again, I have to head into the trench to keep our bearing. On one particular turn, a huge swell hits us broadside and we heel over with the starboard side of the deck hitting water. OK, let's not do that again. 



We pull into the bay, and again, it is simply stunning. The monsoon rain activity has resulted in a desert that is popping bright green. We get on the radio and inquire about the mooring balls. We are told that you need to test them, but it should not be an issue for us to attach to one for a couple of days. We pick up a ball and get hooked and then head in to the marina to visit with old friends that we have not seen since Mazatlan. 

Mooring ball and anchorage area outside of Marina San Carlos

Another view of the bay with the sea beyond the saddle in the picture above.

So, problems with staying in San Carlos:

1. No one has slip availability for our depth
2. The haul-outs all all trailers, except for one, which has a travel lift
3. The one with the travel lift is in the back of Bahia San Carlos where all entries drop to 6 feet depth in October, November

We call Fonatur in Puerto Peñasco and they have no space. We call Fonatur in San Felipe and they have space. Great! But, San Felipe is 275 nm to the northwest. That will mean another 4 days of travel in 100+ degree heat. Top that with tales that chubascos this year are particularly prevalent, more than anyone can remember in recent memory. The possibility of getting caught in chubascos of 70 knot gusts on our way to San Felipe does not sound great. Stories abound of particularly bad chubascos in 2007 that caught three sailboats near the same island group we would have to pass through. That storm resulted in one broken mast and several busted spreaders on the other two boats. 

Another San Carlos option might be the mooring ball. We learn that some are managed and available. Mike is not sold that a mooring ball will hold Mangas during a hurricane, but I am sold on the $100/month price tag.

Luckily, on day two, we speak to Marina San Carlos and learn that someone has just vacated a 65 foot slip that is at the edge of the marina where the depth is 12 feet. Yay!! 

I am not excited about the price tag, but I am excited to not be making a fast run over to San Felipe. San Felipe itself was not necessarily smooth sailing since the difference between low and high tides is an awesome 22 feet. We would have to stay about 2 miles off shore and then come in at just the right time to avoid getting hung up. Yikes. 

We slip in the following morning and find another Wauquiez on the same dock. Two other sailboats on our dock have full-time residents, and we quickly get a great network of fellow boaters.

Now the prep for the boat to get her ready to be shut up until we return in October...