Nearly there

Our journey from Cabo San Lucas, known as the Baja Bash, was just that.
Not all bash, there were a smooth day or two inbetween as well. We made
slow progress up the Mexican coast, and the last port before we crossed
the border to the States was Ensenada. We were running a bit low on
provisions, and I decided to do a touch and go at Ensenada. A touch and go
is when you arrive, do what you have to do, and depart the same day, which
is exactly what we did. We arrived at about 1pm. Also took the time to get
a passageweather report, downloaded the images, and at 4pm we were on our
way again. We did take some time to stretch our legs a bit, walking to the
supermarket, back to the boat, and then to another part of town. There we
found a really relaxing little art gallery, coffee shop and clothing
store. The ambiance was magic, and we could sit back for a while and soak
up all the good energy that was in the air. A place called the Spirit
Lounge.

The next day we were motorsailing past San Diego, and could see by all the
lights at night that we were now in the States. A lot of warship activity
in the area. I used to think of them as navy ships, but they identified
themselves as Warship 04 or Warship 108, or whatever the ships number was.
They often radioed on VHF16, warning to stay clear of them as they were
busy with man overboard exercises, flare exercises, and also live
ammunition exercises. Sad to think of ships as warships, but this seems to
be the American way. The land of the brave and free, yet always at war.
Navy ships sounds better to me, protecting your coastline etc, but warship
is an active word, an act of war. Not to protect, but to attact. To jump
the gun a bit, at our last stop I met an American called Zak. Nice and
friendly, well travelled and he invited us for supper. We also befriended
each other on facebook. The first posting I saw on his page was a picture
of probably about 30 different brands of automatic personal assault rifles,
and the caption of the picture read which one of these would you want in a
real life situation. Really ??? America sounds more like the land of fear
and greed. Is this what the Declaration of Independence comes down to. What
about liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I guess it is. For the few. And
the rest are just slaves to the system. The local radio station we listened
to for a few days also made it pretty clear. You can get credit, and buy
what you like, they will make a plan for you. It is a trap, living on
credit. Strange ads, some of them. Divorce lawyers having ads on radio to
make sure you don't get screwed. Vultures, the lawyers and all the credit
offerings. And yet, the few Americans I met were warm people, very
welcoming. I feel sorry for them though, in this country where an image of
an eagle soaring is exactly the opposite of what I see around me. Consume,
consume, consume, as much as you can. There is an endless supply of
whatever you want. It will only cost you your soul. With respect, I think
in America God must be a McDonald junkie. The land where God is nicely
boxed and sold to the masses. Anyways, real life situations ....still I
love America and the Americans. And I wish you only and all the best, as I
do for every other nation and citizen of this world.

Back to our little boat we named Infinity, this trip sometimes feel like an
eternity. Guess we chose the right name :-) Sailing past Los Angeles, there
was a huge fleet of sailing vessels on the water. Old classic yachts, new
ones, big ones, small ones. That was on Easter Sunday, the weather was
good, and we went straight through the middle of what I think was a
regatta. Them sailing with sails full of wind on the beam, and us
motorsailing straight into headwinds. How my heart ached at seeing a
sailing vessel sailing, with no motor running. Haven't done that in quite a
while :) At the same time we had US Coast Guard on the VHF every hour or so
warning of gale winds and big seas expected on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Advising all mariners to seek safe shelter before then. We decided to heed
their advice, and on Sunday last we arrived at Channel Islands Marina, just
west of Port Hueneme at about 11am. We docked at the marina office dock and
contacted immigration from there. We were then requested to stay aboard
until we hace been cleared by immigration. They were busy with a cuiseliner
in Santa Barbara and it will take a few hours for them to sort us out. Four
hours later the officers arrived, and we were legally cleared into America.
The marina allocated us a berth at their visitors dock, and by 4pm we were
safely tied up. Shops about ten minutes walk away, ablutions with hot
showers just a minute away, and we were sorted. I was once again amazed at
the size of the marinas in the States. This particular marina also had
quite a few apartments on an island, each one with their own mooring. What
a lifestyle. And as mentioned earlier, warm showers. I judge any marina or
yacht club firstly by their showers :) It was really hard to sit and wait
for a storm to pass over when we could not see the storm from where we
were. But we used our time at the marina to dry our sails, service the
motors, clean the engine rooms, clean our bilges and so on.

Everyday we would go to the local Starbucks for a cappuchino, and also
because we had free wifi there. We could skype, download the freshest
weather reports, did some research on google, google earthed our route from
here to San Francisco and so on. The first two days we also did the
American thing and had burgers the first two days, and then we were over
it. But we also got some fresh provisions, and stocked up on whatever we
thought we may need for the next few days. Also nice to have a Westmarine
store just on our doorstep. I could find racor filters and oil for
servicing the motors. Racor filters are what we use to seperate whatever
water is in our diesel, and also to filter the diesel before it gets to the
injectors in the motor. Nice to know that we did all we possibly could to
have the boat in top shape before we take on the last 300nm.

Yesterday morning as planned we departed. The weather does not look all
that good, or all that bad. There is no way that we can avoid some strong
weather before we get to our final destination. And to sit a marina,
waiting for the weather, and maybe waiting longer, is really not easy for
us. And if we wait longer, and the calm weather predicted goes bad on us
again, it would really be frustrating. All the time whilst sitting at the
marina I had this feeling in my stomach that we should have pushed on
through. We are used to fairly strong winds and big seas. On the other side
it was also good to make sure everything on our boat is in top working
order. These delays, some of them I don't understand. One of the positive
spin-offs of our delayd trip up the Mexican mainland coast was that we were
in a perfect position to see the moon eclipse a week or two ago. The skies
were crystal clear, and it really was astounding watching the moon being
covered from one side, and watch it being covered until it was completely
eclipsed. And a red glow was clearly visible, the so called bloodmoon. And
living so close to the elements for so long, it was a huge occasion to
watch Sista Moon as we call her do her thing :0. The very next day the
weather turned foul and we could hardly see a star for a few days. So for
some obscure reason, we were at the right time at the right place. We learn
so much from the moon, and it has such an enormous effect on our planet.
Patience is one thing I learn from this beautiful body in the sky.
Patiently she will wait for her time to shine, to wax, to wane, doing the
cosmic dance with all the other planets, stars, galaxies and other heavenly
bodies. The infinite timelessness of it all, we are close to that. the
cycle of life and death. And although we thik it all moves in a huge big
circle, it actually moves in a huge big spiral. So we are not just
mindlessly and aimlessly turning around and around in a big circle, we are
actually moving in a direction. On 21/12/12 our planet reached her
furtherest point from the centre of the Milky Way as we named this belt of
bright stellar line of galaxies and everything that is in it. And now Gaia,
or planet earth is spiralling back towards the centre, towards the light.
And we, who are part of and made of stardust, is also once again awakening
to a deeper understanding of what it is to be human.

For a few weeks I was listening to a song by Gnarls Barkley, Just a
Thought. A strange song, and some of the words goes that he tried
everything but suicide, but just a thought, he is fine. I am not and have
never been suicidal. I don't ever underestimate depression or any other
reason why someone would commit suicide. And a few days ago I learned that
someone I knew well committed suicide. It left me feeling empty,
despondent, and feeling sorry for the ones he left behind. Just strange
that this song came to me, and a few weeks later this sad thing happened.
In this big cycle of life and death, and why fear either. Neither we can
avoid, but life is there to live.

This morning at 6am we rounded Pt. Conception, and a few hours later
Pt.Arguello. These were areas we dreaded, and we timed our arrival to be
when the weather was expected to ease off a bit, which it did. We are
however expecting heavier weather again later today, and throughout the
night. Tomorrow afternoon we should be through the heavy stuff and expect
to arrive at San Francisco on Monday. We are going quite a bit faster than
expected, and hopefully we can get up high enough to miss some of the
heavier weather. Only time will tell. On board we are all well. Thibault is
looking hugely forward to seeing his lady Helen who will be flying in to
San Francisco to join him. I am also hugely looking forward to see my
family and friends again back in SA. And Stuart, well he turned out to be
much better than expected, and I expected a lot. And I know he is also
looking forward to sit in the shadow of Table Mountain, that most beautiful
beacon of strength around which Cape Town and surroundings have formed. A
trip like this requires a lot of mental strength, and I am glad to say
Stuart has that in abundance. Thibault and myself have done some hard
deliveries together before, so I knew what to expect from him. Stuart being
only 22 years old, it is sometimes hard for young people to have the
patience required to be at sea for months and not loose it. But glad to
say, he is not addicted to tv or computer games and things like that. He is
far more focused on real stuff. And always willing to lend a hand, to
learn, to share, improving himself all the time. I have offered him a
position on my next delivery, which will be on a Leopard 46 from Durban to
the Seychelles. All three of us get on very well. We respect each other
immensely, and although we are physically a bit tired, we are up for the
last stretch.

And the harder the battle, the sweeter the victory. This trip is not over,
but we have been through some really good times and some really tough
times. Once we arrive at the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, we will
be elated. But we won't let our guard down until we are safely tied up at
our designated dock. And who knows, just maybe I will post one more blog.
Share some insights into the fractal nature of our existence and our
experience. Part of a little poem I wrote, just for kicks :)

Death sits in my shadow
Smiling at me all the time
A friend of mine I guess
That maketh the dark light shine

And in the blinding light
Dwells my soul's delight
A knowing of a knowing
Of a never ending flowing

An ocean I must cross
A mountain I must climb
I see it all around me
Footprints of the divine

And life she calls
And heed the call I must
A life I choose to live
A shadow I choose to cast

The day will come I know
And my shadow will be no more
And I will be ready
To pass through that sacred door