Februaries Past - Looking Back

We enjoy looking back at where we were at this time of year in years past. At our age, we're sometimes surprised that we actually visited some of the places pictured. Really? We went there and did that? Hmm. Must be; we've got photos to prove it. Despite our slow travel philosophy, we're also amazed at how much distance we cover. Here's a look back at our February travels over the years. In February 2000, we had just “met” Nine of Cups (not her name then), for the first time and made an offer to buy her. We sailed across the Gulf of Mexico and up the US East Coast and completed our first “foreign” check-in in the Berry Islands, Bahamas in February 2001. There was lots of dragon-slaying along the way. When we returned to the Bahamas in February 2002, we were headed for the Caribbean.

February 2003 found us anchored in the Islas Las Aves, en route from Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela to Bonaire.

We were ''on the hard” in La Libertad, Ecuador in February 2004, removing our teak decks. We made a passage to the Galapagos and Easter Island after we splashed, but managed to break enough stuff en route to warrant another haul-out and major rework in LaLibertad. In February 2005 … we were once again on the hard.

We finally broke Ecuador's magnetic hold on us and headed south to Patagonia. It was just a little further! By February 2006, we were rounding Cape Horn, the first of the five great southern capes.

2006 was a busy year and we put lots of miles under the keel, including an Atlantic crossing to South Africa. In February 2007, we were just departing Cape Town for our second Atlantic crossing. Jib furler problems had us moored up the coast in lovely Saldanha Bay, South Africa for a few days making repairs.

Plans always change and instead of crossing the Pacific, we found ourselves back in Ushuaia, Argentina in February 2008. A good friend had fallen ill and asked us to move his boat from Ushuaia to Uruguay and decommission her. We were happy to oblige.

Nine of Cups was back in the Pacific by mid-2008, but it was too late for a Pacific crossing. We headed south back to Chile and spent February 2009 exploring Chile's largest island, Chiloé, and all its nearby islands.

Finally, we completed the long awaited Pacific crossing and by February 2010, we were enjoying New Zealand's Northland coast and the Cavalli Islands.

New Zealand has amazing cruising grounds. We decided a circumnavigation was the only way to see as much of the country as possible. In February 2011, we were anchored in the southern most fjord of Fiordland National Park on the South Island, preparing for a blow.

On to Australia and the magic of Deal Island in the middle of Bass Strait separating mainland Australia from Tasmania. This was our first visit to Deal, but not our last.

We circumnavigated Tasmania during 2012 and returned to Deal Island once again in early 2013. This time, we continued west to King Island in the Bass Strait, en route once again to the Australia mainland.

From Adelaide, Australia, we visited Kangaroo Island in February 2014, continuing west along Australia's southern coast.

Long passages in 2014 across the Great Australian Bight and the Indian Ocean and by February 2015, we were in Durban, South Africa and inland traveling with our family.

Wow, we wonder how we managed 86,000nm, but when we look at the itinerary over the years, it's not that surprising at all. We're thinking we should do it all over again.

Biding Our Time

 

I mentioned yesterday that we were getting impatient … waiting, waiting, waiting. The house closing is still nearly a month away. Mary had decided to sell her house and is now waiting for a buyer. Nine of Cups is in need of some work and she, too, is waiting in Trinidad, thousands of miles away. Knowing that we've so much to do and can't dig into it is driving us nuts. It's like waiting for a weather window to sail to our next port!

There's work to be done at the new house before we move in, but of course, there's no access till we actually buy the place. Mary wants to pack up and get going, but she can't while her house is still being shown. Besides, other than piling boxes in the garage, there's no place to put them till we move. Unfortunately, we're also waiting for David's renewed passport to arrive, so our plan to work on Cups for a few weeks won't work. Poor Cups will have to be patient, too.

We take long walks and talk about all we have to do. We make lists. We provide and sign endless paperwork (sometimes the same thing five separate times) for the mortgage company. We write blogs about waiting. We've scheduled inspections and walk-throughs. We've done some window-shopping for furnishings, but no buying. David has sketched out the floor plan of the new house to scale and we're all trying to figure out what will go where, but until we're in, it's just an exercise. The days crawl by. We keep busy enough, but we all agree it's not productive busy; it's just busy-busy. Meals get cooked and eaten. Cleaning gets done. We try to keep our excitement in check. We're storing up energy for when it really matters. We feel like 5-year-olds, waiting for Christmas morning.

David is shopping for a used pick-up truck (a “ute” for our down-under friends...short for utility truck, for our non-down-under friends) to haul all the stuff we're waiting to haul. That has occupied much of his time (you know how guys are about researching vehicle purchases). I have no interest in a truck purchase whatsoever until, of course, I buy something for the new house that will require hauling.

So, here we are in mostly sunny Las Vegas, twiddling our thumbs, biding our time. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?

Groundhog Day 2016

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck

If a woodchuck could chuck wood?

When it comes to major holidays in the USA, Groundhog Day does not qualify. Nobody gets the day off with pay. Nobody pays much attention to it unless, of course, they're from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and then the groundhog steals the show. As the ultimate prognosticator of Spring, if old Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow when he emerges from his burrow on February 2nd, there'll be six more weeks of winter. If it's cloudy and he casts no shadow, we can be assured of an early Spring.

groundhog

Phil, or his progeny, has been forecasting the advent of spring since 1887. His forecast accuracy isn't all that great … about 39%. He tends to predict longer winters, rather than earlier springs, i.e. it's been sunny or bright enough to cast a shadow on more February 2nds than not over the past 129 years.

groundhog day stats

There's evidently lots to do in Punxsutawney around this time of year. There's the Annual Groundhog Ball, known locally as the Hog Ball. This year the tickets are $30/pp. The theme is masquerade (wear a mask) and Rudy and the Professionals are playing. Could get rowdy. There's a heated celebration tent with entertainment and food/beverages for sale at Gobbler's Knob. The rest of the year's events all seem to revolve around the hog theme. I think I'd like to go one year. It would be a winter road trip. We tend to enjoy bizarre, off-the-beaten track events. That said, they estimate 20,000 people attend, so we certainly wouldn't be alone.

groundhog-phil-02

It's interesting to note, by the way, that Groundhog Day, like so many other holidays we celebrate, has its roots in old customs and religions. Imbolc, the mid-winter pagan celebration, “was traditionally a time of weather divination, and the old tradition of watching to see if serpents or badgers came from their winter dens may be a forerunner of the North American Groundhog Day.” It may be, in fact, that the celebration dates back as far as the Romans. Who would have thunk it?

This year, however, we're in Las Vegas and as far we're concerned, spring has already sprung. It never really gets all that cold here, comparatively speaking, though the locals sometime complain. The average temps are slowly rising and there's plenty of sun and warm, pleasant days … before the desert heat takes over in a couple of months. How will we celebrate? Glad, you asked. I think we'll watch the live feed of Phil emerging from his burrow, indulge in our annual viewing of the movie Groundhog Day ...

... and maybe even listen to Stephen Tobolowsky's podcast commentary on the film. Maybe we'll take the Groundhog Day quiz and practice the woodchuck tongue twister.

I also checked out some facts about groundhogs. For instance, groundhogs and woodchucks are the same critter. Gophers are different. Amazing the number of trivial facts you can ferret out when you've nothing better to do. And, yes, in case you were wondering, I'm getting mighty impatient waiting around for the closing on the house, the move and then planning our return trip to Nine of Cups. Patience...patience...patience!