Mike S and I had the boat for a few years before we started planning the Trip to Texas. There was a lot of preparing involved, books to buy, boating and safety courses to take, maps to study, and of course provisioning. We talked with a few boaters around the marina. We were shocked by how many boaters would head south and “cruise” Mexico for the winter. We listened to stories and picked up tips and tricks which just built our excitement to go. I want to say, we probably took two years to gather all the knowledge we could before embarking on the trip all while running the aircraft business.
It seems we always had 100 little projects on the boat that needed to be tended to, and we kept adding more to prepare for the trip. We upgraded the navigation, we moved the VHF and SSB (single sideband) radios. Mike took a HAM radio course to get his operator’s license so we could communicate over great distances. We added a car version of a flip-down TV, and a DVD player. Mike spent many days in the engine compartment, making sure everything looked good and all preventive maintenance was done. We created a lift system with the boom on the stern to be able to get Mike up and down to the swim step easily. We made sure the dinghy was set, and the emergency life raft was ready, just in case of course. These name a few of the projects to get the “Michelle” ready for her grand voyage.
The actual trip planning started with reading books by other boaters who have done the same trip or at least cruised the Mexican coast. Mike used time and speed to measure how far we would make it in a day, or in so many hours. He planned fuel burn, and when and where we’d need to get fuel. We bought extra fuel cans and a large blue barrel to hold even more extra fuel in case things didn’t go as planned. The only thing we couldn’t really plan for was weather and current. We’d have to take those one day at a time. So we bought a satellite phone and signed up for a “weather service” that would give us real-time and forecast conditions that included wave height, winds, etc. One thing to remember is this is 2005-2007, cellular phone range wasn’t as good as it is today, and International phones plans were more expensive than the satellite phone.
The more Mike learned and planned, the more “antsy” got to set a date to go. We had a few other things to figure out as well, I had just gotten a horse, and we still had a business that would need to keep operating while we were bobbing along in the ocean. We finally set a date. We would head out as soon as hurricane season was over in 2007! We figured out the arrangements with the horse and the business, so we were just about all set.
Luckily we lived in a small house so I was kinda used to small spaces because packing the boat with our clothes and provisions took every organizational and creative brain cell I had. That’s one of the coolest things about boats, little hidden storage areas all over the place. If a cabinet was short and narrow, no problem, it’s a great place for shoes. If the space was tall and skinny, no problem, add a couple shelves and you just created 3-4 times the storage for all that little stuff. I re-organized constantly to find the most efficient place for everything.
A few of the books we had gave us lists of things you wouldn’t be able to get while cruising. I specifically remember something about not being able to get canned tomatoes. As we shopped for food, we bought things we didn’t think we could get, sometimes even things we didn’t normally buy. So we’d have to find space for all this food. Somehow we found nooks and crannies to fit everything in. As a side note, on our journey, we were able to get everything we wanted, even canned tomatoes.
Everything is packed and organized, our first leg is Ventura to Newport Beach where we’ll spend the night, and have a nice dinner with friends.