Lyn's Log, 20th February 2009
San Diego, part 2

San Diego, California
N32º43', W117º14'
19,888 miles.

Our sailing year started on 10th February as we arrived back in San Diego from England. The New Year had begun with us suffering sub-zero temperatures in England and more snow than the country has seen in a very long time. We brought in the New Year in Crawley with my daughters Nicola and Stephanie, and their partners Jason and Justin, in a traditionally drunken state. Christmas itself we had enjoyed in Plymouth with Andrew’s family. During the eight weeks we were in England we drove 4,500 miles between Plymouth, Dover, Colchester, Malvern and Kettering visiting family and friends and keeping doctors’ and dentist’s appointments. It was great seeing everyone and we are grateful for all the accommodation provided, but it was a logistic nightmare fitting in when and where we had to be in various parts of the country. Somehow we managed not to get stuck in the snow and, with twenty-four hours of rain prior to our departure, the flights were not delayed and our return to San Diego was uneventful.

Andrew’s niece, Rebecca, who gave birth to twins after only 25 weeks, was allowed to have them home for the first time on Christmas afternoon and we were able to see the occasion, which made front-page news locally, via Skype and the web cam. The babies then came home permanently after another few days, along with an oxygen cylinder for one of them! They were all doing fine until Rebecca slipped on the ice in February and fractured her elbow.

Andrew’s doctors have signed him off. He is off all medication and though his sight is not brilliant it could continue to improve. He will still need monitoring from time to time. We have a load of drugs 'just in case'.

Back in San Diego, our friends Bert and Jane picked us up from the airport, and Brad and Deborah took us shopping. We had a great night at the yacht club for Valentines’ night, with an excellent meal and dancing to requested love songs. The Chula Vista Yacht Club are a great group of people and we really enjoyed spending time with them. Stephanie in the California Yacht Marina office was also very generous to us. It was a wrench to have to leave them yesterday and move back to the police dock in San Diego.

From here we clear out of the USA with the border control, do a last bit of shopping, and then depart in the early morning of Friday 20th to sail to Ensenada, Mexico.