Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Puddle Jump - Here We Come!

I had a lazy day on board doing "internet stuff" and realized that it's really time to make this JUMP thing official.
Chris training for the JUMP
 The Pacific Puddle Jump is a rally of boats that leave the west coast of the Americas to sail to French Polynesia sometime between March - May. We plan to leave mid/late March. Boats depart somewhere between California to the Galapagos, with the the largest concentration leaving from Banderas Bay and Panama. Even though we won't be in visual contact with other boats, we'll stay in radio contact to share information such as weather. There are currently 87 boat registered and I'm sure many more to follow. We've become friends with a few of the boats that are crossing this year and it really is a wonderful feeling to know we'll be crossing an ocean with friends. It somehow makes me feel less crazy about the whole thing!

Starship has been officially registered for the 2013 Pacific Puddle Jump Rally!

I remember being so nervous when we left left San Francisco to sail south and start this adventure. I'll never forget the stress of seeing our cars being towed away and the constant nagging thought afterwards that we'd forgotten to buy something crucial. I remember the panic attack I had when I saw all the contents from our storage van on our dock and realized we had to fit all that stuff in our little boat. I was extremely anxious and many questions rotated through my brain as we left our slip for the last time....How did Chris convince me to do this anyway? Will I like the cruising/sailing lifestyle? Is Starship well equipped and sea-worthy? Do we know how to sail well-enough?

I am much more confident about sailing to French Polynesia and beyond because I know the answer to the last 3 questions is YES! I'm still not exactly sure how Chris convinced me to start this whole sailing thing, but I'm so happy that he did.

Knowing my personality, I'm sure I will not sleep the night before we leave and I'll be nervous, but I don't think it will be as extreme as my initial shove off anxieties. This past year we've done a lot of boat projects/maintenance, sailing and practicing. All of this "work" has left me with a profound sense of trust and confidence in what we're doing. I trust Chris as captain and myself as first mate. I trust Starship and all the work we've put into her. AND now I know that I love this sailing/cruising lifestyle. I'm very happy with our last year and excited for the Puddle Jump. South Pacific, here we come!

Location:
La Cruz
Latitude:
20.7485167
Longitude:
-105.3721667

1 comment:

  1. We're happy you're going too! Woohoo! Funny how we all go through similar questions and realize how far we've come already with this cruising thing. (And yes, we are all a little crazy - but damn, it's fun!)

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