Sharon’s Blog  11/18/14  HOME SWEET HOME

After several days of waiting and fish tacos, Georgia was finally delivered to Ensenada.  We spent two nights in the boat yard, addressing some concerns that had arisen just before we left Costa Rica. Good news is that the potential problem which was most critical was determined not to be an immediate problem.    We moved Georgia to the Hotel Coral and Marina to buy diesel for our trip home.    600 liters of diesel and very minimal provisions and we were set.

We eased out of the very narrow fairway before daylight enroute to San Diego.  Our plan was to go to the San Diego Yacht Club (a favorite of ours) after we cleared US Customs.  We found ourselves in a positon that we have always tried to avoid on the boat.  We had a schedule wanting to be in Tiburon for the Annual Meeting of the Corinthian Yacht Club because our very dear friend, Kimmie Schafer was being elected Commodore.  Kim and I agreed that we would get the boat as close as we could and either fly or rent a car to make the meeting and then go back for Georgia.  We also had airline tickets for the East Coast on 11/23 which we had to consider. 

Clearing US Customs was a snap.  The young officer completely missed the fact that Georgia had been out of the country for over 3.5 years.  They didn’t even ask for our produce and meats (of which I had none). 

The weather in San Diego and the forecast for the next four days was perfect for our passage.  Going all the way to Tiburon would be a three night passage.  We really had no plans to do this, or should I say Kim had no plans to do this.  We had a weather window and I pushed harder than I ever have before to keep going.  Can you tell I was ready to go home?  Additionally, we were concerned about our autopilot.  It stopped working in the middle of the Long Beach ship traffic.  I steered for a couple of hours and Kim was able to get it going.  We both feared if we turned it off, it wouldn’t come back on.  At every possible stop, Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, Monterey, Captain Kim would say “we need to turn now or keep going”.  Without hesitation, my answer was to keep going. 

We made it to the Golden Gate around 11:00 am, and it was a glorious day.  Coming back through the Golden Gate was almost a surreal experience.  We had only told a couple of our friends when we were arriving.  But soon, we realized that a familiar boat was coming toward us.  Michael and Pat on Cayenne, a fellow Passport, were coming to escort us.  Pulling into the club, we were greeted with horns, cheering, balloons, champagne and water hoses!  Friends and staff were on the dock waiting to catch our lines.  Kim eased Georgia J into our new slip flawlessly.

Kim has told several people that I was a slave driver coming home.  Fortunately, he is laughing about it now and happy we are here!

 S/V Georgia J, moored at Corinthian Yacht Club, Tiburon, California