December 6th we loaded our last belongings into our truck, locked the house for the last time and drove to
Mexico to begin our cruising life.
Our first cruising adventure was to spend the next 16 days in the yard, sorting the junk, packing the
boat, checking everything!
I learned the life at 5 degrees sucks when your body is used the being behind a desk! At first moving was like swimming in molasses. I also learned that 9 year old
dogs can climb ladders and sailboats are like the Tardis.
After sorting and packing the
boat and doing some
work to ready her, we splashed on December 23rd.
Our first trip was minor but it was a big deal for us as it took us into the ocean for the first time on our own boat. We simply motored a few miles to Marina Real. (There is more
work to do).
Tigger had his first ocean ride ever and did just great! At one point we put the
engine in neutral while we made appropriate pleas and platitudes the Neptune. Jim and I went to the b I was for dramatic flourish thinking the dog would stay put. He didnt! He came out on the bow.
He seemed to have his sea legs and we realized that we will have to tether him sooner than we thought.
Jim also
lost his glasses when his leash failed to do its job. Thankfully we have a spare pair.
In all we had a great time and learned a few things about our boat.
Right now we are supposed to be taking time off. It's been a year of pushing to ready the house
for sale (sold!) and we are exhausted.
There is still some work to do but in the mean time we will use the marina as a home base while we practice our sailing skills before we jump off into the wider reaches of the sea.
Wow! We made it!