We did it!

We left San Diego, finally, at 6 am and crossing over into Mexican waters probably around one hour and a half later. We will check into the country with all formality in Ensenada tomorrow.

The last days leading up to the departure were filled with last minute projects and we left exhausted. Maybe because of the stress or because this was the final goodbye, I got seasick. The sea was rough, yes, but not rougher than on our shakedown trip. I even threw up. It could be because of the emotions of leaving and starting this new crazy life. A life without constants and knowns other than my partner, dog and boat.

I guess that is enough to make one sick. I went below and, secured by a lee cloth, I slept for 3 hours. I woke up a couple of times, but felt too nauseous to get up. Finally I did get back up into the cockpit and after throwing up a bit over the side, I felt better and good enough to let Radu get his well-earned sleep. It might have been also that I didn’t eat one hour after taking my thyroid hormone pill, as I usually do and didn’t today, because I already felt nauseous then. We need a better rhythm and have a light breakfast before leaving. I already found out that coffee with milk is not a good idea for me nor an omelet. I will have to fine tune what works, because today wasn’t a great cruising day and it took me half of the trip of the 11 hours to get over the nausea… Not a great way to start the adventure of a lifetime.

Sea Legs. There you have it. Everybody says you have to get them. What they don’t tell you is that you have to earn them and it involves seasickness or at least nausea. So be warned. I was fine for three weeks on our shakedown cruise and it still hit me today. Dang.

Once I could look out over the ocean without nausea and with my usual interest again, I counted as fellow travelers: one sailboat, two fishing boats, nine pelicans and 3 dolphins. Baja California was to our port (left) side and the rest was ocean. And then there it was again, the solitude, the wind, the waves, the clouds today in variations of grey with a little blue. So Zen. So relaxing. After several deep breaths I could enjoy again.

And enjoying it is what I want and even, if I have to will myself to get there and twist my mind around not to see the craziness in our endeavor, because, frankly, if I would have seen it clearly, I probably would have not left…