A Different Course

Summer into Fall

2007-11-20T09:53:00.000-08:00

Hey all. We're still alive! Living and working in Santa Cruz, CA. Here's a quick summary: When Bhodi came back from Lynx, he jumped into the season with the SRV Derek M. Baylis in Monterey, as relief captain. My summer was spent trying to do research with equipment that always seemed to be breaking down. But little by little, things got accomplished. On days when I wasn't gnashing my teeth on campus and Bhodi was not sailing in Monterey, we both taught sailing at Pacific Yachting here in Santa Cruz and at Modern Sailing Academy in Sausalito. During this time we also brought a new member to the family, a little white furball we named "Aloha." This was one of the first shots managed to get of her, back when she couldn't even fit in her collar. These days she's bigger than Foxy, and been busy keeping her older sister company when we are out of the house.

Another fun activity that occupied our summer was Geocaching, a type of GPS treasure hunt. The second and third shots on this post are of one long day when we found eleven caches hidden on the coast between our apartment and Wilder Ranch State Park. Our day cumulated in the finding of the Holy Grail cache, which Bhodi spent 15 minutes searching for amidst the fallen limestone ceiling blocks in this sea cave. Our good friend and sailing buddy, Anthony, had also joined us in the hunt, and on several occasions came up with cache when it alluded both Bhodi and myself.

A view from the coastal highway (Hwy 1), on another day of geocaching between Waddell Beach and Davenport. We live in such as beautiful place...

For my birthday, we went to Great America theme park in San Jose. With school just

starting back up, the park was pretty empty and we just coasted through the lines. It had been a while since I had to a theme park and there was some pretty good rides for how small the park was.. One of the memorable moments was on the Spongebob show/ride. It was a combination 3D show and moving car ride. Well, it was pretty obvious as soon as the ride started that our car should have been labelled as out of order. Only one hydraulic was working, which meant that we spent the majority of the time hanging on at a 60 degree angle, trying to not be pitched off! I was laughing most of the time.

Also in August, our long time traveling companion, Campbell the little white pickup, finally bit it. That truck had taken me across the country 5 times, so I was sad to see it go. We ended up donating it, so hopefully it will see some more use. We ended up getting an Isuzu Rodeo to replace it. Its a great car, though not very friendly on the wallet with the gas milage, but its very convenient in hauling around all our new windsurfing equipment. Yep, windsurfing....

A friend of ours very generously asked if we wanted to empty his garage of all his old equipment and we jumped on the opportunity.

As of today, we have been out three times. The winter is not the best time to pick up the sport, since the wind is pretty inconsistent this time of year, and the first couple of times there was barely enough wind to hold us out of the water. But the third time we went out was on the tail of a strong storm system and there was more than enough wind to be had. We chose a spot a little away from the kitesurfers and struggled for over three hours with wind and sail and water to try to move. At long last, I was able to stand up with a water start and sail for fifty yards or so before falling off. Not long after, Bhodi also sailed a small distance. We left the water utterly

exhausted, but satisfied that we made progress. I've been watching the forecasts for another storm system, but its been quiet for more than a week now.

Since the winter season has slowed down sailing instruction, I have been back up at school. Bhodi spent October on the Baylis as mate during their great white shark tagging season at the Farallones and November on the Seaward, preparing the ship for her three month long Mexico voyage, which he will be joining them on as mate/relief captain. When the ship returns to San Francisco next year, he will be their full-

time captain through the tall ships challenge and into the spring season. If I can get my work done, I'm scheduled to graduate in June, after which we'll move our little family to Sausalito. And then, if all goes to plan, we will be married on the Seaward during the San Francisco Festival of Sail in late July. Its a lot to happen in the next eight months, Ill try to keep the updates coming on how its shaping up. Hope happiness is where you are!

Windows

2007-04-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

On Lynx:
Sailing to Catalina Island from San Pedro for an overnight anchor out. (February 10 &11).

Transiting from Morro Bay to Monterey (March 28, 29, &30).

Gaff walking to free the wrapped ensign

In Monterey (March 31 - April 9):

Most welcome visitors:

Anthony furling the fore topsail

Dad at the helm and firing the carronades

On Rendezvous:

Delivery from Santa Cruz to Oxnard (March 20, 21 &22).

Kim on dolphin watch

Once again in Morro Bay - Justin and Kim

Rendezvous at the fuel dock

A 3 month post

2007-04-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

Since my last post, three months have passed and the winter quarter at UCSC has come and gone. Bhodi has been continuing to sail on Lynx up and down the California coast and with the Lynx in Monterey Bay, has taken three days off to come home. Looking back I have only taken around 12 pictures covering this time. So, in so many words and not so many pictures, here's been the last 3 months of life on land...

I came back to Santa Cruz from dropping Bhodi off on the Lynx just before New Years. I wasn't feeling too sociable with my squeeze gone, so I just walked downtown and here and there, celebrating the change of year with a beer at the local dive bar, Brady's Yacht Club, just down the street. Winter quarter started up a couple of days later. I only had one class, Great Papers in Earth Science. The rest of the time was given over to TAing the Natural History of Dinosaurs and a little research. Being a teaching assistant was great, my first experience teaching academia. I had about 90 students in three, hour and a half long classes. Being there and interacting was the fun part, the grading was not, especially since most of the students were non science majors. But, very enlightening all together. Still waiting to get my teaching evaluations back to hear what the students really thought of me. I also prepped for research, deciding on the composition I wanted to depict a early solar system planet mantle, then grinding the rock and doing XRF analysis to determine extact composition. Starting to get down to crunch time on research. I need to get rolling this spring so I can finish by the end of summer. Everything which seems so simple takes so long when so many parties are involved and the coordinator (me) is not quite sure.. well, about anything. :) Ce la vie.
In a semi related school subject, I also took up recreational leading again, in the REC department of UCSC. It was nice tap dancing to go through the paperwork that would have me approved to hold two jobs for the university. But I'm glad it worked out. So far, I've lead a weekend trip to Mercey Hot Springs, a night time wine tasting, and a day trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium. The pictures on this post are from the Mercey trip (where the hot water is piped to outdoor clawfoot tubs!). The rec departments are quite different between Boone and Santa Cruz, but I appreciate being apart of that type of community again, of outdoor leaders.
Outdoor pursuits this quarter were some cold water surfing, continual sailing on Surge III, and climbing. Oh yeah, I just remembered I took up a position at the climbing gym as a kid belayer... don't know if I mentioned that in the last post or not, since I started in December. Mostly on weekends, it hooked me up with the very rad staff of Pacific Edge and I started getting up early on Tuesdays to climb in the gym when it was empty except for the crew. In early Feb., I took a trip down to visit Bhodi and the Lynx gang, for Christopher's 40th b-day and a nice sail to Catalina and back. Some great shots from that which may appear in Bhodi's blog eventually.
I received word from the Coast Guard in late Feb that I was finally approved to test for my Captain's license!!! Books were cracked, plots were laid and on March 19th and 20th, I came, I sat, and I kicked its ass! As soon as the damn license gets here, I'll be Captain Erin Doak, 100 ton inland master, 200 ton near coastal mate, sail endorsed, at your service. Whew. All smiles.
At the end of the quarter, I caught the bus to the Lynx in Morro Bay to get my fix of Bhodi and wooden ships. We were delayed in departing for Monterey due to a really nice gale, but when we did get out there we had some decent sailing in 15 kt winds. I also got to lead my first official watch, which ran very smoothly. Thanks C watch!
What else.... not much. School, sailing, and lovin'. Oh yeah!!! Speaking of lovin', I know we have been leaving everyone in the dark about our wedding plans. Sorry about that. We decided to postpone a year, until I get out of school and we are a little more solid financially. So, wait until next April or so for a summer wedding in '08.

Cheers,
Erin

The time in between - Part 2 (Activities and Kitties)

2006-12-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

Besides all the main events, there was also recreation. In Fall I didn't get much chance to go surfing, as the swells were absent most of the time and when they were up, the crowds were too. So, computer games and netflix were nice refuges. The cat provided endless hours of entertainment as well, though not always pleasant. Despite our best attempts to train her, she keeps jumping up on the counters, desks, window ledges, etc. I have lost four glasses to her game of "knock everything off the counter." She is also learning to open cabinets to paw at her food containers... its a match of patience and I think she is winning. Good thing she is cute or she would have been eaten back in July.

But I did get out surfing some in December. Yes, its very cold, but the water is cold all year round so it doesn't make much difference. I finally convinced Bhodi one day to come down and take a few shots of me on a wave. You might look at that and say that's pretty small, but that's ok, I'm still a beginner.

Besides surfing, a favorite past time is climbing. Bhodi and Iboth have memberships for the gym that is two blocks from our apartment, and tried to go as often as we could encourage ourselves to. We also worked there alot during the last month, pulling small kids up the walls, when I was out of school for break and the sailing season was slow for Bhodi.

To bring it up to date, as of today, Jan 3, Bhodi is on the Schooner Lynx as Chief Mate under Christopher Trandell as captain. He is very excited about it, the sailing, the boat, the position, and working with Christopher again. We drove down together (hoping to take the 1 but turned inland due to gale force winds) just after Christmas and I stayed a few days but left before New Years. They are in San Pedro now and after doing several loops to ports in the San Diego/LA area, they will transit up to Morro Bay, Monterey, Half Moon Bay, and then SF before the end of April. Personally I'm really happy and excited for him, but of course will miss my bedwarmer... he's in the same state though... and overall, I miss sailing with him. In the future however, there's a lot to look forward to.

For Christmas, we had a quiet one at home. And since we didn't want to get a tree, we used one of the cat's neglected toys to light up and put presents under. Of course, this means she was suddenly interested in it again... But we lit candles and listened to songs, Bhodi cooked dinner and all the good stuff of our first personal Christmas together. Hope you all had a good one and that I bump into you in the near future.

Cheers, Erin

The time in between (the Bay and beyond)

2006-12-26T11:38:00.000-08:00

Good evening and happy new years!

Lagging time between posts seems to be a trend and this time instead if excuses, I'm just going to ask for acceptance since it won't likely change in the future.

We last left off with starting school and Bhodi working for Pacific Yachting and Sailing with both of us moving into a new apartment. What happened in the months of October, November, and December were lots of reading of scientific papers at school and Bhodi alternating between Santa Cruz and San Francisco, where he acted as relief Captain and Mate on the schooner Seaward. The shots on the left are from one of the Seaward's overnight trips to the Farallones.

As for my schooling, like I said, it was a lot of reading and discussing tactics with my advisor on how to approach the problem set before us. In a quick summary, what we are working on is the physical and chemical effect of tidal unloading (not ocean tides, but planet sized gravity tides) on hot compressed rock deep in the interior when planets pass each other in a near miss "collision." The effects of this can be tremendous, as the pressure is released the world could turn into an explosive volcano, or not, thats what we are testing. This isn't related to today, but to answer questions of how planets and metorites were formed long ago. Starting this winter is when the experiments will begin...

Bhodi and I celebrated Halloween by sitting out on the sidewalk in front of our apartment, watching Lost Boys and handing out candy.

For Thanksgiving, Mom and two of my aunts came for a week long visit. During which we all went into the city and to my first visit to Alcatraz. Very cool, highly recommend spending a lot of time there to see all the exhibits. As it was, we only got to do the main tour before catching the ferry back. Thanksgiving is definately one of my most favorite holidays, and I won;t kid ya, its for the food. My mom cooks a mean Thanksgiving meal and it was a very welcome change from the sailor's/grad student's diet of spagetti and pizza. Thanks Mom and Aunts!

Some more beautiful shots of San Francisco from the Seaward.

711 Seabright

2006-10-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

So while Erin was away on her "Field Trip" to Yosemite...

I got us all moved into our new apartment on Seabright Avenue.

I can't say enought about how much we love this new place.

A nice roomy Living room for enjoying movies on a quiet evening, or for entertaining houseguests.

Kitchen large enough for the two of us to cook in together.

Our new King-Sized Bed..

Immagine me moving this into our up-stairs apartment alone..

Scary Huh?

Domestic Life on Land.

Yikes!

That's okay.. Living in Santa Cruz allows us a nice base for Erin to continue walking the path of Geology, for both of us to get lots of great sailing in on Monterrey Bay and SF Bay, and for both of us to get lots of time in at Pacific Edge, (one of the finest Climbing Gyms in the country), right down the street.

On that note... I'm going to get some climbing in right now.. So.. Untill next time:

Fair Winds, Following Seas, and many rum-filled evenings of Sea Stories.

A trip to remember geology

2006-10-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

The first day I attended a graduate class, I was informed about a mandatory field trip the upcoming weekend. A little short notice, but okay, a trip tracing a geologic cross section of California to the Eastern Sierra's. Pretty cool, and some new and different geology compared to my old stomping grounds of North Carolina. The only catch was the following weekend was when Bhodi and I were moving out of 229 Pearl Street and into our new apartment in the Seabright community. We needed to sign the paperwork, pay the rent, and clean the cottage, not to mention move all of our belongings and a cat. Since the field trip was leaving 8 am Friday morning and gone until Sunday night, I put some time in cleaning the old place here and there. We made arrangements to move in a day early. So between my classes we moved several truck loads. The cottage had been furnished and we had been purchasing items to fill in this new and comparetively very large space. But more on the apartment later...

The field trip departed UCSC and then cut through the Coast Ranges and into the Great Central Valley, up through a narrow river channel (a little side note: there was the largest landslide I have ever seen that had totally demolished the road with no hope of recovery. The road was buried under 40 vertical feet of rubble for about a quarter of a mile. We were redirected across the river on temporary bridges and roads. Amazing...), and up into Yosemite via the Arch Rock entrance. We never entered the valley, but took a few shots from a distance and then climbed over Tioga Pass and down into the Mono Lake basin. We set up camp at Convict Lake campground, which was our base for the next two days as we set out looking at the local geology. Probably the most interesting part of the trip was being in the constant presence of a huge volcano. The whole mammoth mountain and mono lake complex is apart of the Long Valley Caldera, a volcano comparable to Yellowstone in its immensity, and during our visit we saw many signs of increased geothermal activity, despite the warnings given that there was no such gradient. Does this mean the volcano is about to blow? No, not really, but it could eventually, and that made it all the more exciting. Some of the signs we saw are related in the photos posted. Like the second one down: Dante's Tree.

A little geology terminology: a fumerole is a geothermal surface vent releasing water in the form of steam, as well as other volatiles and minerals. These are formed when ground water or underground aquifers come into contact with heated material (not necessarily magma, but hot surface rock surrounding it too). It then becomes excited and finds its way to the surface. Unfortunately for the tree, the easiest way was through its root system. When the fumerole was first discovered, the tree was still alive and it was the only fumerole in the small valley where it was located. When we visited, about 3 years after, the tree was dead and there was a good dozen other fumeroles in the valley. Besides the rising steam idenitifying them, they are easy to find from the baked ground (yes, its hot to the touch) and the sulfur crystals growing around the vent (falling out of solution). Pretty cool stuff, but you didn't want to breath in the fumes for too long, so we hung around for a bit then left to visit the hot springs (the next photo down). The hot springs used to be a favorite of locals and vistors. There were a few pools that were permanently roped off because of the heat, but the small stream that ran nearby also had a few hot vents in which people liked to swim around. However, that summer, two people had died from scalding, not from the pools, but from the vent in the stream. It is not that hot all the time, but occassionly it will 'burp' up a flow hotter than boiling. It had become unstable, and the springs were closed down. Sounds like some increased activity to me...

The next two shots down were taken from our campground at Convict Lake.

Other highlights were a visit to Mammoth Mountain, Devil's Postpile National Monument (first photo), and the Mono Craters (where I picked up and hauled back to the van a huge 40 lbs piece of obsidian - for knapping).

As we were visiting Mono Lake, a storm front was moving in over the Sierras, and we began to worry about making it over the pass. It had snowed on previous trips before, so we packed up and headed over through probably the last rain Tioga Pass saw this season. As such, I missed being in Santa Cruz for the first rain the town had seen since May. There is a tradition for a mass student streaking the night of the first rain in Santa Cruz, and apparently, the student body didn't let the tradition down. Hey, its Santa Cruz...

Since then, school has been going well. It has been a little hard getting back into the groove of academia, but its working out okay. When I post again about school I'll try to have a few shots of the lab I'm working in and some detail about my experiments. Till then!

Homecoming

2006-10-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hey all. This is the first of a series of posts to follow in the next few days which are a long overdue update of pictures and events. So, if you are scanning down, STOP HERE!!!

Okay. So, we left off this tale with a slight feeling of loneliness from the lack of a bedwarmer who was far away in the world of the tall ships. It was actually rather funny in a strange sort of way, because just a day or two after I posted my last, Bhodi made the decision to leave Appledore IV and come home. There were a lot of factors in his decision. To hear the details from him, visit his summer blog: www.bhodi2006.blogspot.com

Bhodi arrived back in Santa Cruz right around the same time as my second summer session finals and the mid summer Patagonia sale. So, things were very hectic for a while as I finished out the classes (which I did pretty well in), the cat warmed back to her long lost playmate, and Bhodi looked for work. He found it in the form of Captain T.C. Sheridan, sailing instructor and chartering skipper at Pacific Yachting and Sailing located in the Santa Cruz Harbor. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The pictures off to the left are of friends and us on the Express 37, Surge III. I've mentioned before the Wednesday night races known affectionately as the "Beer Cans." I had been attending them on and off through the summer, as much as school and work allowed, but with summer session over and Bhodi back in town, every week saw us down at the docks with a smile and a six pack (requirements for the races).
Sailing on Surge III is always a great time. I have to admit, while working on tall ships I had a little of an elitist attitude about seamanship and yachtsmen. But after spending some time on these smaller vessels, I've come to appreciate how much more you can learn about the finer arts of sailing. And because the crew rotates through the positions, every week I walk away with a little more confidence. That means a lot when every time I'm out on the water, I still think of the dismasting.

Beyond the shots of Surge III are shots of Bhodi on the Olson 911, Avatar. I know he would want to talk all about this sweet boat, so I'll let him take it from here... (to be continued....)

School and surfing

2006-07-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

Hey gang. Erin checking in with a few more photos. A great deal has been going on since I last posted. There was a flurry of activity when Bhodi got his license. I got promoted at work to a full time position of shipper/reciever, and I started summer session with two classes. All of it put together meant very little personal time and it took a while to get adjusted to the change of pace. I'm still treading to keep my head above water, but I've made sure that I have had a least some time in the week for myself. Most of it I spend surfing, though the waves haven't been that great the past month. The first shot on this post is of my new board. This was just a few days after I got it, when I sat in the backyard with a beer and stripped the wax and applied a fresh coat. If you are familiar with Santa Cruz surf spots, I've mostly gone to Cowell's, the beginner's local down from Steamer Lane near the wharf. But I've also gone a few times to Pleasure Point and even surfed the famous 1st peak when the waves were mild. I'm getting better, though still wipe out often. Its all good though, and "stoked" has become a part of my vocabulary.

School.... right now a love-hate relationship. The UCSC campus is really amazing, probably the most beautiful I've ever seen, even though the architecture looks like its a toss up between green new age and nazi submarine bunkers, if you can imagine that (St Naziare reference, no offense). But the location, the redwoods, and that every time I go I see deer grazing in the fields beside the buildings. I keep reminding myself to find the climbing tree, but I never seem to remember as I'm usually running from one place to another. With this, and the financial opportunity given to me by the earth science department, its hard to imagine being unhappy with the situation, but I have found myself many times doubting my intensions. I don't have an answer yet, but I am grateful for now.

So, these next few pictures are a little fuzzy. I took them with the camera on Bhodi's father's palm pilot and I have difficulty holding the thing still. But I just wanted to show what the campus is like. This picture is from the walkway on the Engineering Building, where both of my math classes are. Like I said, redwoods out the front door...

And, one of the coolest things I love about UCSC is the bridges that span the many gullies. The campus is NOT flat and they have these wooden walkways that are beautiful!

My future home.. the earth and marine science building. I have a shared office in there somewhere, but it hasn't been assigned yet. Oh, and on a dangerous note. Every building on campus it seems has its own espresso counter. Its very tempting, but I have managed to hold myself in check, not a single mocha on my record. All of these buildings, including the library, where I am currently paying rent, are on Science Hill, one of the highest points on campus.

And its hard to tell how high up that is by this photo, but this shot was taken from the pastures on mid campus, below science hill a ways. There is a bike trail that runs up (no shade, very hot!) so you can avoid the roads. A very enjoyable ride down but a long ride up. I have been making this trip, from my house or work (either way, sea level) up to campus three times a week. It takes about an hour for 6 miles, almost all uphill. Thighs of steel baby. I could take the bus, but believe it or not it actually takes longer and I appreciate the freedom to leave when I am ready and not have to wait. From here you can see Monterey Bay. On Wednesday during the yacht races you can see dozen out there on the bay. I did go yachting twice, but with school starting I had class and had to sadly say I wasn't available. When I came down tonight there were all out there. Very pretty.

Here is another shot of my board. This was taken a couple of months ago before the last post, when I stayed out at Cowells until I couldn't see the sets anymore. That reminds me. Every year at summer solstace I try to do sometime memorable. Past experiences were staying up all night in Alaska, and summiting the middle teton in Wyoming. Last year when I was at Wupatki, I got up to watch the sun rise on the mesa behind the ruins and watched it go down from the volcano. Here, I got up to surf before dawn and saw the sun come up over the hill from Cowell's, then watched the sunset from Pleasure Point over the water, also surfing. A good one to add to the collection. Days are getting shorter now. Bhodi returning has been on my mind everyday. We still haven't set a firm date for the wedding, waiting to see what school demands and money allows. Sometime next May or June. So keep checking in and leave a comment so I know how you are doing. Anytime you pass this way, you are welcome at our place.

Aloha,
Erin

Patagonia and rainforests

2006-06-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

Hey all. Here are some shots of what has been going down in Santa Cruz. For the most part I have been working, and the highlight of my Patagonia life was the memorial day weekend sale. EXTREMELY busy, with a line at the door three hours before we opened and an hour wait to checkout at one point. Stressful, but we pimped that fleece and it was nice to clean out the backstock (which is my domain as the acting shipper/reciever). The picture is of the staff right before opening on the first day of the sale. From left to right: Meredith, Lane, me, Alan, and Liz. A great group of people, all in all.

Another Patagonia related shot, this is me manning the table at the premier of a new surf film "Lost Jewel of the Atlantic" during the Santa Cruz Film Festival. There is a big movement in Santa Cruz for a collalition called Save the Waves, which protects endangered surf spots from being destroyed by non environmental building practices. This film was by that group, and we have had a preview of it running in the store for weeks, until we could recite the lines and we would often proclaim along with the video: "Designed by the gods for the gods to surf!" The actual quote wasn't in the movie. I was disappointed, sort of.

I mentioned in a previous entry that I biked up to Henry Cowell Redwood State Park. Well, on memorial day I rode up again and brought my camera along. This shot was taken from the scenic bench along Pipeline Road (a verrrryy steep semi paved bike trail - I had to get out and push on several occasions). The bench overlooks the San Lorenzo River Valley that opens into Santa Cruz and the bay.

Speaking of the river, I couldn't resist wading out to take these next two shots. The railroad runs all the way into Santa Cruz on weekends.

Into the redwood grove.

While I was walking along this beautiful trail, the sounds of nature was broken by the unmistakable sound of cannon fire. Unbeknownst to me , there was a civil war reenactment (yes, in California, there are history buffs everywhere) going on next door, so I had to check it out.

Other pictures I wanted to include in here but blogger was being stubborn, were shots of my surfboard and such. I bought a surfboard a little over a week ago and have taking every opportunity to be out on the waves. I'll try to get a few more shots and then I'll post. That's its for now. Cheers, y'all. Erin

2006-05-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

New pictures of the Pride of Baltimore II.

A friends sent me some shots of Pride's sea trials.

Check it out at www.ourprideadventures.blogspot.com

Cheers,
Erin

2006-05-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

So, here I am on a Saturday night, typing way at my computer... No pictures with this post as I have been lazy in carrying around my camera with me. But here are somethings that have been happening lately in Santa Cruz.

1) Working like a madwoman. I have been picking up extra shifts at Patagonia in order to help ends meet and to save up for a surfboard. Its been on my mind all the time, about wanting to get back into he waves. And until I do, there is little else to do that feels like its an as worthy cause. So, I keep on working.

2) Climbing The climbing gym here in Santa Cruz is one of the best in the world, and since all the outdoor businesses in town hook each other up, I got a membership at a really nice price. So, when I get off I usually bike over to the gym which is just a few blocks from my house, and boulder. There is also a weight room and sauna (like I said, a good deal!).

3) Study Calculus. Since its been years since I've taken a math course, I've been recapping on my own all the calculus I've done. Tedious, but I know its will be worth it.

4) Entertain and clean up after the cat. Geez, what a piece of work this little cat is. We did her right by naming her Foxy.

In other news, Bhodi is just days away from taking his captain's examination. If you want to drop him a line to cheer him on, I'm sure he would appreciate it (sheridantc@netscape.net). I found out that the Brigantine Rendezvous is hanging out in Moss Landing and looking for people to help out, so I might mosey down there soon to lend a hand. Speaking of sailing, every Wednesday evening there are local yacht "races" around the bay, and its rumor that if you wander down to the docks with a 6 pack, you're welcome aboard. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm off this Wednesday so.... Oh, I got an email from the Pride's teacher of Francais in Saint Nazaire, with tons of pictures with her and her new rig. Since the Pride site hasn't posted any new shots of her, I'm thinking about asked Guillaume if he wouldn't mind if I posted a few of his photos, on the old Pride blog, if anyone is interested in seeing her laminated masts. They look pretty awesome. If I do, I will post a link from this page.

Well, that's it for me. Take care, all.

Erin

2006-04-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

A walkabout

Hello,
As of this update I have been in Santa Cruz for a month. I have gotten settled into the house properly, taken a nice (and lucky!) job at a Patagonia outlet (a cool place with awesome people, more pictures to come), and have spent a good deal of time walking or biking around town. Santa Cruz is all and all and pretty small town and from our place on Pearl Street I can walk to just about anywhere within an hour, and bike just as about as fast as I can drive (huzzah for Cal's bike friendly roads). So, to save money and to get into summer beach swimwear shape, I have shunned the truck and have used green alternatives to getting around. The photos on this post are from a typical walk down to the Lighthouse and back from the house, about a 3 mile round trip. And like so many days since I've been here (and all on the west coast know what I am taking about) it was a cold and wet day. The first shot is of the eastern side of the Boardwalk (an historic family amusement park) from the tressle bridge crossing the San Lorenzo River (which runs through SC).

On the other side of the tressle bridge, a look at the famous wooden roller coaster - the Big Dipper. No, I haven't ridden it yet but it looks awesome.

Keep on going a mile down the beach, past the boardwalk and the dozens of volleyball courts, and up west cliff and you come to a wide walkwalk overlooking the wharf and Cowell's break. This is where I went surfing for the first time. Cowell's is the beginner's break in town and I was lucky enough one day to be offered a free board and wetsuit rental. I said "hell yes, please!" and walked it down to the beach looking very fine in my tight wetsuit and longboard. After that point, I'm afraid the coolness stopped as I proceeded to learn the hard way how to surf by getting thrashed (well, as much as you can on waist high waves) and then not making that mistake again. However, by the time I was too tired to paddle anymore I had successfully stood up several times and even executed a small bottom turn. Not bad for teaching myself. It really was an awesome time and I've met a few people since then that have offered to take me out again, but the opportunity has not been there yet. Hopefully I'll snag someone to take some shots.

The end of the wharf. I like to walk down to the tip of the wharf and look down the holes cut in the decking to see the sea lions perched on the platforms. They climb up there when the tide is in and then relax while the tide is out.

Continue walking down west cliff and you come to Lighthouse Point and the famous surf spot, Steamer Lane. Anyday there will always be someone out there surfing, and its fun to go hang out and watch the action, though hear that the surfers call them vultures. The Lighthouse is actually a surfing museum and along the walkway there are memorials to both those that have died surfing Steamers and those who have excelled at it.

And here's a set at Steamer. Looks like so much fun.....

A few other updates:
* I have registered for summer school at UCSC and am now working the dance to find the best hours for work and school.
* Just the other day I rode my bike up to Henry Cowell Redwood State Park and walked among the famous redwood grove. A beautiful place.
* Right now I am at a fellow Patagonia employee's residence catsitting. I'm using her wireless and it is amazingly fast for uploading pictures. Not a wild Friday night in Santa Cruz, but I have to work in the morning and was up late last night having a dinner party with a few friends. Only in California will you work 4 hours to make and eat organic lasagna (It was delicish).

All for now. Take care!

Erin

2006-04-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

Hey folks... It's me, Bhodi. Sorry that I won't have much to say in this posting, but Erin took care of it all on her own while I was busy getting ready for my Summer sailing season on the Appledore IV and dealing with my licensing issues.

Anyway.. I think that my love did a GREAT job on this one, so for more from me, you will just have to check back for more info on my time on the lakes this Summer.

Cheers!

--Bhodi

2006-04-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

229 Pearl Street, our new home...

After nearly two weeks on the road, visiting friends and family along the way, my tired but resilient truck pulls onto Pearl Street, Santa Cruz, CA. We don't get to move in right away, as the previous tenants still haven't moved out, so we hunker down in the smaller house in the back of the lot and take in our surroundings. Unfortunately, the part of the coast was experiencing torrential downpours, even for the rainy season, so we moved quickly from one sight to the next. Because the rain, we didn't take many shots of the town, so those will be included in an upcoming post. This one is all about the new house...

A shot of the front taken from Pearl Street. We have our own driveway (yeah!!! It's amazing how the simple things will excite you.). The front lawn is essential one big garden that will come into its own after a little TLC from a hired gardener (paid for by the landlord). There is a narrow pathway to the left that leads back to another garden and the other, smaller house. And yes, that is a white pickett fence. :)

The home entertainment/studying center. For those of you from the Lady/Bill/Chieftain, you might recognize the Tiki (from the mizzen truck of the Chieftain in Sacramento). He feels right at home in Santa Cruz.

Kitchen. Nice, large, but has ants (you see the blue spray can on the right). Its a continuing battle.

Ahh... how I've dreamed of having my own expresso machine (a gift from my mom). I swear this puppy will keep me away from expensive fru, fru drinks at Starbucks.

Nice, warm wood stove. Gives Bhodi an outlet for his playing-with-fire urges.

Speaking of which, a self portrait. The ladder leads up into the sleeping loft.

The loft. About four feet of head clearance at the peak, with two skylights over the mattress. The loft is located right over the wood stove so its nice and cozy. The Pride scarf is covering a small window that overlooks the back garden.

Its unbelievable how many books I have, and these are just mine. This shot, as you can guess, was taken from the loft. The sides of the loft are open, so rolling out of the bed has some serious consequences.

And if you came to visit us, this is where we would put you, the outer bedroom. This small skylight lit box came with the house and we are using it for storage, but with a little work it could convert nicely to a guest room (it's carpeted and insulated). For those of you that are claustrophobic, we also have a futon that is open.

And now, the star of the show... Foxy, our new kitten. It was very hard for Bhodi and I to get these photos, as she rarely stays still for a moment. We adopted her from the SPCA and she took to us and the house surprisingly quick. She's a year old and definitely has a mind of her own. Also quite the acrobat, she kept me up all last night by bringing her toys up into the loft and playing with them until I finally stuffed them all under the mattress.

The queen atop her cave.

Such a cute kitty. We both feel lucky to have found her.

And that's it for now. More pictures to come of Santa Cruz, the university, and hopefully of me in my new sport: surf kayaking. Take care!

In Florida....

2006-04-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

<--- My family= top row: Bhodi, me, Aunt Rose, Christina, Mom; bottom row: Uncle Jim, Cousin Jon, Dad (gotta love that shot).

Good day friends and family! Long time, and no blogging. Here's the scoop on our happenings since Bhodi and I departed France. After a really long day and a half of travelling we arrived in Tampa Bay, Florida, minus half our baggage but warmly greeted by my family. I have to say I was a little apprehensive about the finacee-family meeting, as Bhodi was literally meeting my whole family at once, since the Christmas party was hosted by my parents this year (some 40 odd relatives attending). But it went great, topped by a champagne toast by my parents to our engagement (a near teary moment for me). Then to Jacksonville to visit with Bhodi's family and then back to Tampa Bay for New Years. Initially, our time in Florida was planned to be a visit between sailing gigs. However, the positions we were offered out west fell through and we decided to stay on in Florida for three months.

However, we didn't just twiddle our thumbs. We both took jobs on land and in between, spent time with the folks and took advantage of our Christmas present from them: season passes to Busch Gardens!

Bhodi's favorite roller coaster: Montu

Dad and I with Lory birds on our shoulders. They line up all day if you have this small cup of liquid sugar (which costs 3 bucks by the way).
Makes me wonder what kind of withdrawl these birds would have if we took it away.

And, you cannot be in Tampa Bay in February and miss one of its biggest festivals - Gasparilla. All the people you see on this barge/pirate ship are the city's wealthest/most successful businessmen and women. Today is there day to get drunk and stand up in the "rigging" with unlanyarded beer bottles. Ouch.

At the end of March, with my acceptance into the geophysics graduate department of University of California, Santa Cruz, Bhodi and I packed our bags, bought a topper for my little energizer bunny Isuzu truck, and took another trip across America: 3,250 miles long.