February 15ish-28, 2013
The final preparations were fast and furious, but once we had set the departure date, we were absolutely determined to leave. We didn’t intend for the departure date to be a firm deadline, but in the end, we somewhat treated it that way. Many people had told us the hardest part of cruising is getting off the dock, but we didn’t really experience it that way. We each had our (very) long to-do lists, but we identified those items that would have to delay our departure if not complete, and we focused mainly on those. We purchased so many last-minute tools, parts, supplies, and provisions that the UPS and FedEx guys were at our house every day.
Most of my time the last week or so was spent figuring out where to store everything on the boat. It was like a giant puzzle, and it wasn’t a huge stretch to get everything to fit, but my concern was not remembering where I put everything. We were running errands down to the last day before leaving and picking up things at random moments of opportunity. For example, “Hey, there’s a sail maker’s shop, let’s stop by and get a sail repair kit.” I started to wonder what else we had forgotten that we didn’t have the good fortune to drive by during those last few days. Tim’s parents were with us our last days in Marina del Rey, and that was a huge help in many ways. They helped us move our last items onto the boat, make several trips to Good Will, and entertain the boys during all the chaos.
We had a going away open house on the boat the day before we left, and it was a welcome opportunity to slow down a bit and hang out with friends. There are so many people we are missing. Brenden had the visibly hardest time saying goodbye and leaving. I comforted him several times telling him it was normal and totally OK to be sad and to write it down in his journal so he can remember how he felt right then. In a year our lives would be totally different and we will want to remember everything, even the sad feelings. Brenden returned the favor when I said my final good-byes to Colin and Jen. It’s like he could tell I was starting to get a little teary inside and he came over and put his arm around me. Alex is also missing everyone, but he is much more Stoic about it. In addition to friends and family, I am desperately missing running. I was nearly devastated not being able to run much my last month at home due to a sore foot, but I did get one last run along The Strand and one last run on Harbor Island in San Diego to remember the beautiful coastal running I was leaving behind.
We left Marina del Rey at night after sundown on Sun, Feb 24th to find very choppy seas until we turned the corner around the Palos Verdes peninsula. Our first destination would be San Diego, and that made leaving home a lot easier than it otherwise would have been since I knew we would still have the comfort of friends and family while we took care of last-minute to-do items and provisioning before leaving the U.S. We arrived in San Diego early the next afternoon, and it was enjoyable entering the very familiar harbor and seeing the Point Loma Lighthouse and the Coronado Bridge, two landmarks I’ve spent time around over the years. We stayed at the Cabrillo Isle Marina on Harbor Island, and we had an end tie at the furthest possible location from the dock gate, which meant all of our visitors got their exercise walking out to Exodus. We had a final going away party on Tuesday, and other than that it’s regrettable that we didn’t relax more and soak up the time we had with family, instead we were frantically running around doing errands and trying to get everything stowed on the boat.
We had another night time departure when we left San Diego and the real adventure began.
Gresham Family Exodus 