Sail Agora

We did it! We completed our 11 hr maiden voyage from Port Huemene to Catalina Island, and we are absolutely exhausted. Not only was the sail itself laborious (for Thatcher), but we left at 5:15 am after weeks of highly intricate and seemingly endless boat work (completed by Thatcher). Bad weather will keep us moored at Two Harbors for the week; a break we most definitely welcome.

We left two weeks after our initial departure date, which I’ve come to learn is quite good in boat world. After a bout of bad weather, we had a few problems to solve, and solving one problem meant finding 3 more. After several crushed fingers, many curse words, and unbelievably helpful friends, we finally aligned sail-able weather with a sail-able boat on Sunday January 29th. And off we went!

I slapped on a sea sick patch that worked quite well despite the side effect of becoming Lurch from the Addams Family. According to Thatcher, I spent the day shuffling around grunting and mumbling incoherent answers to his questions. At hour 5 my left eye turned opaque.

That didn’t detract, however, from one of the most impressive feats I’ve seen – Thatcher drilling a hole in Agora’s deck while we were underway. Why, might you ask, did he do this? Well Catalina requires all boats to have a holding tank. We have a holding tank but had no “hole” to get it out (long story). So Thatcher had to create one while Agora dove into wave after wave. Sure enough, the first thing harbor control did when we arrived was check for a holding tank outlet. I would’ve gotten a photo but I was too busy chatting with Cousin Itt.

Though I’m hardly an expert, it’s clear “boat life” is demanding and relentless yet equally rewarding. Waking up between rolling green hills after a day at sea is an exciting sensation. I imagine many of our plans for the Baja voyage will be delayed or changed, and there will be hundreds more repairs needed. But the cliche point is journey not the destination, so we will handle whatever is thrown our way (and by “we” I mean Thatcher).

-Steph