Pacific Prep: General thoughts

In somewhere in the vicinity of 7 weeks we will take off on an ocean passage, the length of which will be longer than the sum of all of the other passages we have ever made.

Writing about our prep for this passage is complicated because we’ve been dreaming of this passage since we made the decision to cruise. Our decision of which boat to buy, what gear to add, and what experience to gain for ourselves were always measured against the yardstick of the Mexico to Marquesas run.

This is the biggie, or at least the first *really* biggie for us.

We have stunned several people who have asked us what we have to do to get the boat ready by saying “nothing really – just normal maintenance items and provisioning”. It's not that we haven't had a lot to do, but rather that we've been doing it in pushes over the last year. So much of the prep for this passage was already completed for the Tofino to San Francisco passage. The waters off the coast of N America aren’t to be taken lightly, and we prepared ourselves and the boat accordingly. The only prep we had after that passage has been logistics and items that have come up for repair or maintenance since July and we’ve stayed on top of most of that list. The boat had to be shipshape for the last passage and we’ve worked hard to keep it that way. Still, logistics, including such things as customs clearance/exit research, guidebooks, research on possible multiple seasons in the S Pacific, and the first stages of provisioning, has taken up large chunks of the time we've spent in La Paz since the end of November (more on that later).

At this point, in mid-January, we’re feeling so prepared that we are squeezing in several weeks of kiteboarding and a second set of fly-in guests in the next month before we knuckle down to get ready for a mid-March-ish departure.

When I was sitting around in Victoria, reading the blogs of people in Mexico who were preparing to jump, there was always a sudden decrease in posting as boats hit Mexico and prepared for their "puddle jump". In addition to simply being busy, I sense that many people realized that the whole blogging thing sounded better in theory than the actuality of taking time to write in the midst of the fun and then trying to find internet to post it. It is a transition period, perhaps, that causes all of us to sift through our blogging motivations. Are we writing primarily for our audience (family, friends, readers) or primarily for ourselves?

Although we are in our own vortex of activity and preparations, I find that sitting down and putting thoughts into text is my own way of marking the moments for myself now, and for the future. I process what I’m feeling and what is happening while writing and I love re-living each anchorage by sifting through the photos and writing up our virtual log. l think that all bloggers, myself included, want an audience, but the audience would not be enough of a motivation for me to pass up some fun or to squeeze time in between our preparations.

8 comments:

  1. Can't wait to read about your experiences, when you find the time and internet to post that is!

    Have fun out there. :)

    Mike
    www.zerotocruising.com

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  2. I'm glad you continue to blog. This audience of one is highly appreciative of you taking the time and effort to share your experience!

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  3. Been thinking about why I blog myself... I think it's mostly about sharing my photos for me. Always enjoy your musings. See you in the Marquesas!

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  4. Love reading your blog & sharing in your adventures!

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  5. Funny, I just started thinking about actually blogging when we start our trip..it's easy now, I'm on land with plenty of power and internet..But out there, not so much

    I imagine there will be many periods of inactivity.

    I think the main reason I blog is because it's really nice and priceless, to go back and reread the posts, and photos.

    But then your journey inspires me, so I hope ours will do the same to others.

    Dani

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