8 March 2010 (not 2101) La Paz 24.1572N 110.3312W

Well, last night was another short one. Years of life in L.A., with kids, and our own menagerie were good preparation for sailing. How many times did I get up in the wee hours to calm a fever, open a door for a cat, comfort a lonely puppy, chase away a raccoon, and even once chase a baby possum off our bed? And how many times were we awakened by a neighbor ‘s house or car alarm, spawning koi, a car revving it’s engine at 2 a.m., or a helicopter circling too close for comfort? And how often was it that sleep just eluded me afterward, as thoughts of the next day’s tasks, or the previous day’s errors plagued me incessantly? So, the gentle rocking that sent me to sleep livened up a bit and became the clarion call to greet a new day. I would have preferred something other than 2 a.m. for that call, but I’m writing this to convince myself, that if it wasn’t getting up at 2 a.m., here, it very well could have been 2 a.m. there. And at least here, I do have the option of an afternoon nap, or an extremely early bedtime.

The winds and seas were so confused with swells coming from the southeast and northeast, winds coming from the southwest, but predicted to be from the northwest. What side of an island do you pick when all sides are under siege. I can see why some cultures, and especially early cultures that lived closer to the land and sea, believe(d) in multiple gods. When the winds and seas are at odds, it’s hard to imagine it being part of one god’s plan. It’s much easier to picture two strong personalities fighting for power. After all, one is not necessarily more evil than the other, they just have a difference of opinion about how things should proceed. And depending on what side of the battle we humans happen to be on (e.g. fisherman or farmer), we may have a closer affinity to one god over the other, and while one man may be praying for heavy rains for crops, the other is likely praying for clear skies and strong winds from the right direction for an easier passage. If they’re both praying to the same god, and they’re equally devout and their requests are equally worthy, that’s putting one god in a tough spot. Hell of a job, to quote Keith Richards.

With the unpredictable winds and seas, and most of the good anchorages on our way being south facing to the wind, or east facing to the seas, we decided to head straight for La Paz. In the interest of honesty between friends here, the fact that we’d opened our last bottle of wine the night before, may have contributed to our decision. We sailed all day today and arrived just after sunset (with a full charge on the batteries, and lots of fresh water in the tanks, ahem, yea, we motored a lot). We’ve got strong south winds now in the anchorage and we’re ready to dance the La Paz waltz, complete some final projects, eat some fresh fruits and veggies, and check the lists we’ve already checked twice. We left La Paz on February 15, that’s 3 weeks since we last set foot in a town. Frank has calculated our passage to the Marquesas at 20-40 days. Our provisions held up almost perfectly for this 21 day test run. We’ve got enough freeze-dried food on board for 3 months, but the heavily rationed items were Jello for the kids, libations for the adults, and flour (we’d be better with enough for a second loaf of bread every other day). My bigger concern is sleep, it’s one thing to be awakened and suffer through a single day exhausted, but the long term effects of sleep deprivation worry me. Frank says I’ll acclimate and learn to sleep at the drop of a pin like he does. I sure hope so, I better go practice now. Sweet dreams.

xoxomo