From sea to desert to sea...

For the last 8 weeks we've been drying out. We traded the hot humid sea-level climate of Costa Rica for the very hot super dry 2,388' above sea level Sonoran desert and Catalina Mountain foothills. Our skin was dry and scaly. We have even felt a chill in the 90 degree pool, when the outside air is 115 degrees.

Dylan joined us for a trip to the Grand Canyon via Sedona Arizona after his graduation.

After the exciting weeks before & after Dylan's graduation from the University of Arizona our productivity slowed to a crawl. We've traded our never ending TO DO lists with aimless afternoons binge watching tv shows we've missed, hosting family members and friends from all over the US and spending lots & lots of time with our son Dylan. (Note: if you ever find yourself offering to help someone move in Arizona in the summer, I would recommend doing it at 3 AM and not 1 PM in the afternoon.)

On our roadtrip to the Grand Canyon with a stop at Montezuma Castle National Monument

A wise leader once told me, everything has to come in cycles if it is to be sustainable. There are sprints when you run & 'give it your all' (work, play, whatever) -- but then you must also have cycles when you wait out the sprint and just rest. Well enough with the resting -- and onto the July sprint!

The beautiful San Xavier Del Bac Mission on the outskirts of Tucson Arizona

So now we are ramping back up and pulling ourselves out of our lazy funk. We are getting our crew organized for the WorldARC rally that starts in February. (There are still a few open legs if you've been hankering for some offshore sailing, amazing ports and some good fun! See our schedule here.) We are figuring out how to ship our new rigging to Panama. We are scheduling a few more flights so we can be with our family again this winter. We are planning our journey from Costa Rica to Panama's west coast.

We were ready for the journey -- if only the photo showed how heavy these bags are!

Four days ago, we flew into Costa Rica with four 50 pound duffel bags and 2 max sized carry ons. We had a 10 hour layover in LAX (6 hours outside of security and 4 hours inside). After being awake for 30 hours, then we proceeded to sleep for the next 12. Priority numero Uno in Costa Rica. Fix our toilets--they were both out of commission. Not exactly the homecoming anyone wants, but one that definitely needed attention and is necessary for crew happiness. We knew they both needed repair and had brought many spares with us. Unfortunate to have them both fail around the same time. Other than the toilets, we found the boat to be generally in good condition upon our return. There weren't big piles of mold only a few very small harmless bugs.

The lush greenery surprised us when we landed in Costa Rica. It was a dramatic contrast from when we first arrived.

We've now unpacked all the spares we brought with us and are starting to get the systems back online. Dan got the heads (toilets) working. We've scrambled to get provisions, fill the propane tanks for cooking, scuba tanks & water tanks and have completed the government checkout procedures to our next major port (Golfito Costa Rica). Onward.

At anchor in Bahia Panama, a beautiful small bay just a few miles from the marina for our first night back on the 'hook' (read: without A/C)