New Year, New Lines-- Headed back to our little home!

A row of our new, clean, white jib sheets, furling line and reefing lines.

Happy New Year to all of our friends, family and fellow cruisers!

The Sound Discovery blog is back in action after a long 9 month hiatus! Clif and I are headed back down to our lovely Cal 34' after being away from the cruisers life for a little too long. We have had a busy, busy year, moving around the states and the globe. Clif was just commenting to a friend yesterday over the phone, that we have not been in one place for more than a week since the end of September. We've spent a lot of time in our two-man tent and sleeping in backpacker hostel bunk-beds; we even spent a week sleeping in the bed of our Toyota Tacoma.

Red Dog Lady--- making bucks for the cruising kitty!!

Last year I left the blog right when I flew back to Juneau for summer work. Both Clif and I had full time jobs set up for the summer season working May through the end of September. I worked at the Red Dog Saloon (a Juneau staple) as a bar maid, and Clif was able to work again for the Marine Exchange of Alaska. Feeling like we needed a little more land-lubbing time in the Fall, we hopped on our bikes and cycled from Bend, OR to Bodega Bay, CA. After soothing our saddle sores, a product of many miles logged on our bicycles, we flew down to Australia to be real, genuine backpackers.

Turns out... we might be getting a little old for hostel lifestyle. Don't get me wrong-- I don't mind sleeping in a bunk bed one bit-- but we quickly found out that we were on the upper-age bracket of the Aussie backpacker demographic... and we didn't much enjoy listening to European-techno music at 2 am. We did, however, get to surf to our hearts content and volunteer aboard a live-aboard scuba-dive boat. Both activities got us excited to be back aboard our sailboat, seeking out Mexican surfing spots.

Our victory shot after finishing almost 800 miles on our bikes!

We got the opportunity this past month to help crew a 45' Hunter with Clif's parents down in the BVI. We did a little scouting about--- dreaming about bringing our boat to the Caribbean while we explored beautiful beaches and beach bars! We had some great sailing weather, enjoying the tradewinds, on our week long charter through CYOA based out of St. Thomas. I highly recommend doing a charter in the USVI and BVI, especially if you've done some cruising of your own.

So, that gets us to now, late January. We've spent several days boat shopping, repacking the truck, sorting through clothes that we will and won't need in Mexico. Getting ancy to see our Sound Discovery. We finally get to be in one place for a while (well... at least sleeping in the same bed for more than a week). Sound Discovery will be getting new sheets for the v-berth, some new dishes for the galley, several new sets of brilliantly white lines, LED light bulbs to replace in our v-berth and chart table, a service kit for our head and several other items to make our home a little more cozy and liveable. We're also planning on getting a small outboard to attach to the back of our small Walker Bay, which should be living at anchor a little more comfortable.

Clif makes a new friend at the Koala Sanctuary outside of Brisbane.

Clif aboard Island Sister, the 45' Hunter we chartered in BVI.

All that said, we're trying to keep spending budget low this spring, after using quite a bit of money bouncing around Australia and BVI. We're planning on doing seasonal work again this summer, beginning in May, most likely in Southeast Alaska, and just need to stretch out our cash a little bit longer. Good thing tacos in Mexico are cheap! I'm ready for some $1 taco stands and inexpensive margaritas. Can't wait!!

We are planning on driving down to Guaymas (Marina Seca) between February 7th -10th. We are very excited to start working on the boat, getting her in the water again and meeting up with our beloved buddy boaters, Eric and Pam (S/V Emma Bell) whose boat is out of the water directly next to ours in the yard. We hauled out the same day and plan to get back in the water around the same time as well.

Spring Cruising Plans?

Viva la Mexico! Our cruising plans are extremely lax this spring. We have almost no agenda, besides trying to use our surfboard as some point. Both of us would like to explore Southern Mexico, PV and down, as well as visiting some of the beautiful anchorages along the western Sea of Cortez between Concepcion and La Paz. Hopefully our spring will include several longer passages across the Sea of Cortez, as well as visits from state-side friends. Tequila tasting is on Clif's to-do list. I know... rough to-do list, huh?

Communication (How can you get a hold of us):

We are going to be relying heavily on our InReach Delorme. We can text easily from the device and it doesn't cost a fortune. I will not be using my cellphone for anything besides wifi. Email is always a great way to contact us. We both check our email as frequently as possible (which is frequent when we're in a town or city, and NOT frequent when cruising about and anchoring in remote places. Take a look at our Delorme tracker in a couple weeks to see where we are. We will be in the Guaymas/San Carlos area for at least a week prepping the boat for the water and provisioning.

Zines (What is a zine?):

Last spring I sent out a small hand-written booklet with information about our trip, maps, stories, recipes... etc. This little "zine" (tiny magazine) was a fun and easy way to inform friends/family of our plans, while also giving them a neat piece of art to share with others. I'm definitely going to be sending out several "Sound Discovery Sail-zines" this spring, and if you would like to receive one, all you need to do is send me your address. I'm beginning the first one this week, so we can have one to give to cruisers we meet during the first half of our short season.

The next blog post will be sent from Guaymas!! Can't wait to take pictures of our boat and update everyone on how the boat did through the summer/fall seasons on the hard.
Until then,
Giselle