Dec 15, 20232 min read

La vida en loreto

Spanish for 30 minutes, yoga 30 minutes, hike 2 hours, make salsa 2 hours, make bread 4 hours, walk to the market, talk to a friend at home (who is sitting in the rain) and do some random project on the boat (or wait until tomorrow if something more important comes up). Rinse, wash, repeat and smile.

But living on a boat is at times a bit more like camping. It is not perfect. You have to do everything yourself. A good steak is really hard to find. Sometimes the shower is cold, especially when you forget to turn on the switch. Occassionally the wind howls and the rolling can wake you up at a night. You can't find the thing that you are looking for. I'm thankful (and hopeful) that the adversity will continue to makes us stronger & healthier.

As with all things, life is a balance.

Amidst our "busy" schedule, we had the opportunity to join another cruiser for a drive to one of the earliest Missions in Baja California.

After turning off of Highway 1, we drove for about an hour. We hadn't really planned for that distance, but it was worth the trip!

Built in 1699, the San Javier Mission in a beautiful desert oasis setting has the 'oldest olive tree' in California and was in operation until the early 1800's. It was a fun adventure and distraction from polishing the stainless rails (they will get done I promise!)

We have a lot of family coming in the next few weeks so for us, the Okisollo crew, this means deep cleaning must commence. Leia (Aka boat cat) got a new cat box because her 'robot' literbox failed. Now I'm the 'robot'. The floors have been cleaned. The deck cleaned. (It will need it again by next week!)

I brought way too many clothes. I donated 4 bags.

Dan had to replace our freshwater pump, as everytime we used the galley sink, we had to go to the head and run more water -- or alternatively use a heavy object to clink on the top of the pump to make it stop cycling.

Early morning hike to the top of the hill behind the marina.

And of course, Dan has been honing his salsa skills. He's now telling me that there is a different salsa for breaksfast, lunch and dinner. I'm not sure I believe him, but his salsa is pretty good. He thinks that after all the ingredients, he can sell a jar for $6 and make $1 profit. Mmm...We might need a bigger boat for the commercial kitchen.

The weather here in Baja is amazing so far. It is 70-80 during the day and 60-70 at night. Cool enough to sleep. Occassionally windy. 20 knots, that lasts 24-48 hours. Comfortable to be outside all day long. We last saw rain sometime before August.... Life is good in Loreto.