Tag Archives: cruising with kids

7 weeks of separation

We are making our way back to the boat, well at least 3 of the 5 of us are. After just over 4 months of being back in the US, leaving our boat in Mexico, its time to start heading back to our cruising life.

This morning, November 4th, we all woke up at 4:30 AM. Christian and the 3 kids left in a rental car to drive to Phoenix before making their way to the boat and I went to work. Once Christian gets to Phoenix, Ellamae (the middle boat kid) will fly to Florida to spend some time with her Papa Jason. Christian will be taking Nina and Taj back to the boat via the Tufesa Bus that runs from Phoenix to Guaymas, Mexico.After a 12 hour over night bus ride, its a quick taxi ride to the boat in San Carlos. I will be staying in San Francisco for another 7 weeks to finish up my contract. It’s been a bit of an emotional day for me, to say the least.

The kids are super excited to get back to boat life and meet up with all their boat friends that they have met, and hopefully meet that many new ones that are sailing down to Mexico this season. Christian is super exited to get back on the water, fill the sails with wind, and do some free diving/ spear fishing. I am excited that as well. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. All the hard work will pay off. I’m most looking forward to being back in the warm air, swimming/surfing in warm water and being back in the cruising mode with my family. I also am looking forward to meeting the new cruising families that make it to Mexico this year.

I will be flying down once during the 7 weeks to visit in La Paz. I will be bringing Nina back with me to San Francisco for a few weeks for her to spend her 14th birthday with friends and family up here. I look forward to that time with her and know that it will help me with my “homesick” feelings. Thankfully I will be heading to the boat just before Christmas to get some quality holiday family time.

We had a great last week together!

Halloween 2016

Getting geared up for crossing the Pacific…

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Christian took a trip down from San Francisco to the boat in Mexico this past week. The mission: to do some repairs on the boat from the hurricane and add some gear that we wanted before we cross The Pacific this coming season. The damage that we thought was going to need a haul-out and a paint job, ended up being only minor “Do it Yourself” fixes!!! So one major hurdle out of the way! The rest are add-ons since we were able to work and refill the cruising kitty.

We finally got our Hydrovane hooked up! Having a efficient self steering system was a must for us before making the crossing. We can’t wait to get some use out of it!

A new Standard Horizon VHF: that way we can talk from the cockpit with a strong signal. Before, our handheld wasn’t strong enough for some of the areas we were in, so we had to go down below to talk on the ship’s radio.

Weather Station: AcuRite 00589 Pro Color Weather Station with Wind Speed, Temperature and Humidity. Yay, accurate temperature, humidity, pressure readings. The wind speed is a bonus, but we’ve always preferred our own senses when monitoring the wind and our sails. Sometimes knowing the exact wind speed can freak you out instead of trusting your skills and your boat.

A FREEZER!!! Engel MB40V-H 12/24V DC drop-in fridge-freezer – with attached compressor We are soooooo excited to put this fridge/freezer in. Its one of those “we don’t need this, but we have the perfect place for it, the money, and the solar power to run it, so why not?”

Can’t wait to catch some fish and store extra in our freezer, prep meals before crossing to pull out underway, and freeze some vegetables for when we run out towards the end of the crossing. We might even make ice cream for the equator crossing! Luxury hahahaha!
Some other gear we stocked up on:

Mantus head lamp and wet gear bag.

Spear fishing equipment and trolling gear.

Replaced damage GoPro.

New external hard drives for saving photo and video memories.

Boatschool supplies mostly from Oakmeadow Waldorf curriculum for the year.

One year ago… we sailed out “The Gate”

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We can’t believe that a full year has past since we left San Francisco to start cruising on our sailboat! We’ve experienced so much and all of it so wonderful: The emotions of leaving, the adjustments of boatschool, the adjustments of a life less “connected” but more connected as a family, the growth of world knowledge, the change in marriage dynamic, parenting dynamic, and educator dynamic, adapting to Mexico’s culture and food, meeting new and wonderful sailors/cruisers, and so much more I’m probably leaving out. All of these had their ups and downs, but all transformed into good experiences and contributed to our lives in such a positive way.

My friend Lara interviewed us for a radio and podcast she does out of Byron Bay, Australia. I feel like it summarizes some questions a lot of people wonder about when pondering what the life of a family of 5 sailing on a 40 foot boat is like. I posted the link on our blog and Facebook when it aired live and only on Facebook again when a link was available to the podcast version.

Here is the link to the podcast version below. It will take you to the 30 minute interview. Our 13 year old daughter, Nina, is interviewed as well and adds a lot flavor to the interview.

https://www.spreaker.com/user/pregnancybirthandbeyond/a-family-afloat

Anchored off of Halfmoon Bay, California (August 21, 2015)

Becalmed off the coast of California (Oct 2015) with Christian’s father, Gene Lauducci, aboard.
Ellamae posing with her polarized #teenytinyoptics glasses

Nina and Taj posing with their polarized #teenytinyoptics glasses

On top of a mountain in Turtle Bay, Baja Mexico (Left to Right: our crew Emma Casey, Taj sleeping on my back, Josie, Christian, Nina, and Ellamae) November 2015