Catastrophic Molting

Finally, the boat is sold.  S/v More Joy Everywhere has found a new owner – someone who we’re certain will take good care of her and restore her to pre-lightning-strike glory.  She will ply the Pacific from Panama for a while – but there are plans for grand voyages to South Pacific Isles, and we wish her fair winds and following seas.

As we walked around starry-eyed for a couple of weeks after the deal was done, one of us was apt to remind the other: “Hey, we don’t own a boat!” And when we sat down to dinner and raised our glasses of wine, one of us would say, “Guess what!?  No boat!!”  Not Owning a Boat made us ecstatic.  Reminds me of the video that was making the rounds in the cruiser community a while ago – “I’m On a Boat” – only in reverse.  I’m NOT on a boat, mothafuggas.  In your FACE!

To get beyond the fists-in-the-air victory dance, we needed a bit more time and space.  In the past year, we have taken a few mini-vacays to explore California’s central coast (and remind ourselves that we are still "Travelers"). On our first trip as Boatless People, up to Cambria, I found a hook upon which to hang my boat baggage.

When you go to Cambria, you putter around the little town, sip wine, eat at Robin’s, buy olallieberry jam from Linn’s.  On your way out to the vineyards in Templeton and Paso Robles, you drive on roads so scenic that the view should be declared an “attractive nuisance.”  You tour Hearst Castle and walk on the beach.  And then you drive just a few miles up the coast, to the Año Nuevo State Reserve, so you can look at the Elephant Seals. 

 

May is the end of molting season for the elephant seals of the Piedras Blancas colony.  But “molting” doesn’t really cover it.  It’s called CATASTROPHIC MOLTING.  They come up on the beach after months at sea and shed a layer of skin and hair all at one time.  Can I just say? It’s ugly.  We stood and wondered.  We walked up and down the boardwalk and took pictures.  We picked up the copy of “E-Seal News,” to better understand who and what we were seeing.  
 

 

 

 It occurred to me.  Ean and I have survived two catastrophic molts in the past few years – once to start the cruising life, and again to end it.  We were brave and foolish, and it led us to heights of joy and depths of sorrow previously unscaled.  The transitions were ugly.
 

It's been a year, now, since we flew from the boat and opened a new chapter.  A year to start aching for the sunsets, the dolphins, and the sounds of a boat under sail.  A year to make a few tentative decisions about who we want to be, now that we're not cruisers.  But our mantra has been GO SLOW.  No more catastrophic molting.  No big moves.  No irreversible leaps.  Instead, we're taking pleasure in the small "yes."  Yes to one thing at a time.  Yes to a thousand steps that lead to yet another new chapter.  No, we haven't figured it out. But yes, we're on our way!

Reporting from Lompoc: Several Brief Updates

Here's all the news that's fit to print.

1. The Blog.  Contrary to recent evidence to the contrary, we have NOT abandoned the blog.  Our plan is to become a "travel blog" - and even while we are based here in Lompoc, we will sneak in some short trips here and there (like to Australia to visit my friend Ann?).  So we are morphing, from one thing to another... evolving right before your eyes... let's see how it goes.  Besides the travel, we want to keep our friends and loved ones up to date on how we're doing, so some of our posts might be progress reports on the Big Northside Reboot.  Anyway, be patient with us as we transition.



2. The Big Northside Reboot.  Here's the short, short version.  My family owns a piece of property, here in my hometown, that is in need of some tender loving care.  It requires extra attention, in particular, because we currently have a HUGE vacant space, and it's going to take some creativity and some $$$ to re-purpose that space.  On top of the gaping hole at the end of the center, it might be said that Northside is in the midst of a mid-life crisis.  It is 45 years old, it's been the same old thing, year after year, and it's getting a little... tired.  So our aim, here in Lompoc, is to rejuvenate the property and find some new tenants.  But more JOY everywhere! is not going to become a Northside blog, so if you're curious and want to learn more about the process, "like" Northside Lompoc on Facebook.


3. Other projects.  I will continue to coordinate The Monkey's Fist (along with Jaye, who thank goodness picks up the slack when I am distracted for a while).  Ean, meanwhile, has started a new website called Colombus's Egg.  (This link takes you straight to the "about" page, because Ean explains it much more eloquently than I do.)  If you want a daily dose of goodness - trust me on this! - go "like" his page on Facebook: Colombus's Egg.


4. S/v More JOY Everywhere!  On the same day that I published our last blog post, about the egret in the dinghy, Joy was struck by lightning.  Big puff of smoke, bad smells of fried electronics.  We had already made reservations to fly to California, and we decided, for the sake of our sanity, that we would keep those reservations.  That last week in Panama City was absolute hell.  I try not to think about it.  After the lightning strike, we accepted an offer, and for a few weeks we basked in optimism that Joy would soon have someone to love her and take care of her properly.  Alas, that offer has now fallen through, and Joy is back on the market - now for $165,000.


5. Operation BABSAM.  (Buy a boat, save a marriage) Although the boat has not been bought, I think I can say with some degree of confidence that the marriage has already been saved.  We are SO relieved to be off the boat and on to something new.  We've learned a lot about ourselves and how important it is to prioritize "us."  And we KNOW how fortunate we are - even in the midst of our trials and tribulations (aka "first world problems") - so we haven't been throwing ourselves any Pity Parties.

We have a few more cruising-related blog posts that we plan to write, but now is Too Soon.  Our desire to write about it and our sense of humor disappeared in that puff of smoke that I mentioned in #4 above.

There you have it.  Thanks, everybody, for caring about us and for wanting to know what happens next.  Our hearts have been warmed by all the well-wishing and positive energy that's been sent our way!  

Answer: Lompoc, California

Question: Where am I from?

This is a query that depends on context, isn't it?  Lately, when someone asks where I'm from, I say, los estados unidos.  If I'm pressed for a state, I say California, even though I haven't lived there for over two decades.  It's easy.  Most people here in Panama have heard of California.  (Wisconsin: not so much.)

Sometimes, I'm asked, by someone who actually wants to know about my hometown: "Where in California?"  It's a big state, after all.

Lompoc: 34.6392° N, 120.4569° W

If you're a Pacific Coast sailor, I cut straight to the heart of it:  "My hometown is just inland from Point Conception."  Respect.

But for landlubbers, additional context is important.  Never lived in California?  Maybe you're really just asking: "Are you from Southern California (beaches and blondes and sunshine) or Northern California (San Francisco, fog, Golden Gate Bridge)?"  Then my answer will be: "Southern California."  Or if I want to be confounding and slightly more accurate, I might say, "Southern Central Coast."

You want more?  Perhaps you're from California, or you've spent some time there?  Still, I won't just blurt out, "Lompoc," as though you should know.  Usually, I circle around, asking, "Do you know where Santa Barbara is...?"  If your reply is sort of vague, I'll say, "A couple hours north of LA."

If I get the sense that you have walked down State Street and driven up Hwy 1, I follow up with "... and San Luis Obispo...?"  More head nodding...?  Okay, finally, I give it up: "I'm from a town called Lompoc, right between Santa Barbara and SLO."  If you've made it this far through the gauntlet, you might reward me with insightful comments that show some understanding of what Lompoc is all about.

"Oh yeah, where the prison is."
(Federal Correctional Institution - low security men's prison)

"I went to the Flower Festival once: it was [insert one here] cold/windy/rainy/foggy."
(Lompoc weather is NOT SoCal weather)

"Isn't there an Air Force Base around there?"
(Vandenberg, third largest AFB in the US)

One of the many flower fields of the Lompoc Valley (image from here)

Maybe you're wondering why I'm talking about my hometown.

Well.

Lompoc, California, is not only the answer to "Where am I from?"  It also answers the question: "Where am I going?"

Lompoc, of all places....  Team Behr is moving to Lompoc.  We are going there, maybe for a few months, maybe for a year or two, because we are part-owners of a piece of property that could use a bit of tender loving care.  We are the only owners who happen not to have anything better to do at the moment.

Our s/v more JOY everywhere is for sale, and although we just substantially reduced the price, we know that it might take awhile to find new owners.  So while we wait to see what happens next, we're going to go hang out in my hometown and take care of some family business.

We think it's going to be fun, believe it or not.

Think about the blogortunities.

I CAN go home again!

Everything you ever wanted to know about Lompoc, and more

Stop calling it Lom-pock; it's Lom-poke

My high school got painted a different color

Look: I'm wearing pants!