Transitions & Preparations

Casting off the figurative lines from our home in Petersburg, Alaska to begin our family voyage brought more emotions than I anticipated, from tears to excitement, from nervousness to disbelief; it created an overall very surreal experience as we boarded Alaska Airlines to head south to SV Terikah in San Diego. 

The prior month had been spent tidying up our land home and passing on the reins at Petersburg Medical Center, as well as home schooling and packing.  Ten 49.9-pound bags later (not bad for a family of four for 2 years!), we boarded our flight with a weeklong layover at the family cabin in Idaho to take a big breath before diving into the boat work ahead.

It was a good thing we did, as San Diego has been a blur of projects intermixed with homeschool and fun.  Upon arrival, we found Terikah covered with sun-baked bird poo outside and patches of mildew inside; the first days were spent scrubbing and moving in.  We hauled the boat out for bottom paint and new zincs, finding ourselves the only family “living on the hard” in the boatyard for a few days. 

Small treats of gelato and fish tacos interspersed between the lines of a notebook-long to-do list were yummy!  Starlink installed (streamed The Hobbit to celebrate) and working splendidly, cockpit canvas installed, and provisioning step one completed at Costco.

Off to Balboa Park’s Museum of Us and California Tower Tour; Egypt display aligned with Cora’s Ancient Civilizations school lesson, beer and cannibalism displays very interesting (but no samples at either!). 

Friends Emil and Carin joined us for a week of work and play.  Highlights included getting the sails back on the boat in the dark by headlamp (she’s happy to be a sailboat again!), fresh tuna poke, wandering the Japanese Friendship Garden, riding an old-fashioned 1915 carousel in Balboa Park, rappelling down Sunset Cliffs to a lovely beach, discovering sea dragons at Birch Aquarium, wild cribbage games, and numerous gelato runs. 

The biggest success was our first night on the hook at Glorietta Bay off Coronado Island; felt great to sail and be off the dock, kids excited to paddleboard all over the bay.  I wouldn’t call it peaceful, as we were packed in the anchorage with other boats and music loudly pumped out of a nearby party boat – but we were off the dock and most systems worked! 

We were also thankful to have them bear witness to our Name Changing ceremony.  We followed the mandatory steps of purging the old name, reciting an ode to Poseidon, attaching a branch of green leaves on the bow to symbolize a safe return, appeasing the four wind gods, and offering our sacrifice of champagne before we toasted… TERIKAH! 

The visit ended with a phenomenal concert by our favorite band, Nickel Creek, at Rady Shell outdoor concert hall. 

Other successes include getting the anchor bridle on, finalizing the boat medical kit, updating our charts all the way through to New Zealand, testing our Man Overboard system, getting the Temporary Import Permit for our boat to Mexico, expanding our boat insurance to Mexico, oil changes, purchasing our paper charts (I love looking at all those tiny islands in the vast Pacific!), installing our life raft (that we hope is wasting space), and mounting our rod holder (to Calder’s delight). 

The huge task of removing the old and installing our new batteries was both gym class (weightlifting) and physics (using pulleys and our halyard). 

One night our neighbor gifted us with dinner – 4 spiny lobster – that he had free-dove for.  He showed me how to prepare and cook them correctly and they were delicious!  The boating community is pretty dang stellar. 

We also finished our first quarter of school, which has gone smoothly.

As we continue to work through our perpetual boat to-do list, at times questioning the sanity of our decision, I am brought back to the moment by the gentle sound of our ship’s bells that ring based on a 4-hour watch schedule.  I love all this time we spend together, the gift of learning with, working with, and being with my family daily.  We are making progress every day toward our goal.  And I love that our kids know the time by the sound of a ship’s bell.