On the Road Again… On the Boat Again

After a three day road trip, Todd and I have arrived safely back in San Carlos, where we were relieved to find Sugata dirty but otherwise well!

We left Sacramento on Tuesday, Feb. 10, and headed down to Mojave, where we got to visit with the Peasleys of our buddy boat, Imagine. They’ve just returned from New Zealand and may be settling in San Rafael! We hope that works out, as we’d love to have them just across the bridge.

The second night we stayed at a fabulous inn in Tucson, the Big Blue House. After the eight hour drive, it was great to walk around the neighborhood, and we had a yummy meal at a Greek restaurant. The inn was so warm and welcoming, I had a hard time convincing Todd to leave!

I was a bit worried that we might have to postpone our trip down due to Capn Achy Breaky Heart’s latest health concern. Over the last month he’s had heart palpitations with increasing frequency.

“I’ve done hours of internet research,” he told me, “and I’m still not sure why I’m having all these palpitations.”

“Must be all the Viagra,” I muttered under my breath.

“What’s that?” he shot back. (He’s also a bit hard of hearing, due to his excessive ear wax production, and all that fuzzy white hair that’s been sprouting out of his ears.)

“Vitamins!” I replied loudly. “Has Capn Koala been taking his vitamins?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed, “But I’m getting low, especially on those funny-shaped blue ones you got me.”

“You mean your vita-MANs?”

“Yeah, gotta get more of those if I’m gonna head south,” he said.

“Don’t I know it!” I replied.

Luckily, he seems to have hit upon a cure for the palpitations. He’s been taking magnesium citrate and is much improved. I’m a bit suspicious he will continue to use his “heart condition” as an excuse for avoiding work, though. Coming down from Tucson to San Carlos, as soon as it was his turn to drive, he reported numbness in his left arm. “You better keep driving,” he said, “because I could be about to have a heart attack.”

“Well, you’ve had numbness between your ears for a while now, and you haven’t had a stroke,” I replied.

“What’s that? Had a toke?” he asked. “Of course not! You think I’d risk that in Mexico? What do you think I am, an idiot?”

Luckily, Capn Heart Throb survived the drive without incident. When we finally arrived at Marina Seca (where the boat is hauled out), I barely got the car into park before he was up the ladder and scrutinizing the boat’s condition. After I hauled bags after bag out of the car and up the ladder, he felt strong enough to move everything a strenuous six feet back to the cockpit, from which I hauled everything down below decks. All the excitement must have given him a boost of adrenaline.

We’ve had all of the bottom paint stripped off the boat, and they’re grinding out all the blisters where water has gotten into the fiberglass. On Monday they’ll be putting epoxy on the bottom, followed by primer and two coats of bottom paint. If all goes well, they’ll be done on Friday the 20th.

Sequoia is scheduled to fly into Tucson on Tuesday the 24th. We may go up a day early to be sure we aren’t held up at the border. We also want to do a big provisioning run to every sailor’s favorite store, Trader Joe’s. I’m not sure if it is legal to bring 10 lbs of peanut butter across the border, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take!

For Valentine’s Day, I treated Todd to a yoga class. I know, I know, it’s a little selfish of me; but before you judge, consider his gift to me: a new impeller (for the water pump to the boat’s engine). Ay Toro, muy romantico!

See all of our San Carlos pics here:

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One Response to “On the Road Again… On the Boat Again”

  1. MArcus says:

    Wow,
    Seeing all those blister divots really brings back the memories.
    Been there done that. I wonder how many of those are ones I filled and have since returned versus new ones.
    Glad to hear it is just surface acne and has not penetrated deeper.