hi everyone. it's saturday, sept.26th. we left newport, oregon on monday, sept. 21. since the weather is so changeable, we had to stay longer in newport. we left around 11 am, got into the channel and out past the jetties then the wind and waves decided to make themselves heard. it was a pretty rough ride and all three dogs got seasick. dan was below for a few minutes and came up nauseus, but kept everything down. after we got out a few miles and turned south things quieted down pretty good and the seas smoothed out pretty nice. around 3 am, the engine started revving up and then died. dan got it started but it wouldn't stay going. we talked to elias on the stepping stone and he and dan figured it was a clogged fuel filter, so dan changed it and about 3 hours later it started up and we were off again. just a little bit of excitement.....bobbing around in the middle of the pacific in the middle of the night. dan laid down for some much needed sleep and my watch was pretty uneventful, except i screwed up the way points when i had to change them and had the boat on the chart plotter going the wrong direction. duh. dan got it corrected when he got up. boy am i glad he knows what we're doing! so thanks to our industrious captain, we are still heading to mexico. we left oregon waters on sept. 22. dan saw a couple of grey whales on his watch, but i haven't seen anything but some dolphins or porpoises, whichever. by evening we have nothing but fog, and mist. it is colder than a witches tit at night. the dogs huddle up next to us a keep us a little warm and we wrap up in lots of clothes, jackets, and blankets. plus we can open the lazarette door and put the blanket over it and the hot air comes up under the blanket. still plenty cold. the fog has stayed with us and we have the stay sail up to keep the bow a little more steady. it's been really choppy. the engine started revving up again and we don't have a spare but we talked to elias and he has 10 of them. he is going to drop one off to us.. they came up beside us and passed in front of our bow, dropped a package in the water, dan fished it up with the dog net and viola! we have a clean fuel filter. quite a tricky maneuver, but it worked. but we really didn't need it quite yet. around 3 pm on thursday, sept. 24, it got really cold, and foggier than ever. it just will not let up. but on we sail. aroung 4:30 in the afternoon the auto pilot quit and we were hand steering. that's a bitch. just about tears your arms out of their sockets when the waves are this high, but doable. just need strength and courage. some of which we have. later that afternoon the fuel filter gave up again and the engine quit. now we are dead in the water and hand steering. anyone want to be me right now?? i'll bet if we had any crew members at this point they would be jumping ship at the next port. had to call the coast guard from bodega bay, ca. to come and tow us in. we had already passed bodega bay and was on our way to san francisco, but we turned back and the coast guard rescued us about 5 miles out. it sure is amazing to watch these guys in action. they are truly professional and know just what to do. the teamwork was so awesome. i'm sure glad they were available. we would never have been able to negotiate the chanel on our own. it is very narrow and shallow in spots. the coast guard towed us by our bow until we got to the chanel and then they came around and towed from our port side. put us right into a dock, secured us and then came aboard and inspected us. we passed. that's about the best thing that happened all day. so here we are in bodega bay, california. fixing things. well sort of....dan broke a piece off the water filter, so we had to replace it too. west marine is in santa rosa, which is about an hour drive from here inland. called enterprise to rent a car. they are in sebastopol, which is only 45 minutes away. charged $50 pick up fee, $500 a week for a mini van. oh well, we can now drive to santa rosa and pick up parts. the west marine store is very small and didn't have a new fuel filter casing, so we bought 10 filters, all that they had. after dan broke the water pump, we had to drive back to west marine today and get a new one, but they had a fuel filter casing. we bought it and 3 filters for it. went into to sebastopol to find a safeway and while i was shopping, dan read the directions for the fuel filter thingy and it is for gas only, well we are diesel. oops now we gotta go back into santa rosa on monday. hopefully the guy at west marine will have gotten us the one we need. the weather has been beautiful today, saturday, sept 26. it has been so foggy you couldn't see across the chanel, but i have shorts and a tank top on today; it was 101 in santa rosa when we were there this afternoon. life's just a bowl of cherries, sometimes sweet and sometimes its the pits. i love you all, keep the comments coming.. hugs

well, it looks like we have our overheating problem solved. whoo hoo. we are planning on leaving friday morning and going straight to san francisco. the weather window is good for a few more days so we are going to get as far as we can south before it turns real nasty. after cape mendicino we should have fair winds and an easier sail. keep your fingers crossed. lol. we've met a lot of really nice people that are all heading to mexico. some with the baha ha ha, some not, but all are headed to cabo or la paz. it's really neat to meet people in one port and run into them again at another one. like seeing long lost friends.

the dogs are doing great and love to run loose in the sand dunes. that makes a nice mess when they come back on board, but handy dandy dirt devil takes care of it just fine. they have gotten used to doing their business on the selected place on the stern and aren't afraid to use it when need be!!!

we rented a car and have been taxiing other sailors to town when they need to go or just give them the keys if we are too busy. it's nothing but a good thing. hopefully if we are someplace and need a ride, one will be available to us. that's how it's supposed to work, right?

hope all is well with you all, keep up the comments. love to hear from you. hugs

to answer all your questions: ron , yes, you got it right. keep the comments coming. say hi to toots for me and give her a great big kiss and a great big hug. i love u guys.

bev. the dogs are doing really well and have adjusted quite nicely. how is your truck running? hope everything is still hunky dory with you guys hugs and kisses

andy & candy: don jose marina in la paz. we'll be there with bells on so come on down.

we made it to newport, oregon on sunday, sept.13. mostly uneventful with just a bit of a blow now and then. the engine has been overheating and we figured out a temporary fix but need to do some serious work on it. the fog rolled in about 4 am on saturday night and stayed most of the day. it lifted in the early evening but stayed overcast the rest of the trip. we took 6 hr shifts for the two nights at sea and that seemed to work out well for both of us. we didn't have any trouble crossing the bar into newport so we feel we are pretty lucky. staying here for at least 3 nights to do some shopping and go to a b.o.a.t. store (for you who don't know what that is, it stands for Break Out Another Thousand). met up with some people we first met in port angeles here on the "Intrepid", kelly, carol, adam and edie. have also met Garth and Kimberley on the "Irish Diplomacy" and elias on the "stepping Stone" all are heading to mexico so i expect we will see alot of them down the line. we had a diesel mechanic come down to the boat and he did some troubleshooting for us and gave us a good idea of what to do next with the overheating problem. dan took the heat exchanger off and we rented a car and took it to a radiator place to have it flushed. should get it back tomorrow and then we can see if that was the problem. did up all the dirty laundry and the bedding so everything is clean and fresh. gotta love it. we walked over to "flashbacks" for a burger and ice cream cone. they didn't have licorice so i had banana pudding. was sooo good. take care all and stay in touch. hugs

after a very pleasant sail from pt. townsend, we are moored in pt. angeles. this is a great marina, nice wide docks and no problem getting in here. the weather was perfect all day and the seas smooth. that is suppose to change tonight with rain and winds through tomorrow. we will stay here til thursday morning and then off to neah bay to top off the fuel tanks and on into the pacific. next stop newport, oregon. had a great hamburger and a couple of beers for dinner at the castaway. long walk but well worth it and it's always good to take a long walk after eating...lol. met some people here from portland who have been cruising for a couple of months. they are on their way home. lots of good information about places to stop and places to avoid down the coast. nice folks. the kids seem to be adapting well and i think they might even like it. maggie is still a little uncertain, but daisy and max love it on deck. they look so cool in their life jackets. we met a lady in pt townsend that had a mim aussie, but was black and white with blue eyes, sure was a cutie. she came down and introduced emma to max, maggie and daisy. really well behaved dog...what happened to ours??? can't wait to get to southern california where the water is warmer and the seas nice and smooth. love u all hugs

we are resting up in Pt. Townsend after battling rough seas and high winds. took a long time to get here and a long time to find the entrance to the marina, fighting all the way. didn't get in until around 2 am. tied her up and walked the kids, then straight to bed. needless to say, we were exhausted. today seems to be much the same. last night the wind blew 43 knots...today its only about 35 knots, but we are tied in and don't really care. we are staying here until at least tuesday. this little front is suppose to blow over by then and have sunny skies and mid 60's. i am keeping my fingers crossed. and anything else that's crossable. the dogs faired pretty well for their first trip out of the marina. don't think they were really happy, but didn't kick up too much of a fuss. took them for a nice long walk around the marina this morning after breakfast and tried to wear them out, so they are all snoozing, including our illustrious captain. there is a really good restaurant here call "Sea J's" and is within the marina, so it probably will be our breakfast stop each morning...good fish and chips. there is a west marine (can you say B.O.A.T.) here too so of course we had to stop and shop. also a safeway within walking distance. i hope we can make it to downtown before we leave, cuz i love it here. it is really an artists community and very quaint. so far it has been an exciting, exhilerating trip and i am looking forward to getting back out there and continuing our journey. hugs to all