 |
| Farewell to our Beloved Valhalla! |
With Mexico in mind, Don and I found
and bought a boat and within 2 years transformed her from a day sailor to a
cruising boat. September 1, 2012 Valhalla set sail, went out the Golden
Gate turned left and headed down the California coast. Taking our time, we totally realized the
difference between cruising and racing.
After 30 glorious days and 640 nautical miles we arrived in San Diego.
 |
| Valhalla in the 2012 Baja Haha |
We headed for Mexico as a part of the
2012 Baja Haha Cruiser’s Rally along with 130 other boats. The Haha would be our first and last race in
which we accomplished 777 nautical miles in ONLY 11 days running from San Diego
to Cabo San Lucas. We will never forget
the continuous 24 to 72 hour runs of beautiful downwind, warm weather sailing. Soon
after our arrival in Cabo, we crossed over to the tropical mainland of Mexico.
 |
| Me and My Man |
Every day was a new adventure and we stayed on
Valhalla for the entire 180 days our
visas allowed us. Our longest stint living on the hook was 34 days without
pulling into any marinas. It wasn’t easy
learning to live the minimalist lifestyle getting by using as little as 2-4
gallons of water per day. No matter, every
day was a blessing seeing beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the moon and the
stars, the dolphins, whales, sea turtles and rays. The beauty of our surroundings and the
rewards of the life experience we were gaining made it all worthwhile without
question.
 |
| Muy Tranquil at Playa Bonanza in the Sea of Cortez |
 |
| Most Magnificent Sierra de la Gigantas |
We had sailed as far south as
Manzanillo and then north to Mazatlan crossing through 4 states in Mexico. We made our second crossing back to Baja
California Sur to enjoy a bit of the desert climate of the Sea of Cortez before
our time ran out on our visas. Sailing
the Sea is spectacular with crystal clear warm water and the scenic Sierra de
la Giganta mountain range as a backdrop is spectacular. After cruising 228 nautical miles in the Sea
of Cortez, it was time to leave Valhalla
on the hard and return home for hurricane season.
April 1, 2014 we returned to Valhalla. We gave her the TLC she needed before
launching and heading north back into the Sea of Cortez. Designated as a National Park, the
uninhabited islands of Espirtu Santo are beautiful beyond belief. We sailed north to Pureto Escondito and back south
to Cabo San Lucas. It was such great
sailing with so many beautiful anchorages.
 |
| Honeymoon Cove - One of MANY Beautiful Anchorages! |
 |
| TLC for Valhalla |
 |
| A Trip of a Lifetime for Both of Us! |
There were decisions to be
made….should we stay or should we go? It
was decided it was time for us to bash back to California, USA. Soon after leaving Cabo, it became apparent
that the best part of our sailing adventure was over. It was now time to pay our dues for all the
fantastic warm weather sailing we had done.
The bash had begun and after rounding Cabo Falso it was evident that
Bashing is NOT for wimps. After a week
waiting for weather in Turtle Bay we headed for San Diego in near PERFECT
conditions for bashing. Unbelievable…our
last leg of the bash was calm, flat, glassy seas…what a blessing and a
beautiful finish to our Mexico adventure. Our energy was flowing high and the
grandeur of our last leg was emotional.
As Valhalla crossed the
international boundary, we were greeted by the United State Air Force with a
direct fly over of two extremely loud, fast and furious fighter jets. It was a glorious feeling and I stood on the
bow and waved to our boys welcoming US home!!!
I was so proud of myself and especially my Captain…we had done it…we
were home!
 |
| Police/Customs Dock San Diego |
Now, an amazing chapter in our lives
has concluded with the sale of our beloved Valhalla.
We bought her with sailing Mexico in mind and she served us remarkably well. We
set out on a road trip to Los Angeles to sell, transfer and deliver her to her
new owner, John Berg, a blind sailor who is living HIS dream! Soon Valhalla will be heading back to MEXICO
to do the 2014 Baja Haha. Some say the
happiest days of a sailor’s life is the day you buy your boat and the day you
sell your boat. Well, I’m sure ONE of
the happiest days of John’s life was the day he bought our boat. However, for
us…with some sadness, we bid Valhalla
farewell.
 |
| A Happy Day for the new owner of Valhalla |
 |
| Blind Sailor, John Berg - A Man Living His Dream! |
For now, we will stay close to home
due to family obligations. For the next
couple of years we’ll be land cruisers traveling with our new 5th
wheel trailer we call Fort Fugowi. In
September we traveled almost 4,000 miles enjoying Oregon and Washington
states. After that trip, Don and I
concurred that, without a doubt, cruising by land is far more dangerous than
cruising by sea!
 |
| Fort Fugowi On the Hook in Washington State |
In the not too distant future, we
plan to buy another boat, fix her up and sail afar to the South Pacific. Someday…we’ll open another chapter continuing
our dream and sail again!
 |
| And the Sunsets on This Chapter of our Lives |
We had a great time and had fun
logging and blogging our entire journey.
During 2012 and 2013, we on Valhalla
accomplished 2,749 nautical miles. In
2014 we cruised the Sea of Cortez and bashed home for a total of 1,265 nautical
miles.
With sincere thanks to everyone for
reading and following our sailing blog.
It truly was trip of a lifetime for us!
