November 26, 2009

Land!

We made it! We are camping in La Ventana, Colin is kiting to his little heart's content, and I am learning. Life is beautiful... and cheap... and all is well. Pictures soon!
Hope y'all are well, much love,
Colin and Kristin

November 9, 2009

Greetings from Hello World!

We live a hard life.
We are currently relaxing on a new boat we have joined, Hello World, owned by our friends Christi and Jason, along with Kim, all hailing from Seattle. This morning we awoke with the sunrise and went kayaking to Lover's Beach, where we frolicked in the sand and realized it was the first earth we had set foot on in two days. As the sun rose, we watched the surf crash upon the magnificent granite pillars as the herd of local fishing boats headed out to catch their fill of tuna.

Now to rewind: Our time in San Diego was wonderful. It was a week of respite from being on the Allymar, having our freedom beyond a 38 ft. space, and best of all, seeing friends and family. Thank you to Grandma, Aunt Susie and Uncle Mark, surfer John, and Michelle and housemates. You all allowed us to have an extremely rich week in SD.

We left San Diego in high spirits with a fleet of 200 other sailboats; a mass exodus south. There we three legs of the Haha: the first was SD to Bahia de Tortuga, a three day/2 night endeavor. The seas were big and the winds strong: 20-30 knot winds and 10 - 20 ft. seas. There was one moment that Colin thinks was just so darn hysterical: first of all, both of us were deathly sea sick, puking every 10 minutes off the side of the boat. As I was sitting in the cockpit, reveling in my discomfort, I looked over the side of the boat and instantly my jaw dropped, as a huge wave crested over the side of the Allymar, continued over my head, and crashed right on top of me. Dead on. Colin instantly started laughing uncontrollably, as he had been protected by the plastic dodger. Real funny.

Our first stop at Turtle Bay was short and sweet. We all gathered for a beach party, drank ice cold Pacifico and played bocce ball. The second leg was to Bahia Santa Maria, a gorgeous bay with no real town, and complete with hills to hike, waves to surf, and fish to catch. Between raw yellow tail, seared dorado, and many other fish, we haven't been eating too bad. Colin surfed all day at Santa Maria with our friend Elias, and returned with scratches, bruises, fish, and bright eyes, telling me how it was his best day of surfing, ever.

The last leg was a shorty: one night, two days. We arrived in Cabo with a sense of relief and accomplishment... only to be welcomed by what looked like Mexican Las Vegas. We joined the official shore party at a local rowdy bar, Squid Row, only to be strangely amused and disgusted. We were force fed jello shots and charged $5/beer. Don't worry, after a group protest, we did not pay $70 USD for all those jello shots.

Colin and I decided to hop onto this new boat for our trip north to La Ventana, and we are extremely happy and excited to be on a boat with new young folks and all possibilities ahead of us. We hope all you family and friends are doing well and enjoying the changing seasons. Take care and enjoy every moment, and thanks for checking out the blog!

Much Love,
Colin and Kristin
Thank you, Grandma, for the tickets to the zoo. It certainly was a highlight.

These tortoises were huge.


Monkey child!


Haha boats.



Bocce ball at Turtle Bay.



Allymar.







This tuna was the winner of a local contest: over 300 pounds! Almost a world record. Too bad it sat in the sun all day and went to waste.



I'm on a boat! Our new home on Hello World.


Rope swinging off the main halyard.






Morning kayak to Lover's Beach.