The first order of business was a sail out to the Channel Islands (Smugglers Cove on Santa Cruz Island to be exact). We had a great crew - Porter was in town for a business meeting, my buddy Michael lives in LA, and he brought his girlfriend, Lily, along. We loaded up the boat early Saturday morning and had a lovely sail out to Santa Cruz, complete with mimosas, sunshine, and dozens of dolphins swimming along next to us. There were a handful of other boats already anchored up when we arrived and we found a good spot, dropped the hook, and jumped in! We were in about 25 feet of water and it was so clear we could easily make out crabs walking around on the sandy bottom.
Over the course of the following few days, I worked my way further south with a couple stops to buy parts and supplies that I’m expecting to be scarce in Mexico. There are a couple of second hand boating supply stores that are much easier on the wallet than West Marine, a store I’m really beginning to loathe. I got a chance to meet up with friends (new and old) and had some damn good meals aboard the rascal. Oddly enough, and by happenstance, most of them were Mexican meals. I guess I’m subconsciously preparing myself for the next six months of tacos, beans, and salsa. Can’t wait!
From here on out, I won’t have a cell phone and internet access will be sporadic at best. I’ll try to keep up with the blog as best I can, but expect a couple weeks between posts while I’m sailing away from civilization in the Sea of Cortez.