Latitude 38 - February 2021-2022

CHANGES

We love the smell of fresh-painted boats in the morning: the 'Hinman 38' hard dodger and cabin agleam in fresh paint. Also visible is a bit of the shed built to keep those cold Bainbridge Island winters outside where they belong.

pages. They know the value of taking your time and doing things right. "At times our progress is frustratingly slow," notes Wendy. "But if 34,000 miles of passagemaking and the pandemic have taught us anything, it is patience."

— Following their 10th Baja Ha-Ha rally in 2019, Marina and Myron Eizenzimmer made their 10th Bash back

PINO

home to the Bay Area last spring. This time, for the first time, they were unable to find crew due to the pandemic. So it was just the two of them sailing and motoring Mykonos, the Swan 44 they bought new (and even saw being built at the factory in Finland) in 1998. This summer, Mykonos received a new engine; "a much longer and more complicated project than we expected," notes Marina. After the three-month job, they did a shakedown cruise, motoring all the way to Monterey and back — all systems were 'go' and no problems. If the vaccine program goes well, look for this pretty boat back among the fleet for the '21 Ha-Ha.

— Leslie and Andrew Godfrey aren't going to make their five-year goal. That

WENDY HINMAN

would have required them to sail their Valiant 40 Sonrisa back to San Diego by February 28 to 'tie the knot' of the circumnavigation they began in 2016. Turns out, they're currently in the Seychelles, almost exactly halfway around the world from California — and life is good. They are in no particular hurry to complete that circumnavigation any time soon.

As with everyone 'out there,' the couple's 2020 plans went out the window with the pandemic. When we featured them in the July issue, they were just coming off a quarantine bubble with up to a dozen other cruising boats that had been ordered to anchor off a group of small, uninhabited Maldivian islands until the initial pandemic danger had passed. So basically, stuck in paradise. New friends were made, much was shared, beach bonfires lit — and memories etched that will last a lifetime.

"The Seychelles are a true safe haven from the uncertainty we've faced this strange and challenging year," reports Leslie. (Fewer than 300 cases had been reported in this African island nation of 90,000 since March, at least so far.) Leslie

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Page �0 • Latitude 38 • February, 2021

IN LATITUDES

Andrew with one of the Seychelles Islands 'elders.' Like their Galapagos kin, giant tortoises here are among the longest-lived animals on Earth. One, a gift to a British official in the 18th century, died in 2006 at the claimed age of 255.

also says there is a substantial boat repair industry, a location safe from cyclonic activity, a reliable food supply, "and kind people willing to extend our visas for the duration of the COVID crisis." All in all, it wasn't hard to decide to kick back and enjoy this Indian Ocean paradise for a little while longer.

Cruise Notes

• Todd Eversol and Virginia Duncan met while windsurfing the Sacramento Delta in 1996. They got their cruising feet wet with a Catalina 36 in Newport Beach in 1998. After doing the '99 Ha-Ha aboard Jim and Eleanor Hancock's Freya 39

SONRISA

Solstice, they decided they wanted a more robust cruising platform, which led them to San Francisco and a Passport 40.

They called Wildflower home for 13 years, cruising locally in the Bay Area and down to the Channel Islands, and did two six-month cruises to Mexico. In 2014, by now sailing out of British Columbia, they were ready for more extended cruising — on a new vessel. Their third boat is truly the charm: a Catana 47 purchased new from the factory in France. They have been happily cruising the Med aboard Rightmeow ever since. Look for a feature on those travels in next month's Changes.

• Patsy Verhoeven — La Reina del Mar, who Poobah'ed last fall's Nada Ha- Ha after COVID caused cancellation of the official Baja Ha-Ha — is back in La Paz aboard Talion, her Gulfstar 50. "New cruisers are arriving every week and the veterans are returning to retrieve their boats," she says. "La Paz marinas have plenty of available slips, and anchorages in the Sea are open to cruisers anchoring and exploring ashore."

However, ashore in La Paz, COVID restrictions are in full force with masks

TALION

required indoors and outdoors — with fines if you are caught without one.

"It's a different cruising season, with no Club Cruceros gatherings, morning coffee, potlucks, or charity events. Without social activities, I find it a great time to get to many projects. Talion is over 40 years old and it shows in some areas. I'm presently replacing a lot of interiorteak, sanding, and varnishing. If it all goes smoothly

Patsy is tanned, rested, and ready for the holly floors a make-

I'll give the teak and

2021 Baja Ha-Ha. over too.

"The glorious Sea of Cortez is calling.It is as beautiful as always and unaffected by the pandemic. My plan is to spend February through May singlehanding up in the Sea with old friends, meeting new ones, and reuniting with last year's Nada Ha-Ha sailors. Then it's time for my annual bash back north to escape the summer heat and hurricanes — and to get

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February, 2021 • Latitude 38 • Page �1