Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The False Start of the Third Voyage: In which we outwit Friday only to be faked out by April Fools’


Time, tide, and marina termination notices generally necessitate comings and goings on the first of each month. And thus we found ourselves ready to head to Mexico on April 1st.

Now according to the lore of the sea, one should never begin a voyage on a Friday. I don’t know where that belief originated, but I’m pretty sure that superstition comes standard with the purchase of a boat.  You may not know a line from a cleat, but suddenly and instinctively you know that Fridays are bad luck.

There’s an old story—not sure if it’s true or not—that an admiral of the British Navy took it upon himself to debunk the myth. He commissioned a new ship to be named—appropriately enough—the HMS Friday. The keel was laid on a Friday, it was launched on a Friday, and—just for good measure—set out on its maiden voyage on a Friday. Neither the ship nor its crew were ever heard from again. I don’t know if the court-martial took place on a Friday or not, but if it did I guess that lends credence to the rumor that the TGI in TGI Friday actually stands for “That Guy’s an Idiot”.

We, however, are not idiots. We know better than to tempt fate by setting out on a Friday. And for the record, we did not set out on a Friday. We had a “repositioning” cruise. Chula Vista, where we have been berthed for the past five months preparing for the third voyage, is at the far southern end of San Diego Bay and is therefore a good two hours from the mouth of the Pacific. And so we left Chula Vista in the afternoon, motored to Shelter Island in San Diego where we topped off the tanks at the fuel dock, and anchored out at La Playa in anticipation of a 6:00 am Saturday start to Ensenada. We are not idiots.

But we are, apparently, fools. Because I’m guessing that in one of the hallowed annals of seagoing lore there’s a warning about doing a “repositioning” cruise on April 1st because why else would the generator—the one piece of machinery that has not given us a lick of trouble in four years—pick this time to crap out?

So what now? Stay tuned. I’m sure it’ll be a doozy.
 
Pictured: The sun rising over the anchorage at La Playa, San Diego, on April 2nd. The dawn of a brand new day.
Not Pictured:  A new country. We still can't manage to get out of this one.
 

 

2 comments:

  1. Ahoy mateys! Are you still here in san diego? This is ernie & cindy Liberator II from everett...love your blog! We are here in san diego...plan to head to ensenada late may..early june..would love to meet up before you go! Text or call ernie..425-405-8740

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  2. Ahoy Raven! Thanks for commenting on our blog, it's great to hear from you! Thank you also for your congratulations, we sure are happy to be in Hilo! I'm so glad to follow your blog, the writing is terrific! Your third voyage plans sound terrific, and I hope the delays are minimal. Enjoy Mexico, we LOVED cruising there!

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