Susan, Sequoia, and Todd go sailing

When you quit your job and go sailing, you think you’re going to have all sorts of time on your hands. You pack the boat full of books you’ve been meaning to read. You bring along 20 skeins of yarn (because you’ll need lots of scarves in Mexico!). You squeeze in materials for learning Spanish and Egyptian (well, there are pyramids there!). Oh, and hey, how about a guitar? Throw one of those aboard, in addition to the dozen harmonicas! By the end of the trip, you’ll be the nautical Partridge Family!

Let me tell you, you will not have time for any of it! Tasks that you barely gave a thought to suddenly consume huge chunks of your day. And without the structure that work hours impose, it is all too easy to succumb to laziness.

Take Tuesday for example. Todd and I slept in, then went online to check email, pay bills, buy insurance, and order still more things we think we’ll need. Our internet connection started out strong, but then became very flaky. Oh, the frustration! I mean, it’s one thing when you’re at work, just trying to waste time. It’s quite another when all you want to do is find a nearby Trader Joe’s. And downloading podcasts? Just plain torture! (Plus, I don’t even have time to listen to them anymore!)

So finally, around 2pm, we decided we’d get lunch and go on a reconnaisance mission, to scout out restaurants, the laundromat, and the place that fills propane tanks. Well, we found the shopping center with the laundromat, but weren’t too thrilled with the food choices.

Then I noticed Todd gnawing on his lip; a bad sign, because it meant he was thinking. Or rather, scheming. “Let’s go back to Chipotle, because it is right by West Marine, and I want to buy a folding cart to carry the propane tank,” he said. I was too weak with hunger to argue, so we trudged back to Chiptole.

Did you know that Chipotle serves margaritas? Well they do, and they are actually pretty good… by which I mean, they have an adequate amount of tequila. Todd had a burrito, a margarita, and the stereo was playing the blues. In other words, Todd Heaven!

“I’m gonna get another one of these!” sputtered Todd. “They’re only $3.50!”

“Actually,” I corrected him, “with tax they’re $3.79.”

“So what?” he retorted. “It’s not $7!”

“Um, it is, if you get two of them.”

“Don’t try your ‘math’ on me!” he sneered over his shoulder, as he headed back to the counter.

So after the margaritas, we were a bit tipsy. I knew it was a bad idea to go to West Marine in this weakened state, but I hoped Capn Tightwad might just be drunk enough to buy me a Port Runner bicycle. Instead, he saw the shorty wetsuits and decided he needed one of them. I had to content myself with ridiculing him for taking both the Large and XL sizes into the dressing room, holding up the Large and exclaiming, “You think you’re going to squeeze yourself into that, Capn Flabby?!” When he emerged from the dressing room he didn’t even make eye contact with me; he just stumbled to the cashier with his wallet in one hand and the XL in the other.

Well, by the time we left West Marine it was 4:30, and the propane place closed at 5. We needed to get some groceries, but decided that shopping at Ralph’s would be a buzzkill. So we called it a day, and headed back to the boat with our new West Marine cart in tow.

To sum up: We just couldn’t find the time to do the laundry, get propane, or shop at Ralph’s. We resolved to get an early start Wednesday, and by limiting ourselves to one margarita each, I can proudly say: Missions Accomplished!

And, we’re getting great use out of the cart, even if we did look like homeless people toting our laundry in it.

Today, we’re leaving early for Santa Catalina Island. We didn’t get to see much of LA, and decided to skip the big Halloween event in West Hollywood, because my hour of internet searching didn’t turn up any good public transit options. But we did get in a fun visit with Todd’s friend Gudrun and her boyfriend Dan.

Oh and one last thing about Marina del Rey: when down below, we can constantly hear snapping shrimp. As Todd put it, “It’s like living in a bowl of rice krispies!”

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 1st, 2007 at 7:51 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.