So, I quit my job… now what? I had about two weeks between my last day at work and my first day at sea. This time was spent on my long to-do list and saying goodbyes to friends and family. Needless to say, the two weeks went by fast and on October 31 my dad and I drove down to San Diego for the November 1st departure. The few hours in San Diego were spent buying food for four people for the next 10 days and moving into my new home on the water. Moving onto the boat is exactly like moving into a tiny home with three roommates I met on the internet. Eitan (pronounced “a-ton”), the captain and owner of the boat, had already been living aboard for three years. Thankfully, he is OCD when it comes to cleanliness and organization, the boat was more or less spotless upon arrival and he had designated three shelves in the aft cabin for me to stow my gear. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Me, a single lady, sharing a small stateroom with a single guy seems a little presumptuous. After meeting Eitan twice, and not getting any creep vibes, I decided it was worth a chance and that, in the worst-case scenario, I could always fly back home from Mexico.
Before you get any preconceived notions, I should give a more complete description of the entire crew. As aforementioned, Eitan is the captain and owner of Sailing Vessel (SV) Sierra Wind. After growing up in Santa Rosa, he attended San Diego State for his bachelor’s degree in psychology. Becoming bored with his degree, he decided to become a paramedic and firefighter. His hobbies are quite broad, encompassing everything from ballroom dancing, circus acrobatics, and knitting to sky diving, scuba diving, and flying, having recently obtained his private pilot’s license. For someone who seems to be addicted to adrenaline-producing activities, he is also one of the safest people I have met, which was a key criterion for me. After making us buy about $1,000 in safety equipment (personal flotation device, deck harness, tether, and personal locator beacon) we were briefed and quizzed multiple times on locations of fire extinguishers, emergency supplies, and equipment, how to make a mayday call, and our individual roles in an emergency. All this combined with his 20,000 nautical miles as a professional boat captain, it’s needless to say I feel pretty safe aboard SV Sierra Wind.
Connor and Abbey are the other half of the crew equation. At 20 and 19, respectively, Connor and Abbey are quite young to embark on this type of adventure. Given that it’s 2020, they wouldn’t have had the typical college experience had they chosen that direction. With tanned skin, blue eyes, and blond hair, aesthetically they fit the Orange Country stereotype. Coming from Dana Point, they were living in Connor’s van (as minimalists, not homeless) and prior to that, they lived on Connor’s Cal 25 sailboat that someone sold to him for $200. They didn’t have much sailing experience to start with but were good at living in compact places, which was probably the most important prerequisite given the ridiculously small V-shaped bow cabin they moved into.
The oldest and most important member of the team is the boat itself, SV Sierra Wind. She is an S2 11-meter center-cockpit monohull and was constructed in 1981. Originally designed for coastal cruising, the prior owner did a complete retrofit and remodeled the entire interior, repowered the boat, and added all kinds of cruising amenities. He also seemed to love the tan and brown color scheme which makes SV Sierra Wind easy to identify at anchor or in a marina. Eitan purchased the boat in 2017 to live aboard and charter in the San Diego area. In 2019, someone chartering the boat from Eitan forgot to turn on the bilge pumps and a leak resulted in 6 inches of water accumulating in the salon and cabins. After that, the boat went through another extensive repair and retrofit, which became the catalyst for this current trip!
