June ‘94

*Additional notes may appear in italics after my mom’s initial journal entries.
A ladybug means you should check the comments at the bottom of the page to see what Mom has chimed in on after reading these!




June 8, 1994
We finally made it to San Diego, California and moved on to the boat.
We have done a lot of cleaning, painted the deck and wood work. John has cleaned the engine room, changed the oil and lots of other work projects to get ready to go.

*This is where it all began! Mom and Dad bought the boat here, and after selling our house and most everything we owned, we packed up the rest and fit it into our 1980 Islander Freeport 41. I still remember my first time stepping aboard and exploring all her nooks and crannies. I remember running back and forth from the cockpit to my room and back again. I will forever remember every detail of her interior.
I will clear up the details with Mom, but I remember the most previous owners’ plans had not panned out and they had to sell. Bummer for them but lucky for us! She touted a very seventies color scheme with brown, tans, burnt orange and gold accenting everything. She was named Te Manu at the time, which Google tells me is Maori for The Bird. I love it! I have never really thought about our vessel’s life before us, which is wild because she had a very full one! I do know that she had been around the world twice before we called her home. What I would give to see her ship-logs and learn about the beautiful, exotic places she’d been! Maybe one day I can still get my hands on them - I believe I’ll see her again one day and I trust she’ll be as beautiful as ever! Here are photos of her interior when we got her, as well as photos of the haul out and inspection for purchase.

This became my little hang-out spot right away when we first moved on the boat. That’s my trusty cassette player I had which was, at this time, regularly blasting Salt 'n’ Peppa’s Very Necessary album, which one of my sisters had sent down with me along with an assortment of others. This absolutely cracks me up, especially to think of little me memorizing every line, whether I understood it or not. 😅 I had also just gotten into Pogs; although I don’t remember how. I just suddenly had a bunch! I didn’t even understand how to play, I just loved all the designs and artwork! Of course I did.
All the bench seats around me have mostly food storage, and even behind the back-rests. The toolbox definitely did not stay there long, and the clock-looking pieces on the wall are gauges to help us monitor the weather. One is the barometer and I’ll have to be reminded what the other is. Momma, what is it?! There were three, right, barometer, clock and ___? 🐞

 

June 10, 1994
We took Samie to Sea World; she said “It was the best day of her life.”

*I remember this day! My parents told me we were going swimming and the next thing I know, we’re pulling into Sea World. I was obsessed with Orcas after Free Willy had come out the year previous. I was over the moon to see Shamu and everything else Sea World had to offer. I started a scrapbook at this time with all the brochures from Sea World. I spent hours cutting out photos and writing about things we saw and did there. It seems I’m still into the same kind of nonsense!🙃  

 

June 11, 1994
Finally got all our stuff put away so that we could take our bout out for the 1st time. We went out to bouy 1 and played around for a while, but there was no wind. The house finally closed escrow today.

Happy Birthday John #46.

*I think it’s so awesome that our first sail together on the Star was on Dad’s birthday. What a wonderful birthday treat!

 

*Dad’s 19’ sailboat which he had on our pond and would take out to one of the many lakes nearby where we lived, in Lakeside, Az. They’re all dressed up for my sister’s wedding in the summer of ‘93. Fun fact: my parents got married here just a few months later. 29 years after that, Danielle’s oldest son, Chase, would get married there, and 2 years later, so would her middle son, Reece. The pond has since been filled in, but I enjoyed watching Reece say his vows earlier this month in exactly this spot with our old house directly beyond where the ceremony was held. It was a fun moment for me - making new memories and watching Reece say his vows, while also getting lost in some of my very first memories which were formed in that house. All memories which all make me smile. 🥰 It’s funny to me, that photo was taken from exactly where I was at the ceremony. The photo of my parents on the grass in our beautiful front yard was on their wedding day, and it was the first photo I ever took. To note: Dad has always had the most beautiful yard on the block; he’s as fantastic with grass yards and garden flowers as he is with engines and electronics. I had to add my photo from that day because of course I dressed like a pirate on my parent’s wedding day. 😉 Then you’ve got the Bon Voyage week at Navopache Electric, where my parents had put in their two weeks’ notice and were about to venture off into the wild blue ocean. Dad’s white legs make me chuckle every time. And you can bet you’re booty you’ll find ‘before-and-after sailling’ photos of my parents at some point. 😎

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July ‘94