4-P.A.C.K. Forum/Weblog

Hello everyone, this is Casey, the “C” in 4-P.A.C.K. When I write this blog, I use a program that is installed into Windows Vista that listens to you talk and takes those words and puts them onto the screen. It is called voice recognition. When I do this, sometimes it doesn’t like me and it will say “after your pet so more” if I actually said “I went to the store” I usually catch these problems, but if they slip through, know that’s why, but I will fix it if they do slip through.  If you have any more questions or comments, e-mail me at caseymdk@gmail.com.

February 7, 2007

Boy, oh, boy, what a week it has been. I used to have a journal going back quite a while, but I lost it in the transfer from Windows XP to Windows Vista. I put the “My Documents” folder in a compressed RAR file. When I tried to extract the file, it wouldn’t work. And I have now installed Windows Vista three times on my computer and uninstalled them after. I had been having trouble with RAID, with my video card, and a lot of other things that were in the computer system also wouldn’t work, which was a pain in the butt. Nevertheless, I have Windows Vista working right now. Thankfully, I have gotten around all of those glitches. But that is not the point of the journal. The point of this journal is to tell what’s going on right now, and Vista is not the important thing. The important thing is that on February 10 we will be leaving for Mexico. That is the important thing.

February 13, 2007

The last couple of days I haven’t been able to catch up much. I’ve been busy with a lot of random things. And I can’t believe it, but today is the 13th, and tomorrow, on the 14th, we will leave for Mexico. I can’t believe that it is finally here, I have been waiting for so long and felt so unready and finally I am ready to go. We have stocked up on all that we need for the trip. We will be back to the States in six months, but we’ll be seeing a lot of people along the way down Baja. Grandma is coming over, and also Kim is coming from Colorado, and a lot of other people. It’s a very silly life us boaters live, if we want to shower we have to go up the dock with a five-number code written on dad’s hand. When we get there the shower looks as a prison cell, with stainless steel walls, very dark, only one light, and the shower head is creating a constant drip, drip, drip. Worst part about that is the shower there doesn’t work. Technically, tomorrow is supposed to be the official date of the beginning of this journal. Until then, it’s kind of just introduction stuff. Tomorrow the real stuff will begin.

February 14, 2007

Today we finally left for Mexico. We have to get up at 6:00 AM. I woke up when we left, but then I went back to sleep and woke up at about 9:30 AM. Apparently Patrick threw up two times while I was asleep. For a very long time we motored. About 2/3 way there, we finally started to sail. By the way, we’re going to an island called Todos Santos. When we got here we saw about four fish farming nets, run by a guy in a large house on shore. When we pulled in to anchor, he was calling to us in Spanish, trying to say something, but we could not understand what he was saying. After about 10 minutes after we anchored he came over to us in a small boat. He came over to us and said in Spanish, “No problem, its fine that you’re here.” Also I forgot to say it in the journal, but Will, the person who sold “Capt’n Kidd” to mom and dad previously before I was born, gave me a knife. It was a knife that the man Captain Kidd, who basically adopted Will, owned, and then gave it to him when he was 27. He then had passed it on to me. I don’t know how old it is, but I’m sure it’s very old. After so long we are leaving, and I’m feeling very weird about it. Right now I’m kind of wishing that it never happened just because our lifestyle is so different. But nevertheless I’m sure I will look back a long time from now and laugh. And so far it’s been darn fun, and I can’t wait to keep going into somewhere else on the coast of Baja. A part of our crazy lifestyles is that if you want to call someone on the cell phone, it will cost 65¢ a minute. That’s absolutely outrageous, I think. That’s because we’re in Mexico, and rates are high. So far I’m glad that things are going how they’re going, and I can’t wait to do more. So far the most annoying thing is that I don’t know any Spanish, so if someone ever comes up to me I will have absolutely no idea what they’re saying. Yesterday and today, I read a book called “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman. It was such a good book that in the end when the two characters Will and Lyra got separated, I felt sad. All of today and yesterday I’ve just been thinking and thinking and thinking about that. It had a very sad ending. Right before we went to sleep, we watched the movie “The Guardian,” which was very good. It was about some Coast Guard rescue swimmers, and even though he wasn’t intended to be what I felt like it was, it was the best Coast Guard recruiting movie ever. It was pretty darn good. A good friend of ours, Dan, left for Mexico on the same day as us, and we talked to him on the VHF radio, which was kind of fun. So that’s all that has happened today. I hope that I am looking back at this in the future and feeling as if I had made the right choice.

February 15, 2007

We’re still in Mexico. I cannot believe it, today we got up at the same time, around 6:00 AM, and we left to go to an anchorage on the outer side of Baja. In the early morning, at about 1:00 or 2:00 AM, I and Dad were up because the boat was rolling from side to side a lot. Also the anchor was making very irritating noises that were having me not be able to sleep very well. It was silly because we got up oh so early in the morning but got to the anchorage at about 3:00 in the afternoon. About halfway there, while we were sailing, we caught a very large, very yummy Bonita. That’s a kind of fish, by the way. We were just sitting here minding our own business when all of a sudden the little clicking thing on the fishing pole went off. I jumped up as quickly as I could and ran over to it. The fish was quite a fighter. It took us quite a while to get to the boat. Once we got it over to the boat, we took it out of the water and waited while we got the big knife and a dirty towel. Dad put the fish on the cutting board, and as quick and painlessly as he could chopped its head off with one quick swipe. It was very disgusting to watch the blood fly. It’s really weird taking a fish’s life away and pulling it onto the boat and chopping its head off, when we have canned beans and all of that stuff that we could be eating instead. Nevertheless we chopped its head off anyway, and all the blood. At about 4:30, after we got to the anchorage, anchoring bow and stern, we cooked the fish and had an early dinner, or a late lunch; we couldn’t tell. Right now at about 6:40 PM, we are anchored and Mom and Dad are ready to sleep. I don’t blame them; they got up very early this morning to leave. They got up at 6:00 and are going to bed at 6:00. Here’s the catch: I got up, too, and they got up also, but I went back to sleep. I didn’t wake up till 11:00. So it’s really stinky because they want to go to sleep now, and I want to stay up. Maybe not as late as 11:00 but definitely not 6:00. Being out here, I’m still feeling kind of overwhelmed. I haven’t a bit gotten used to being on the ocean full time, with almost no cell phone access, no Internet, limited electricity, and other stuff. Right now I’m feeling anoyed, just wanting to be back on land. The problem is it’s doubtful that that’s going to happen. Right now I’m pretty much committed to flight. And I won’t be going back for six months. I am sure that I’ll get used to it, though. But right now I just want to go back to land. Today we also sharpened a knife that Will gave me. It didn’t go very well. I was out there running the knife against this cut stone for hours, it seemed, and now it is just the slightest bit sharper, hardly at all. Right now it’s about as windy as yesterday. It gusted to 10 or 15 knots, sometimes gusting to 20, but not often. I just cannot believe that we finally left. It’ll probably take me quite a while to get over it. That’s all that’s happened today on the 4-P.A.C.K.

February 16, 2007

Today was so much like yesterday; you could read yesterday’s journal entry and get about the same idea. Here was simply what happened. Mom and Dad and Patrick got up at about 8:00 AM today. When they started the engine, I woke up. After that I fell back asleep and didn’t wake up until noon. I felt oh so rested, I couldn’t believe it. When I did wake up, I felt so hungry, I couldn’t believe that either. I got up, and Dad made me a burrito straightaway. After I ate, I sat in the cockpit for a while, and then I went downstairs and turned the computer on. The alternator was engaged on the engine, so I had plenty of electricity. I played “Roller-Coaster Tycoon 3” for quite awhile, made some puke rides, made some rides that were going in excess of 200 miles per hour, and then we got to the anchorage. When we got to the anchorage, we realized that we kept the fishing pole out all the way here. To make sure that the anchor is in a good holding position, we put the engine in reverse to put some strain on it. When we put it in reverse, a lot of water is sucked from the back of the boat, forward. When that happened, the fishing line and the lure got sucked into the propeller. It was interesting, though, because the thing that tells us if we have a fish — what it does is it starts clicking — did not go off. I was very surprised by that. The instant we turned the engine off, we looked back and realized. After that, Dad had to take a swim to free it. He got in the water with a very sharp knife and went down in his wet suit with his mask and snorkel and started to hack away at the line. He got it somewhat undone, but there still is quite a bit on the prop shaft. We hope that it’ll eventually wear off and come off, but we don’t know that for certain. Dad went back into the engine room and turned the prop shaft by hand. There was almost no resistance more than usual, so we think it’s going to be all right. Even if it does somehow get wrapped up in a knot and put strain on the propeller, that big old hundred-horsepower engine will rip it off. That was much an inconvenience. After that we got the motor on the dinghy and motored to shore. There weren’t any people here, so the beach was uninhabited except for a couple skulls and bones. It was annoying because the dinghy motor was acting up on us. If we put it in idle, it would stall. We just put gas in it, so we don’t know what to do. When we tried to beach the dinghy, which we needed to do to get up on shore, it was really silly because there were waves that kept getting us all wet. That was wet. Same thing happened when we tried to go back to the boat. We got wet. Hopefully we’ll get better. When we got back to the boat, I started working on the Learning Lab that Vivian and Jeff gave me. It isn’t one of those cheap things; there are real transistors and capacitors and chips and integrated circuits and all that. After that we ate a dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn. After that, we watched “The Planets”. It is a very good documentary of the planets, interestingly named. After that when I went back to my Learning Lab and turned it on, it didn’t work. That’s about a half hour’s work out the window. Ah, well, I’ve got lots of other stuff to worry about. Well, basically, that’s all that there is to report from the 4-P.A.C.K. This is the 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

February 17, 2007

You know, it seems like all of these days have been basically almost exactly the same. The only thing that we did today was we got up and started sailing. Well, it was more like motoring than sailing. Anyway, Mom, Dad, and Patrick got up early. Just like yesterday, I heard them get up, and I woke up. After that I fell back asleep and didn’t wake up until 10:00 in the morning. When I did wake up, we just motored and motored and motored a lot a lot a lot, until we got to the anchorage. It was kind of scary, because there were reefs. We would be going along, and about a mile to our right we would see waves breaking in what seemed to be the middle of the ocean. That was creepy. There was also a lot of kelp. The kelp is annoying because if we run over it, it can get wrapped up in our prop and, if there’s enough of it, possibly stall the engine. By the way, the fishing line that got wrapped around the prop yesterday did not have any effect on the engine. We did not run over any of the kelp. That was a good thing. We also didn’t run over any reefs. That was a good thing also. And I don’t exactly know why, but it just occurred to me the amazing inefficiency of our electrical system. Let’s take my computer, for example. First, power is created in the power plant. It gets converted to AC Power or DC Power or all of the above a couple times, I don’t exactly know, but anyway somehow it gets to our boat in AC Power. Then some of that electricity gets converted to DC Power and goes into the batteries. After that the power in the batteries goes into the inverter that converts it back to AC power. After that it goes into the Power Supply of my computer and then gets converted back to DC Power and powers the computer. That a lot of transferring from DC to AC Power. It is so extraordinarily inefficient. Anyway, after that little side thought that I had, we got to the anchorage, after I finished playing more of “Roller-Coaster Tycoon 3”, just like yesterday, we set the anchor and it held fast instantly. I just had another one of those crazy random thoughts. A minute ago I went outside, and I realized how amazingly dark it was. If we turn the spreader lights off, we probably couldn’t see a thing. Since Baja is basically a desert, there’s nothing to see. All right, time to go back to the journal. Once we had finished getting anchored, we watched “The Planets” again. As you know, it’s a very good documentary about the planets, interestingly named. After that we ate dinner, brushed our teeth, and went to sleep. That’s basically all that’s happened today. There’s nothing else. That was all. Well, that is all to report from the 4-P.A.C.K. Hopefully there’ll be many stories even better than this in the future.

February 18, 2007

It seems as if our life has been like a cartoon repeat in summer. Today Mom and Dad got up at 3:30 AM. As you can probably expect, I did not. But I did come out to see them. I came out in my Uncle Herman blanket, I came out into the cockpit, when there were so many stars you cannot believe it. It was like sand. It was scary, because it was dark at 3:30 AM, and there was a lot of kelp, and reefs just like yesterday, because we came the same way. I ended up falling asleep. I woke up right after the sun had risen, wrapped up in my Uncle Herman blanket. If you are wondering why it’s called the Uncle Herman blanket, here’s the story. When we were in the house on Lonsdale, the one we rented when Grandma was still with us, I was getting ready to fall asleep. Mom was with us, and Grandma’s cat Zsa-Zsa was with us also. Zsa-zsa was reluctant to get on the bed. Mom said, “Come on, Zsa-Zsa! It’s just you, Casey, and your good old Uncle Herman.” That was because I had the blanket on my bed, and the blanket has a snow leopard on it, a distant relative to a Siamese cat. Anyway, we went on motoring, with 10 knots of headwind coming south. We did not sail at all. We were motoring and motoring and motoring, and finally we got to the anchorage. It was crazy, because 1/4 mile away from shore, it was 200 feet deep. We had to get about 300 yards from shore if we wanted it to be even close to a reasonable depth. We ditched that anchorage and went to another one. The one that we went to did have shallow enough water to anchor in. We got anchored, and the anchor held sort of kind of, but we did have a rocky bottom. After that, we watched Popeye the Sailor Man while we ate a delicious dinner of noodles and sauce with chicken and corn. I was starved. After that we brushed our teeth and went to sleep. That’s the end of today. Of course, that is not even close to the end of tomorrow.

February 19, 2007

Today and I woke up being so tired. We were up all my last night with the anchor. There was absolutely no wind, next there was 25 knots in gusts. The anchor kept feeling like as if it were dragging, because we have a rocky and gravelly bottom. I was up most of the night, and then finally fell asleep at 3:00 AM. Next moment I wake up and its morning, and Mom and Dad are ready to start the engine. I went back into my room and collapsed. I did not wake up until 11:00 AM. For once in a lifetime, we actually were able to sail. We sailed more than halfway to Turtle Bay, and then we had to motor because the waves were getting too irregular. Once we got to Turtle Bay, this guy came over in a little power boat and asks if we want fuel. We said yes and said that we would get 20 gallons — 10 gallons for the two Jerry cans that we had on board, and 10 more for the big tank. It was kind of a hassle. Dad used in empty peach jar to see if there was any water in the fuel. Instead of there being water in the fuel, there was water in the peach jar. Dad was real scared for a minute. Also, the guy had a little 120-volt pump to pump the fuel on board. He said that it was 12 volt. We set up a 12-volt system and plugged it in for the guy. The pump kind of made a very quiet “err” sound. Then dad found out that it was 120 volts and plugged it in. Then it worked. After that we had a late lunch of a ham and cheese sandwiches and then had a dinner of Mac and cheese. And we had a roaring game of Scrabble, and then we went to sleep. That was all that happened today. I will now end this transmission. This is 4-P.A.C.K, over and out.

February 20, 2007

I can already tell you that today’s journal entry is going to be a long one. Today we went on shore at Turtle Bay. It was quite an amazing experience. The minute we get on, the guy who gave us fuel yesterday was at the dock when we got there. Yesterday we gave him a tip of $5. In Mexico that would be 50 pesos. When he got the money, he blessed it by kissing it and then doing the cross. That was in a way weird and also very sweet. When we got to the pier, he was talking and laughing and sharing stories with us. He showed us around and led us to the carnival. If I haven’t mentioned it before, there was a carnival going on at Turtle Bay. When we got up there, this was at about 3:00, the party was very bland. There were a couple of guys in the back of a truck with speakers tied in the back, but their music wasn’t very good. We found an Internet café and did some e-mail stuff while we were there. The Internet wasn’t very fast, but whatever. After we finished doing Internet stuff, I had to go to the bathroom. This was not a very pleasant experience. The bathroom was basically a concrete trough in a building with wooden planks on the ground and water dribbling out of PVC pipe on the walls for a constant flush. For a drain, there were just holes. God knows where the holes went. It is interesting, because since I am blond, everyone is just staring at me. It feels kind of nice being the center of attention, but then again it is kind of weird. After we finished our work at the Internet café, we went back to the dinghy and back to the boat. When we got back to the boat, Mom did yoga, I worked on the computer, Patrick worked on his white board, and dad worked on the water maker. When dad did finish on the water maker, it was the best tasting water I have ever tasted. But it is weird, because the water that I tasted came from the bay, and all it was, was filtered. The thing is, there’s absolutely no salt taste in it, and it tastes more like Sparklets water than water that comes from the tap. Real quick, before I go on, I would just like to say that right now I have reached an absolutely enormous point in my journal document, where I have written a total of 4,000 words. Just thought you ought to know. Anyway, when we got to the pier, the guy who gave us fuel was there again. He warned us about the tide that was coming in and that the dinghy might get stuck between the pier and the water. That would not be very good. On our way to the carnival, a guy named Rafael, I believe, walked us over there also. There is also a dog following us from behind. After they led us to the carnival, we realized that the party was really going. There was music being played so loud you could feel the bass on your chest. As we were sitting at a table watching the performance, as mom and dad were having a beer, this woman came over to us all dressed up in golden clothes, and she kissed me and Patrick on the cheek. Hard to explain how that felt. At that point of the party, I felt kind of like I didn’t belong, as all people do when they go to parties. But when Patrick wanted to find cotton candy, and we walked around trying to find some, and also had a burrito, I felt more as if I belonged. Because of the tide, and that it was 9:30 PM, we had to go home. First though, I wanted to shoot a BB gun. We went to a little stall and shot little metal figures off of a line. That was fun, but we didn’t get any prizes for it. After that, we had to go home. We took the dinghy and went back to the boat. When we got there, we did take showers. You would not believe me, but we haven’t showered in seven days. The batteries were low, and we needed hot water, so we started the generator. We made hot water, and all four of us took showers. The showers were kind of the best/worst experience I’ve ever had in my life. The water was so pleasantly warm, but I was standing out in the cockpit naked. It may have been night time, but I still did not feel very covered. We already had brushed our teeth, so after that we just went to sleep.

February 23, 2007

I missed a couple of days, and I shall tell you why. When we left to Turtle Bay, on February 21, it was a long way to our next destination. That day I just plain did not get to my journal. On the 22nd and today, we did an overnighter. As you can probably expect, I was not able to do my journal. For once in my life, I have actually stayed up all night long. On the 21st, we just sailed. For once we were actually able to sail a lot of the way. On our way, we caught a nice Bonita. We had that for dinner. We got to our anchorage and went to sleep. After that we got up and motored. We were not able to sail any of the way. We went through the day and into the night. We were going along but we were at an angle so that the anchorage was not exactly in our path. At some point we would have to jibe. Let me remind you, it’s dark. It’s windy. And it’s not very fun. The wind was coming from almost directly behind us. Not exactly though, because we were still able to have the sails partially fill. We were up and down the companionway, looking for ships on the radar, checking our course on the GPS, and so on. We have the preventer on, but every time the main sail made a jibe, we would jump up and get ready for action, because just that much side force could throw the boat off course and have us go crazy. It only happened once. When we did have to make the jibe, which means Dad had to go over there and switch around the preventer, it happened sort of accidentally, because the main sailed jibed, and then it didn’t jibe back. Right then Dad said, “OK, everybody up, let’s go.” We got the boat jibed very quickly and efficiently. End of story. When we got to the anchorage I was so relieved to be here I kind of went into a semi awake, and semi asleep type thing. We just sat around and did nothing, and then at about 8:30 we went to sleep.

February 24, 2007

This morning I woke up after an extraordinarily amazing sleep. I went to bed, and I stayed like that, and I didn’t move until the light of the day. This morning I woke up at 10:00 to the sound of Dad talking to someone. It was a man’s voice, so it can’t be Mom’s. From what my brain told me, as for I was still in bed and half asleep. Two guys came onto the boat in a panga and asked if we had six D-size batteries. We did, and we gave them to them. They thanked us gratefully with four half-pound lobsters. Boy oh boy those things are ugly. Even with those ugly lobsters there, we wanted to wait until lunch, so we ate waffles for breakfast. For lunch, Patrick had a PB&J sandwich. Before I continue, I would like to say that I have reached 5,000 words in my whole journal. Anyway, Dad got the water to a rolling boil, as it says to do in The Joy of Cooking, and he got the lobsters from out of the water. They must have known it was bad, and they must’ve known what was coming, because they kept flapping their tails in annoying ways and making this very annoying and violent sound. As said in The Joy of Cooking, take the lobster, holding it by the tail, and dunk them into the boiling water head first to avoid splashing. (May I remind you that these guys are alive?) It was more or less painless, for us. As we’re doing this, the water maker and the generator are running. Just so you know we left them in there for a while, and then took them out. Now they were dead, duh. We got where the good meat is, in the tail. We took our hands and broke the tail off and threw the head in the water. To Mom and Dad, the meat was very good. To me, it tasted more like weird textured, lesser tasting, nasty stuff. It didn’t exactly taste very good to me; actually it just didn’t have very much taste at all. Mom and Dad loved it, though, and they got two lobsters each, because Patrick didn’t like his lobster either. When Mom and Dad finished the lobster, we threw their heads back in the water. When we finished that, Mom worked on pictures on the laptop, and we just kind of sat around. While we were doing that, someone pulled in with a little boat with another man and a 3-year-old girl. They talked to us for a while, and then he asked us if we had any candy. We said yes and gave the little girl about five pieces of candy. She spent the rest of the 15 minutes just staring at it. They left and we went back to sitting around. After that it got late and we simply went to sleep. We were all tired.

February 25, 2007

OK then, here’s the drill. This morning we got up. I woke up, but of course I was so tired. I woke up at about 9:00 but didn’t come out of bed until 11. When I did get up, we were talking about going ashore. At about 12:00, after breakfast, we did. We got in the dinghy and started to motor. When we got to shore, though, it seemed like there were a lot of waves breaking. I don’t know how, but somehow we were able to get through it and onto shore. We stayed there for quite awhile and walked a long way. We found crabs and a rusted truck on the beach and a lagoon and birds and little tiny shells so small that you can barely see them and the classic star-shaped sand dollars that you see in pictures about Hawaii. We all started to get really tired, and Patrick got snipped by a crab, so we went back to the boat. On our way back, it seemed as though we were going to get all wet, that there wouldn’t be a dry place on our clothes, but we made it out without any salt water touching our bodies, more or less, but I don’t know how. After that we went back to the boat, and watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and then we went to sleep.

February 26, 2007

Another day in this amazing country called Mexico, which is nothing below paradise. This morning we got up, and really quick after I got up, Dad got onto the ham radio. While we were talking, we found out that there was someone who could connect us to the telephone through the ham radio. The one person that we’ve wanted to talk to most is Grandma Tasha. We called her up. It was a weird experience. The signal was patchy, every time we finished talking we had to say “over,” and if we didn’t, we wouldn’t hear her when she was talking. About 10 minutes after we finished talking with her, someone called us on the VHF radio. They were saying that they just heard us talking to Grandma Tasha, and they’re in the same anchorage as us. Within an hour we were on their boat and talking. The boat’s name was Petra, and the people on it were the captain Scottie, the first mate Katie, their daughter Sarah, and the parrot Elvis. They were very nice, and we had a game of Scrabble with them, ate delicious popcorn, and delicious peaches. At about 4:00 we headed back to the boat. We baked bread, ate dinner, and then went to sleep.

March 1, 2007

Sorry that I have missed so many days. I’ve just been very busy. I’ll say it as accurately as I can. On February 27, we got up and started sailing to cabo San Lucas. We started motoring, and then we started to sail. We sailed for a long time and almost into the night. But when it got to be night time, we had to start motoring. As we were going along, we were staying in touch with Petra. As were going along, we talked to them, and figured out that they’ve just had their engine die on them. We kind of thought, wow these guys don’t exactly know how to sail. They sailed the rest of the way all the way to Cabo San Lucas. When we got to Cabo San Lucas, Petra of course was not there. By the way, this was on February 28, Petra was still not there. They did not arrive until March 1. When they did arrive, we had to leave and go up to an anchorage called Frailes. We started going, and said goodbye to Petra. We were going for a while and sailing, and then the wind starting to get fluky, and the seas were getting confused, so we started to motor. Ten minutes later, the seas were absolutely crazy. About once every 10 waves the bow would go under the water, and water would come rushing across the deck. One was so big that it went in the accidentally-left-open hatch. There was so much water that water was coming out of the anchor locker in my room. Not very much, but a little bit still came in. We got about halfway there and realized that we can’t do this anymore. So 16 miles from the anchorage, we turned around and went back to Cabo San Lucas. We got back at 8:00 PM, and went to sleep right away.

March 5, 2007

You know, when you think about it, I really am not that good in the journal thing. I have missed four days. That’s not very good. All right then. Here’s what happened on the 2nd. We woke up after getting beat back from Frailes in Cabo San Lucas. Dad went on shore and got fuel. We watched Stephen Hawking, his “Universe” series, and just basically sat around all day. We also made the most delicious chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that you ever tasted in your life. That was nice. On the 3rd, we met Sea Wolf, the people who are going with Petra along Baja. We also very briefly met Madeline, another boat that was going with Petra. When we went over to see Petra, they were just leaving to go to a timeshare meeting. Really they’re not interested in time shares, they’re just interested in the free breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with spas, cruises, and all that stuff. In a way, it kind of felt like dirty stinking cheating and lying, but that’s them. When we saw them, Sarah jumped into our dinghy. She stayed with us for the rest of the day, because she didn’t like to go to the timeshare meeting. We had breakfast on shore; that was $35.00, which was a bit pricey for us. After that, we went to the supermarket and got some milk. After that we came back to the boat and got on our swim trunks and went back on shore to swim. We wheeled the dinghy right on the beach with everyone around. It was kind of embarrassing. We swam around in that safely protected area where no boats could accidentally run over us. That was good. The water was a bit too cold for my comfort. The fun thing was that I got buried in sand. You got to admit that that was fun, and warm. Down there at the tip of Baja, it’s a crazy tourist spot. Jet skis there are so expensive, you won’t believe me, but it was $70.00 for 1 hour. We went back to the boat and watched “Cars”. The instant we started, Sarah’s parents got back. We felt bad about not letting Sarah watch the entire movie of “Cars”, so we let her borrow it. That was the end of that day. On the 4th, I set up Skype. That’s a program that allows you to talk over the Internet. It costs only 2¢ a minute if you call to the US. That was pretty darn awesome. Dad went up the mast to look at the VHF radio antenna. He fixed the generator, because a wire completely got destroyed because of high resistance. That day we basically just sat around. Petra didn’t come back with the movie until 11:30 PM. That was an annoyance. On the 5th, Mom and Dad got up at 2:00 AM and got ready to go to Frailes. We started motoring, and then I got up at about 10:00. It was a peaceful motor all the way there. After that we put down the hook and caught two trigger fish in one day. We had that for dinner and then went to sleep.

March 11, 2007

I cannot believe how bad I am at this journal thing. I mean I have missed six days. Right now it’s 9:30 PM. I can’t talk very long. I can only tell you what happened today. I will catch up tomorrow. In case you’re wondering, right now we’re in La Paz. Today we got up and did the laundry for the first time. This is a major milestone in our trip. We’ve gotten all the way down Baja, got to Cabo, and are now in Paz, and this is the first time that we have done laundry. Cool! We walked to look around a little bit, and I got articles from CPU magazine. By the way, we subscribed to that. After that, we did updates on Dad’s computer, which ended drastically because the Internet connection there was way too slow and the updates couldn’t finish. We met these people on a catamaran who are African American and very nice. They sailed all the way around the world and had their child on the boat since he was six months old. We didn’t have a very eventful day, but, oh well, we will have many more in the future.

March 12, 2007

I have to be just about the quickest that I have ever been in years. The batteries are down to 12.13, and I have to be quick. Today we got up at an awful 8:00 AM, and I had to wash my hair. We listened to the morning net on the VHF radio and heard from someone called Mo Mo. We figured out that they had two girls, ages 2 ½ and 5 ½. We stayed with them for a while and then went to get all of our immigration papers done. We had to walk a very long time all around La Paz. First we went to the bank, then we went to the immigration office, then we went to the port captain office, then back to the bank, then back to the port captain’s office, and back to a restaurant, and then back home. We got home and then basically collapsed. We were all very tired. When we were walking around, Patrick was moaning and whining quite a bit. That’s all that happened for today. I can’t catch up on the March 5, to March 11 parts, but I will when I have more power options. That is all. This is the 4-P.A.C.K., over and out.

March 18, 2007

I don’t know why I’m so bad at this journal thing. I can’t exactly remember what is happening over all of the days that I have missed, so I’ll try to consolidate as much as I can. Currently, as of March 18, 2007, we’re in La Paz. Right now Kim and Al are with us, and that is very nice. They got here three days ago. They left today, which was just about the saddest thing that could ever come over me. While they were here, we went and stayed at a nice anchorage, and a couple other anchorages at an island. While we were there, we saw dolphins and a whale way off in the distance. That was the very first whale that we have ever seen. We have gone on shore and done laundry and a lot of other stuff. Since I have not done my journal in so long, it is very hard for me to remember what we have done. One thing I can remember, though, is that as we were moving around in the La Paz anchorage, we ran aground on a sandbar. Dad’s first instinct was to put it in reverse. He did, but that only made it worse. He thought for a minute and then realized the best idea would be to go at full throttle. He did, and that worked. That’s all that has been happening on the 4-P.A.C.K. Well, technically, no, and I wish I could remember more, but I just can’t. This is the 4-P.A.C.K. over and out.

March 19, 2007

Today was simple enough. Mo Mo came over for about a whole day and she to tell you the truth that is all we did. They got here, and I played with the Jana the little one mostly because she is so cute. We had a lunch of Mac and cheese, watched Monsters ING. We also have some tortellini and then Jana took a nap. When she woke up her mom and dad came over and picked her up. They went home and about an hour and ½ later Patrick went over to watch a movie. That was all that happened. They came back and then we went to sleep.

March 21, 2007

All that has happened in the last few days is currently completely obsolete. There’s only one thing that is on my mind right now and I shall tell you what it is. We were over on Mo-Mo boat, and dad said that he was going to go check on the dinghy. Technically he was going to go outside and pee, but he didn’t want to exactly announce that. Right after he went out, he said for us to come up in a way that sounded dangerously exciting and fearful at same time. We were all expecting some Dolphins’ most likely, but it wasn’t that. All right, here comes the big crazy part.

A boat was on fire!!!

If you ask me, it was pretty darn crazy.

Apparently what had happened is that a fire began at the stern of boat. It had spread all the way around and had engulfed the boat with flames so high that they licked the top of the mast. We ran over there and the dinghy as fast as we could and got their right when the mast fell down. There were about five other duties around their all talking at once and what they were talking about was if the boat had chain connecting to its anchor or rope. If it was chained it would stay put. If it was role, the rope may melt and the boat may drift. It was on chain. That was a good thing; another good thing was that there was nobody on board. After we went over there and took some pictures for maybe insurance, we came back to Mo-Mo, and the owner of the boat that was on fire was there. He kept saying the F word and put in his face in his hands as he looked the boat. About then we left and went home. By the time we got, was about midnight, and we went straight to sleep. The next day Mo-Mo called us and asked us if Lola could come over. That’s the five year old girl. We said yes and we went over to the boat and the board for awhile. Brian was just leaving, I don’t know where he was going but he seemed a little happier than yesterday. Lola came over along with Jana. She’s the two year old girl. Tempers started to rise at about 3:00. We figured out that they have found a boat from Brian and bought one. It’s the same model as the one that burned. We stayed there and pleaded up for a while and took some pictures. At 7:00 Brian came over and we showed him the boat. He was very happy. The boat had ended, 14 June and wind thing. We got so much stuff off of it that the waterline came up 3 inches. It had five anchors six sales and a bunch of other stuff. We don’t know if the engine works but we hope it does. He laughed and laughed and laughed and said the F word some more. Everybody did. I went inside with them as they were talking and looking at the boat. They all had a swig of rum except for me. Sadly though at only 8:30 PM we had to go home, back to the 4-P.A.C.K. I went home and when to sleep and that was that.

March 22, 2007

You know what, today was pretty darn uneventful. We got up, listened to the morning net which was very exciting because the whole buzz was all about Brian and Shelley B. Brian was on a VHF radio somewhere. I don’t know where he got one, but he was talking on one. He said thank you to everybody, and that was very nice. We did go to the CCC today, and got 150 dollars worth of stuff. After that I went on to Mo-Mo to say hi. At about 6:00 we left to have a little party. It turned out not to be very fun. We stayed there for not a very long time and then left. Patrick spent the night on Mo-Mo. That was all that happened today.

March 26, 2007

The last few days have been an eventful beyond words. Here the things that I can remember though. We got a spear gun which is very neat. It’s basically just a spear that gets launched by solid bungee cords. And it is used to shoot fish. We tested out today and it works great. By the way, we have left La Paz and are now at an island. Athena, the name of the boat that we met has had grandchildren coming up from somewhere, I don’t know. They’re going to come over tonight which will be nice. Brian’s boat is doing well. It got hauled out a couple days ago and is now being looked at. Remember, that’s the boat that burned. We said goodbye to Mo-Mo today which was more or less emotional. We caught a fish today and that was yummy. That’s really all there is to report. All try to catch up next time I have power. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

March 28, 2007

Before I start let me say that if something is underlined and stuff like that like in a boat was on fire up above it means that it is very big thing. Anyway, were sitting here out of the islands and we went to try and catch some fish. That was the only stuff that happened yesterday. Other than that we went to shore, and met Athena’s grandson. Today on March 28, there was a big crazy thing that happened.

Nellie went unconscious!!!

Athena sent out a distress call on the VHF radio, and mom and dad left right away. They got over there and she was out like a light. After about 1/2 hour she still hadn’t woken up but had thrown up quite a bit. Dad came back and sent out a mayday on the ham radio. They picked it up and had contacted the U.S. Coast guard and we’re sending out the Mexican navy. Dad went back and she still hadn’t woken up. They transferred her to a power boat and took her back to La-Paz immediately. Mom and dad came back and right now at 5:00 tonight, it’s kind of scary realizing that even right now she is alive, in a coma, or dead. It’s really weird realizing that.

March 31, 2007

I’m afraid I have some very bad news. Now brace yourself for this. Nellie died. Apparently what happened is when she got taken back to La-Paz by the large power boat and she was getting CPR. When she got to La-Paz there was an ambulance ready and on the way there she was pronounced dead by the officials in the ambulance. We were all very shook and by this horrible tragedy, but apparently there was nothing we can do. From what we and heard from Paul it was a brain aneurysm. On a happier note, we’re at an anchorage with Mo-Mo and that is very nice. When we got here for we are now on another anchorage. The first day we saw them we went over and had chicken and beef. Also won one of these days we went snorkeling, but I forgot when. We didn’t see very many fish, and the visibility was disappointing. The worst part was we didn’t see or catch any dinner. Anyway, I’m more or less disaster happened. There was a sailboat which was more like a boat for a late that had been in need of help. Apparently the prop and come out of its coupling. That’s all I know. Anyway that’s all there really is to report. Today we just sat around. Mo-Mo left and we rented a bunch of their movies. We will see them again and La-Paz. That’s all there is. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

April 2, 2007

All right then here’s what happened. Dad is going to be controller on the ham radio on Tuesday. That would be tomorrow. The only problem though is that the ham radio was acting up on us. Sometimes we can’t hear them and sometimes they can’t hear us and it’s just weird. So dad decided not to be net controller. Someone else is going to be net controller. We motored out of our anchorage out into open water and it still wasn’t any better. That day we got in the dinghy and went to shore. Patrick was whining quite a bit and that was annoying. We stayed there for a while and then we came back. When we came back we got the boat ready and went out into open water as mentioned above. Today, we went over a little sandbar that is in the anchorage we’re at and went to go see some caves. As we were going along into one something very frightening happened. About 1 foot away from the dinghy, a pebble fell. Now it may just as than a pebble, but coming from about 500 feet up it would hurt. Lucky didn’t hit any of us. After that we went home. We sat around for a while and then went to a very tiny little anchorage we are some rocks where some seals are at. Going back a little bit, something I really don’t like about this island is that there are jellyfish. They may not be very big but I’m still kind of scared of them. Also, it’s fun because I like to play with little lead weight that’s on the end of the fishing line. When I send it down to the bottom and call back up there are usually two or three Puffer fish following it. They’re very cute. No matter what their thinking it always looks like there smiling. I saw the shooting start tonight which was very neat. Well, that’s pretty much it. The only other thing is that when we went looking for some caves, we went snorkeling and saw beautiful blue parrot fish, and dinner that we never caught. That’s all. See you next time I have electricity.

April 6, 2007

There something that has happened that is kind of sad. Mo-Mo has left to go to the Mexican mainland. We probably won’t see them for a very long time. That’s too bad. Anyway, nothing much has been going on the last few days. We went to the CCC and got $250 worth of stuff. By the way, we’re back in La Paz. The lake citing thing that has happened is that the filter for the generator water intake filter is clogged. When I say clogged I mean so clogged that no water would come through. We took the impeller are out and put in a new one because the old one was completely burned up. I must say that was very exciting. Other than that I’d tell you there really isn’t much going on. Brian is doing well. He got two cabin lights to work and that is it. Other than that there’s nothing else. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

April 8, 2007

Well it’s simple enough. On the seventh, we went back out to the island off the Paz. That’s all that happened on the seventh. On the eighth, we went over to Isla San Francisco. When we were there a boat called emony came over to the boat. The son of the person on emony came over to. And then, Casey, Bill, and Marion came over to. All right, all non tech readers stop reading here. Bill thinks he might want a computer. As you know I built a computer. See what’s going on here. Apparently he has a lap-top that someone is working on in La-Paz. And the laptop is basically dead. The person in La-Paz is going to see if he can fix it. I am praying to god that he won’t. Well, not really. He said that if the computer doesn’t work, he will buy desktop. Or should I say I’ll build him a desktop. Now you see the connection. Apparently, he wants a computer with one CD drive that he will be able to insert a memory card into, and watch DVDs with. He wants a power efficient and relatively low powered computer without a printer. He gets about 100 pictures every three weeks that he takes so I will need a sufficient hard drive space for that. That is very exciting. Tomorrow we’re going to do spear fishing with him that will be fun to. Well basically that’s all there is to it. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

April 9, 2007

Today we got up, and went spear fishing. We got four fish. We caught a trigger fish, a fish that we didn’t know about, a very large grouper, Paul and a perch. We have dinner on the beach and had a campfire. Mom and dad left at about 9:00 and I stayed there until 11:00. At 11:00 Casey took me home. We’d told jokes and that was very fun. Really that was all we did that day. It wasn’t very eventful. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

April 13, 2007

On April 10 we went spear fishing. We all got something, and dad got a big parrot fish. With that we had some trigger fish with Brian, who came over. That’s all I remembered for that day on the 11th, we stuck around the Isla San Francisco and played around some more. Anyway, on the 11th we had a roaring game night at our boat. We played a game called assassin which was very fun. We went to sleep, got up on the 12th and went to an anchorage on the Baja mainland. We went to sleep then, got up today, after having a horrible night with winds that gusted up to 40 knots max, and went back to San Francisco. Anyway, that’s what is happened lately. It’s been pretty uneventful since there really is just about nothing in our schedule. Just lying around and playing with friends. Well, that’s all. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

April 15, 2007

Yesterday on the 14th we got up and met a boat called Wilowa. We ended up going to the beach with them and there was a kite that they had which was for water surfing but they were doing it on land. It was supposed to be a practice kite and they were nearly getting lifted off the ground. Apparently it is 3 m wide and kite and apparently there can be 9 m wide kites. We went on a very small walk along the beach and then back to the dinghy and home. That day we were on their boat and we had a couple drinks with them. At least mom and dad did. After that we came home and when to sleep. At least, everyone else did. I had a very hard time falling asleep that night. Anyway I am doing this current journal entry at 10:00 AM so I don’t exactly know what has happened in the rest of the day. All have to let that you know that later. What I do know is that we have left San Francisco and are on our way too in anchorage on the Baja mainland. After that were going to go to an anchorage called auga Verde. That’s all from the 4-P.A.C.K.

April 17, 2007

We’re still at the anchorage called Los Gatos and have met a boat called iris. They’re very nice. We’ve got a shore and thrown rocks of a more or less cliff on shore. We’ve gone snorkeling but the water quality is quite disappointing. The water is 72° which is very nice. Today we made bread and we’re going to make cookies tomorrow probably. We have started doing are schooling and I learned some math today. Other than that that’s just about all that we’ve been doing. I love that that we have two months until we have to go see grandma in Loreto, and there’s absolute carelessness in between. Anyway, that’s all we’ve been doing. I hope the future Casey is doing well. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

April 18, 2007

Today we got up and made cookies right away. They were absolutely fantastically delicious. I’ve been listening to a radio show called the mysterious traveler on tape. I don’t exactly know when it was based on that I believe it was about 1965 or 1970. And it is a very fun radio show. After that we went to the beach and I hiked up a very high peak. I’m guessing that it was about 800 feet high, but I don’t exactly know. When I got there, there were two sticks. Both sticks were covered in these weird things that looked like ticks with wings. After that I hiked down. It was tough because it was very steep going up the way I did. Mom took the trail but I like the way that goes straight up. I did take the non-steep way down. I had a couple close calls where I knew that if I exerted too much force on my right foot, which would be about one more pound, I would probably fall. Falling is not a very good experience on a cliff such as that. Anyway, I got down at about 7:00 PM and I made a fort. The fort was expected to repel the tide until 7:45 PM. It worked pretty well. Anyway, after that we went home. When we got there we started the generator and burned up a couple gallons of diesel. Mom washed dishes and then we went to sleep.

April 22, 2007

We are currently in auga Verde, and have become friends with special brew. When we’re going over there and running the engine, I wanted to do this journal and turn on my computer. I turned on this forward cabin outlets switch and plugged the computer in, for I had that tape player and where the computer is usually plugged in. When I pushed the power button the computer, it did not turn on. I kept thinking it was the Power Supply. I took the whole side of the computer out and took the Power Supply out and took it apart. I found out it was the plug, the one that plugs the computer into the wall. I couldn’t believe it was that. At auga Verde we have taken quite a few nice hikes. I have started playing with a little emergency GPS that’s handheld. Is awesome and has more features than the big one on the boat. Tomorrow we plan to go to port-o-Escondido which will probably be nice. I don’t exactly know. I haven’t been there yet. Anyway, nothing else is really been going on. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out

April 23, 2007

Today was simple enough. We got up and we left. We are going to port-o-Escondido to get some grocery shopping done. You won’t believe it, but even though we have our fishing lines out almost all the time, we haven’t caught anything. I’m doing this journal entry at about 10:30 AM, so that’s all I know so far. If I can I will catch up. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

April 25, 2007

We are at port-o-Escondido and have gotten grocery shopping done for an abnormal price. Mom and special brew went over in to Loreto. The taxi was $70.00. We also got our laundry done which cost $20.00. When we went to go pick up special brew and mom from the dinghy dock, we went over with the special brew dinghy to carry the groceries. Well that’s basically all there is to report. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

April 26, 2007

Something really neat happened yesterday. Well I wouldn’t say neat I would say it was awfully horrible. We came into the anchorage and we were going to let out the bow and stern anchor. When we were letting out the stern anchor it wasn’t connected to the second road. That spells disaster. What happened was that the anchor went in the water and so did the rope so we weren’t connected to it. Immediately dad said I’m going in and jumped in the water. When he got in the water he said that it was already 6 feet under and sinking fast. We threw him a float and the grabbed the line. He did get the anchor back. We also met some people on two boats but I forget their names. They were very nice. Today were going to an anchorage called belandra which is supposed to be very beautiful. After that we don’t know what we’re going to do. It’s a good way to be. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

April 30, 2007

I cannot begin to tell you what I just saw today. We got up to day at an anchorage called Coronado. After we got anchored we basically just went to sleep. The next day we got up and we’re going to go on shore. We ended up not going because as we were getting into the dinghy we saw a whale in the bay. We got into the dinghy and tried to get near it. The first time, we failed. The whale dived down to feed. After 10 minutes of it being underwater holding its breath, it finally surfaced three times. After that he dived back down. We tried to go over back to where it surfaced three times. When we got over there it surfaced two times again in the same place. Patrick was getting scared so we dropped him off the boat. We went over to where the whale was. When we got there, we looked down into the water. We thought we saw the shadow of the dinghy. I looked up at the sun to see what angle it was at to the dinghy, and it was right. On the dark spot was just the shadow of the dinghy. Or so we thought. All of a sudden, it moved. We saw the shadow tapering down finally to see…

The Tail!!!

That is right, the tail of that crazy monstrous beast. We couldn’t believe our eyes. It was directly under the dinghy. We rode backwards because we did not want to get squashed. After a minute we saw this white thing skimming the surface. We’re realized that it was most likely the underside of the whale. Let me remind you that we were in the dinghy, and we were about 10 feet away. After we saw the white thing for a minute it went away. By now adrenalin and glands were empty. But not empty enough. Finally, we some ripples of the water as the whale took off. Apparently it got scared of us. We thought that it was about to breach. Thankfully it did not, but I must admit that would’ve been cool. We went back to the boat and then went back out to just make sure that he was gone. He was. Anyway, so that’s what happened today. I have to say was a darn nerve wracking. Now I’m going to sit in my room and sleep. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

May 3, 2007

Not much has really been going on. Right now we’re in juanico. We met a boat called shared dreams, and they’re very nice. It just so happens that special brew pulled into the anchorage a couple days ago. It’s nice to see them. Today we went on shore with shared dreams and we were in the water all day long. I got to tell you, that was fun. Grandma is going to be coming in I believe on the 10th. I can’t wait to see her. She’s going to bring so much stuff, but the minute she gets here I’m sure that I will remember something else. Everything is going well here and really nothing to report. The only thing that’s annoying is that we aren’t catching up on math very well. But oh well. Things happen. Anyway that’s all there is. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

May 5, 2007

We’re going to have a bonfire tonight on the beach at 6:30. That will be fun. That has a boat down the way called warm rain that has a guy on board that knows a lot about computers. I want to meet him. Anyway, that’s all there is to report. Things are just plain uneventful. I like it that way. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

May 6, 2007

Mom has done the quilt some, and dad and Patrick have been playing twisted fish, and I have been copying. That’s all that’s going on. We haven’t left the boat or gone on shore. Oh well. This is 4-P.A.C.K once again over and out.

May 11, 2007

You will not believe what happened. And we’ve met five kids. We got to know all of them and they’re all very nice. Yesterday we played and played and played and played and played. That’s a lot of plays. We still haven’t caught any fish. I can’t believe it. It is so darn annoying. Today we have picked up grandma. It’s very nice to see her. She brought so much stuff it was as if Christmas had come early. It was so darn cool. In some of the things she brought one was a microphone that I am doing this journal on right now. It works a lot better because it’s for short range, so it does not pick up the engine noise. It’s very nice. Right now we’re going back out to Coronado. That’s where we met the kids. It’s so nice to be able to simply pick a relative up and go wherever without any planning. It is so awesome. All right then, I shan’t say anything else. You cannot get anything else out of me, for I am done. Do not try and force me you’ll only die in vain… Pretty dramatic isn’t it. Anyway this is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

May 13, 2007

Grandma has come. I still can’t believe it. Today we jumped in the water. We also played five crown, and mom and Patrick went fishing along with grandma. Dad and I stayed home on the boat and played another game of five crown. This headset microphone works wonderfully, because it can pick up short range sounds without picking up ambient noise. The only thing that I don’t like is that right now as a key white cheese sandwich it keeps touching the microphone when I try to take a bite. But that’s all right, because I won’t be eating cheese sandwiches that often. Tomorrow we’re going to go to another anchorage, but we haven’t made up our mind. I’ve been reading all of the CPU and mad magazine’s that grandma brought me. They’re pretty good. I’m starting to get the idea of the everyday may be as uneventful as this. It’s nice. I think that I may be building dad a lap-top that he’s going to dedicate to ham radio e-mail which we don’t have yet but we’re going to get. That will be very fun because in CQ magazine it had a big article about how to build laptops. That’s a good thing by the way. We may use a Windows Vista that I have in my cupboard so that we don’t have to buy windows XP. That may help. Anyway, that’s all there is to today. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out once again.

May 16, 2007

When I tell you this you are not going to believe it. The water is 78°. This is the warmest water we have ever been in on our travels in Mexico. Of course, we took advantage of this amazingly warm water and went swimming, snorkeling actually in just our bathing suits. When we went snorkeling there were basically hundreds is small sergeant majors. We saw some other fish and a seagull eating a dead Puffer fish. After that dad and I went back out to do spear fishing. It did not turn out well. Before I get to that let me tell you that when we were spear fishing, now it wasn’t close enough to shoot, but we saw a parrot fish that was as big as me. I bet you that fish was about 40 pounds it was scary because before we saw it, it kind of got spooked and was flying away at about 40 miles an hour. Dad looked at me and I look at him and his eyes got about as big as dinner plates. Anyway, when we’re going along dad saw dinner. It was a big old’ beautiful grouper. I wasn’t necessarily there to see it but I could basically get what he meant. Dad snuck up on a reel quiet, but it was tough because it was about 10 feet under water. It’s hard to go down 10 feet under water. He snuck very close to it and shot. Here’s the problem though, it got away. Apparently we are doing something wrong when we spearfish. When dad shoots a fish he pulls back on the sphere very quickly to try and get the fish to him so that he can pick it up and take it back to the dinghy. A couple days before this we also shot to other fish. a small one and big parrot fish. Both of them got away also. We’re pretty sure what we need to do is once we shoot it just not touch this spear. What we can then do is swim over to it and grab it. It really stinks that we lost the fish. There wasn’t anything else really that we did. We swam around some, but that’s basically it. Right now we’re going to the V shaped cove. When we get there it’s supposed to have wonderful sea life. That will be nice. Anyway that’s all there is to report. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

May 21, 2007

The last couple of days we have just been mulling around. I got dark star one to work on my computer and I’ve been preoccupied with that and that is why I am so bleak on my journal currently we are at isla conception. It’s an enormous bay that goes into Baja. Yesterday we had a nice time with polar bear and this boat called the boat. That is not a typo. We might see arctic willow today. That might be nice. Everything is doing good here. We’re slowly making our way north. I can’t believe it but I’m going to be 13 soon. There’s more to report that I can think of anything. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

May 23, 2007

Finally today we sail. Yesterday dad had to untangle the main sail when it went all funny on us. He had to go all the way up to the top of the mast. We helped him, by turning the thing that the sail rolls up onto. Today we’re going to go to an anchorage and then an island. I do not know what they’re called. Today we saw some Dolphins’ and almost ran aground when all the sudden we had 8 feet of water under us. I got to admit that was scary. We went over and met arctic willow yesterday. We watched how to eat fried worms which was a very disgusting movie. In the very beginning it was animation about a guy throwing up six times to be exact. They gave us pirates of the Caribbean two dead man’s chest and we made a copy of it. We still need to give there’s back to them. Things here on the boat are doing well. I still love computers, and I really want to build another one. I might build a laptop for dad for his e-mail on the ham radio if I can figure out how to build them. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

May 24, 2007

Yesterday we went in to an anchorage with arctic willow. It wasn’t very exciting. Before we went there we went to an anchorage before it with a very slow Internet. We only stayed there for about an hour. After that we went to the anchorage that we were at. From there we sailed into Santa Rosalia. The sail there was very nice averaging five knots. When we get into Santa Rosalia I can finally download this physics demonstration that is 800 MB. It is almost impossible to do on the slow Internet connections that we have been having. Today we also saw a whale out in the distance. It wasn’t that exciting but it was kind of neat. On the way to Santa Rosalia of course we were on the computer because we had the engine running and the alternator was giving us power. Patrick has said now that he’s going to write a 160 page book. That will be interesting. It’s going to be called the Spanish archer. While we are in Santa Rosalia we might stay at a marina for a small amount of time just too have some water and power for a little bit. That will be very fun. Anyway, that’s all there is. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

May 26, 2007

You will not believe we met. We saw Scott from INI. He came over to the boat with a very stern face and said hi I and Scott. Dad said, hi I’m Karl. Dad thought that he might if anchored to close to him and he might’ve gotten mad. It turned out that he was just giving him a run for his money. That was amazing. Anyway, I’d tried to get some downloads done at the Internet café and sort of failed drastically. At 65% into an 800 MB download it stopped for no apparent reason at all. Oh well. I’m going to try and get all of the pictures organized in set up. That will be quite a thing to do. But oh well, I have the time. We’re probably going to go into a marina and have shore power Internet and water for awhile in the next couple of days. Right now we’re going two San Marcos Island. Right now that is all that I can remember. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

June 3, 2007

I am sorry that I haven’t caught up much lately. We have been in a marina and I have been preoccupied with using this computer for fun stuff while I have electricity. Right now we’re motoring, and we have been since 3:00 AM. Speaking of the computer, this are really stinks. First of all let me say that I hate RAID 0. Yes, you guessed it right. Raid zero messed up. The moment I saw the dialog box, I made a backup. Apparently it wasn’t too messed up to correct the backup. I was able to wipe the hard drive and put everything back on from the backup. Even if the backup I made right then didn’t work I had one from 10 days ago. That was the day when the forward cabin outlets switch was turned off when the computer was on standby. It happened again today. Currently I am making a backup for fear that RAID 0 might mess up again. So far it is fine, but that’s so far. No telling what will happen later. Without happening I am very worried about my journal. I’m afraid that it might be corrupt. As far as I know it is not because I can still open it and view all of the pages. Then again, you never know. I don’t know if I had mentioned it earlier, but there still has been no word from bill who might want a computer to be built for him. Sadly we cannot catch up with him nor can we talk to them because we do not know where he is. We’ve been asking around in the last people knew he was in La-Paz. We knew that of course. We met many very interesting people all we were in Santa Rosalia. One person has two Ph.D.s in translation. They’re from Italy. There’s also someone who has is Ph.D. in molecular biology. He and some other people have an idea that has been tested on many animals and is going to be gained testing on humans in fall. From what he says it is called suspended animation where they use a kind of guess that is normally poisonous to put you in a state in which you can do surgery in and not have any crazy dramatic aftereffects. While we were here we went to a carnival. After that we went home. I had the best hot dogs in the world. I’ve been hearing about them since I was little the move, and now I am here. The bread is homemade and delicious and sweet. The hot dogs themselves are good also because they have bacon wrapped around them. That makes it especially good. That’s basically all there is to report. I sure do say that a lot. We’re going to go two in island called San francisquito, and after that we are going to go to the bay of LA. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

June 5, 2007

Right now we are in an anchorage called San francisquito. INI is at the anchorage also. Michael has a big problem with her arm and is bothering her crazily. They need to get back two Bay of LA as soon as possible so that she can find a Dr. It has happened to her before but it has never hurt this much. Hopefully she’ll be able to find a Dr. Today we will go and met Alberto, zimron’s dad. It was very nice meeting him. Computer wise, in the area that he is in, he is very setup. The house wireless Internet and everything, and as far as I could tell it was pretty fast. Anyway, we’re going to go out to an island. It is called salsipuedes. We might even be able to sail there. That would be nice. Alberto gave us some iron wood smoke yellowtail. We will probably eat it tonight. Anyway, that’s all there is for now. I will see whoever is reading this later. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

June 6, 2007

What a morning this has been. We are currently in an anchorage called Don Juan. We were beaten back from it wants because of 40 knots of wind. That is the most wind that the boat has ever been in. Right now we are currently safe. That is a very good thing and it makes us feel very comfortable. We were a week this morning at 3:00 AM. I am extremely tired right now. Well maybe not that much. Anyway, we went on a boat called the Andrea Lynn. The boat is 103 foot long commercial fishing boat, I think. The owner’s name is Gustavo. He is very nice. He gave us for filets of yellowtail the second one of which we’re going to eat tonight. We ate the first one yesterday and it was very delicious. Just about everything today is going well. When we were going along today the clock broke. This is a very emotional family loss. Just kidding, it wasn’t that bad. When it fell it fell right near the entrance to my room and shattered putting glass everywhere. Yesterday, Patrick was running a fever of 102°. The fever isn’t too bad, but it’s something. Anyway, that’s just about all there is to report. Boy I sure do need to think of something else to say at the end of all of my entries. Oh well, I’ll live.

June 8, 2007

Right now we are still in the anchorage called Don Juan. We have done absolutely nothing. I have been making some spreadsheets and Microsoft office word documents about the computer company that I am hoping two open when we get back to the states in about three or four weeks. I have realized that it is only going to be about a little less than a month until I am 13 years old. I cannot wait for that. Other than that we have been doing nothing. I know this is going to be short journal entry fee but there’s nothing that I can say. Right now we’re going to go to Bay of Los Angeles. There will be in and that their hopefully, that would be nice. See you next time I have power. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

June 12, 2007

Sorry I haven’t been able to catch up. The last couple of days nothing has happened. Apparently he did not. Right now we’re going to go over to Gonzaga bay. We’re going to be able to see big Patrick. I haven’t seen him since I was five. In case you are wondering, right now it’s 10:00 AM. We’re motoring and should be there soon. I have gotten just about everything I need setup for when I go back to the states and try and open a computer sales business. I’ve gotten a spreadsheet document that will have the work orders and all of the information of the customers so that I can then look them up if they call sometime after they get the product. I’ve also got graphs for advertising using Microsoft word, and much more. It’s kind of weird to think, but whoever is reading this, knows if I ever did do that company or if I just horribly died. Will not literally but you know what I mean. So anyway, I’m going to have a future sentence right here.

Casey’s computer company _________________do well. Please put in did or didn’t under the line. That would be much appreciated. Anyway, right now I’m also doing some virus scans. Always need to be secure. As far as I’m concerned I may have a bug on my computer that is transferring all of what I’m looking up on my screen to the guy. Attention guy, you smell funny and shouldn’t be doing viruses such as this. You may come across something that you don’t want to, like maybe your jail records. Hint, hint. Anyway, I guess that’s all there is to say. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

June 13, 2007

Well, we got to Gonzaga bay. We have seen Jim and his wife. They have quite as sweet setup. I realized today that pretty soon we’re going to be of some states. It’s quite amazing that we’ve gone down all of the west coast of Baja and up the east side about halfway in so little time. When I began this journal we left California in went to Mexico. I remember the very first day when we were sailing across the border. We went outside and raised our little miniature Mexican flag. It is being torn to shreds know by the wind. My ideas of being in Mexico were pretty much about what I’ve heard. I didn’t exactly know the poverty was going to be such a big thing in Mexico. That has been about the only surprise. It’s not in this journal, because it happened before I started it, but right now I am looking at a scar on my foot that I will have with me probably until the day I die. The scar on my foot I got when I was in San Pedro. It sounds completely silly, but I fell in the shower. It wasn’t a very big fall, but I kind of twisted my ankle in making of it, and tore the skin on the top of my foot. There’s just stopped being a scab a couple days ago. Now there’s a little rough white mark. I hope to say when I grew up about the pirates of the Mediterranean, and how with a swipe of their sword they cut my foot. It wouldn’t be very interesting story, but it’s definitely better than the fall in the shower. Anyway, it’s just interesting to think about how far we’ve gone. We’ve gone from dad working in LA with all of the traffic and the smaller than the industrial warehouses, to beautiful Gonzaga bay. It hardly seems real. It’s also just a lead that all of my bedtime stories since I was little have been stories about Mexico. Now I’m here. All of the exquisite OS that we had that one week were so good. All of the noseeums have been not so good. Thankfully I have not been affected, but mom as always has. Anyway, after that little historic speech, let’s get onto the events of today. I don’t know if I mentioned it yesterday, but the fuel pump has been acting up. That’s the thing that pumps the fuel, speaks for itself. We found all of this algae and sediment ends stuff like that. That was disgusting. Yesterday we had 9 ½ pounds of section on the engine. Now we have 6 pounds of pressure. That was quite amazing. Anyway, that’s all there is to report on the 4-P.A.C.K. This is the 4-P.A.C.K over and out as always.

June 16, 2007

The last couple of days the only thing that we have been doing is simply sitting in Gonzaga bay seen Jim and Darda. Last night we had to get up around 11:00 PM and move. We were on lee shore Right now Patrick is watching the movie we picked up from Jim and Darda. Big Patrick is going to be here soon. I cannot wait to see him because he knows about computers. I am hoping that I will be able to learn stuff from him. All right then. It seems like that is all there is to say. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

June 19, 2007

Jim and Darda have left. That’s very sad, but Patrick is going to be coming in two days. I cannot wait to see him. We moved the boat two days ago and in the process almost ran aground. At some point we had an only 6 inches of water between the bottom of the keel and the bottom of the ocean. That was scary but in another way kind of fun. That’s the only stuff that has been going on. The only other thing is that I have gotten information from the west marine catalog and have an idea about littering the roof of my house with solar panels when I grow up. I have concluded that in a 1500 square foot house, I can have 41 panels, each giving me 2.01 AC amps and 25 DC amps. After it goes through some role 3000 W inverters, on a bright sunny day I will be able to have 81 amps of power, AC. That is a lot of power. Anyway, I’m getting excited about going back to the states. That is the only thing on the emotional grand scheme of things. This is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

June 24, 2007

Patrick is here, but the only problem is that he forgot the Power Supply to use computers Internet. So for us and at his house we can’t have any Internet. We found some kids; their names are Logan and Kelsey. We have been playing with them so much that I am crazy sun burned on my face. That’s all that we’ve been doing. We’re going to go back up and to the states in about 14 days, and my birthday is going to be in 11. I will be taking my computer to the states so there might be a big gap in the journal entries. Anyway, this is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

June 26, 2007

We have left Gonzaga bay. We are now currently on our way to port of Los Angeles, and after that we are going to go to Santa Rosalia. Yesterday it was time to start the 10 day countdown to my birthday. It’s kind of nice having my birthday the early in the month, because then you’re not saying its July, okay now when is my birthday. So today, would have been nine days. I cannot wait to see Aden and Kenny, and also Andrea. I’m still hoping two open up the business when we get back to the states. I am also asking for an 8800 GTS for my birthday. It comes with 3D-Mark, which I think will be nice. I am also asking for three computer games, the entire Harry potter boxed set, and a variety of other things. On our way here, we had a little bit of wind about 25 or 30 knots but not too bad. We still have a very long way to go. Anyway, this is 4-P.A.C.K over and out.

June 28, 2007

I have very bad news. First of all, we started today at 2:00 leaving from port of Don Juan to go to Santa Rosalia. Before we started that though, dad was on the ham radio and someone had said that he is getting a priority message of high importance. Dad was sitting with the headphones on and you could see his face go to a normal serious look, to a look of absolute horror and sadness. Robbie, my uncle on dad’s side, who was only about 68 years old, is going to die. The first thing dad said, was that it’s Robbie. After that, he said that his lung cancer has spread to his liver and his spine. He is currently on a ventilator on life support, the cancer is not responding to chemotherapy at all, and if the ventilator is removed he will die of cardiac arrest. The doctors say he has six weeks to live. This doesn’t change our plans horribly, but we think that we’re going to leave the boat in Santa Rosalia when we get there at about 1:00 AM tomorrow morning, and we’re all going to go out to the states and we all or maybe just dad or maybe dad and mom, who knows, is going to go to Texas. He used in Texas to be more exact. After they do that, they’re going to come back to Santa Rosalia and moved the boat to San Carlos. After that we’ll do whatever we need to do. I do know if I have told you, but grandma has sold her old house and has bought a new one. We’re going to see it when we get there. Anyway, it is a tragic loss knowing that Robbie is going to die. When we left in February, they were just contemplating what kind of chemo they should do for his lung cancer. Now he is going to die. Just a little bit before February, he was installing the new refrigeration unit on our boat with dad. Is amazing how quickly someone can go from a full-fledged wonderful human being, to someone who cannot respond nor do anything. Robby is a learned and can be talked to two and respond in a normal way. That is a good thing, because of that keeps up for about another week or less, dad will be able to talk to him and tell him he loves him. Right now we’re going in the dark, by the way its 9:00 PM. We have seen many Dolphins’ today, which I expect is supposed to be a good omen. I don’t know though, we have been getting a lot of bad luck lately, and I think this is a good time to go back. I hope that when Robby dies, he will go to a place much better than he is now. I hope that he will be able to do whatever he wants when he is deceased. God knows how he is now. I hope that he is doing well. I sent him my regards. [Robby did end up dying on July 4, 2007]

October 9, 2007

I know that you’re probably thinking, Casey why has it been taking so long for you to do your journal. I haven’t really gotten around to it. Anyway, in the time that we have left for Mexico, mom sent me back into school for about a month. It was horrible. Thankfully, mom decided that if I really hated it so much I could be home schooled again. That is what we did, but this time we used something called sonlight. It is a home schooling curriculum that mom thinks is going to be a little bit better and oak meadow. We didn’t get their math or science; we’re still using the math and science from oak meadow. Dad is working on a movie called “superhero!”, and it’s a spoof on Spiderman staring drake bell where instead of getting bitten by spider, he gets bitten by dragonfly. In the time that I have been in California, I’ve put an enormous $60.00 all aluminum heat sink onto my processor, did a little bit of a fan mod and added an 8800 GTS to my computer, along with two, four inch long blue lights.

November 14, 2007

For the last couple of days we have been in Santa Rosalia and been seeing Mo Mo. They left today and that was very sad. Dad pulled of some of the decks with Bernard on Mo Mo and it went better that expected. We thought it was going to be a pain in the butt, but it was much easier, at least for the pulling up part, but not necessarily for the rest of it though. On our way down to Mexico went fine, and we didn’t get stopped once, at least for inspection. People say it can be terrible. They say that the federales will rip your car apart and after all of your hard work of putting it all together before the border, and after they are done, they just say “ok, you’re done” and leave. Thankfully, we had no trouble.

November 15, 2007

Today we did not much. Mom wasn’t felling very good, so we watched a movie. We were at the boat most of the time, but at one point we went to the store, or at least tried to. On our way there, we started to get pelted with rain. I had the wireless antenna out, but it was fine. The forecast for here was cloudy with a chance of rain today, but for the next 4 days, it will be sunny all the time with a temperature of about 86 all the time.

November 17, 2007

Today we have just sitting around and unpacking pretty much. Yesterday we got up at 10:00 am and went to the produce market and got some fruits and vegetables. After that we went back home. Today, dad is going to come home. He has been up to California getting some stuff for us, including a game that I highly recommend to any FPS gamer, called Crysis [sic]. I recommend you look it up. Today we also did some schoolwork in a very structured manner because we weren’t doing so well on it lately. That was pretty much it. This is the 4-P.A.C.K. over and out.

November 21, 2007

The last few days we have just been working on the decks all of the day. What we are doing is we are ripping of the teak decks and putting down some epoxy resin and anti-skid. This has been quite a vigorous process, and we are all sore and tired.

December 7, 2007

Sorry I haven’t caught up in so long. We are almost finished with the decks, and all the teak is up. The bow and the two sides of the boat are done, but not the aft. Captain Kaos left the day before yesterday, but then came back because the winds were… well, there was none. They did leave the next day.

I have gotten a lot of complaints about the fact that my blog stopped being written. I am sorry to say that upon making some additions to my computer, it draws to much power to work on the boat. When we are in the marina and do have power, the voice recognition got messed up and i don’t know why. I am afraid to say, that there just wont be any more blog entries. Sorry.