Cruising ~ The Cat’s Meow Style ~ October – December, 2011

Back to Baja, and Back to California too

After our fantastic trip to South Africa in August and September, we returned to our boat, our home, The Cat’s Meow. It was good to get home to the boat and to the Baja peninsula in Mexico. The weather was cooling off, the water was clear, and we had many friends to catch-up with.

Fairly soon after returning to our life on the water, we took TCM out to the near-by islands with friends on their boat. We snorkeled, fished, and had some good times together. Merry and Dave on Air Ops had their son Casey aboard. One afternoon Robin, Merry, and Casey took a nice walk and swim on Isla Coronados.

Taking the path thru the brush on Isla Coronado                                                                   Merry & Casey on the beach

Early in November, both of us and both of the cats drove to La Paz. We were there to assist our friend Lisa (Andiamo) immediately after her hip surgery, at Pat’s house. Pat had to return to California, Lisa was at Pat’s house, we were there too. Plus Pat’s two cats, Lisa’s cat, and our two!! Now, that is a true cat house!! While there, Martin decided to make a quick trip to the San Francisco Bay Area to do his health-check at the VA. Lisa was doing OK, the boat was closed-up and OK, Robin and the cats were OK…..so, Martin flew to SF. Meanwhile,Robin was asked to do some short-term house & cat sitting for a woman in La Paz by the name of Susan. Robin, Toes, and Squeak moved to Susan’s home for 10 days. It was fun for Robin to be so close to the main marina in La Paz, to friends, and to have so much time all to herself!!

Snowball, at Susan’s house in La Paz

During this time, it was already time to celebrate Thanksgiving, and the cruisers in La Paz do it with a huge turkey dinner, complete with all the side dishes. The day prior to the turkey dinner, Robin heard the boat Windarra being hailed on the VHF radio. Windarra?? No….that boat was in Seattle…but then someone replied from Windarra…..so Robin followed the conversation and soon she was talking with Elaine – someone we had not seen in years, and here they were in La Paz!!! It was so good to see Elaine & Rich, catch up with them and to hear about their (really cool) kids. The Sea of Cortez can be a great re-uniter of friends.

Rich & Elaine of Windarra ~ back in the Sea!

Martin needed to spend more time than originally expected at the VA in San Francisco, so after he flew back to the Baja, both of us quickly packed our little Honda Civic hatchback with winter clothes and the cats. We headed up the Baja, and soon after crossing the border we visited with our good friends Dianne and Hans in the Long Beach area. It is always so good to see our pals in the US, too. The last time Robin had visited with these guys, they were in the middle of a great lot of construction, a remodel of their kitchen. This trip, we had the opportunity to see the finished product. What a nice, comfy, beautiful part of their home!! We enjoyed it and Dianne’s cooking, as well!!

Dianne cookin’ up a storm ~ a tasty storm! ~ in her new kitchen

Pat, the friend with the home in La Paz, suggested that while in the Bay Area for Martin’s visits to the VA, we could stay at her mother’s house in Walnut Creek. Pat’s mum was in a care facility, the house would be empty, and Pat offered this to us for a place to stay and for Martin to recuperate. WOW, what a godsend! We hurried right up to Walnut Creek to meet with Pat before her flight back to La Paz. Then, we visited our boater friends from Air Ops, Dave & Merry, at their home near Sacramento, CA. While we were there, Neil and Kalen, other boaters, arrived on their return to Oregon – so we had a real holiday reunion. Another great time with great friends!

Visiting at Merry & Dave’s along with Kalen & Neil

Would you believe that it was time to celebrate Christmas already?? This was the first time in many a year that Martin and Robin had the opportunity to spend the holiday with family. Just before Christmas day, we had the chance to celebrate our sister-in-law, Rhonda’s, birthday. And….it was Dungeness crab season!! YEAH! We drove to Half Moon Bay and picked out some fresh-as-you-can-get crabs for the next-day’s dinner, then we had a yummy meal at a local diner. Happy Birthday, Rhonda!!

Live Dungeness crab still on the boat                                                                            Rhonda’s birthday celebration

Daughter Deb and her husband Tom opened their home in the Bay Area for the family to gather and dine on Christmas. We did it all – the bounty of presents, the cooking, the food & drink, the chatter, the family time. It was truly a good time for everyone.

That brought us purrrty much to the end of 2011. Was it a fun year? Parts of it – yes. Was it a year of more hard work aboard TCM? Yes, it was. Was it an exciting year, with adventures? YES, it was!! Africa was especially exciting!! Was it a productive year? Yep – especially with all of the work we completed on our home, our boat. Was it a good year?? Yes - - they are ALL good.

Now, ya’all come back and see what we got ourselves up to in 2012 – ‘cause ya just never know what might happen…Cruising ~ The Cat’s Meow Style!