May ‘01
*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!
May 1, Tuesday
San Carlos
We came on in to our same slip. We are all so tired and didn’t get too much done – anchor chain cleaned and put back.
Roger and Darian, Ahora, were leaving for San Marte to see Storm Haven as we came in – missed ‘em again.
May 2, Wednesday
We got all four of the sails washed down and bagged.
May 3, Thursday
Happy Bday, Janet
I talked to Grace, Nanamuk, this morning. They have made it to Mag Bay, getting fuel and pulling out today to get farther north.
THE FLIES ARE AWFUL.
We got all the sheet lines down. Samie spent some time at the internet café.
Cloudy, cool and 10k west all day.
May 4, Friday
Went around the jetty to play with Seager in the surf. Nice day!
May 5, Saturday
Cindo de Mayo
Happy 6th Birthday, Schyler!
We took the boat to the fuel dock early – 395.5 litros, $1870 pesos - $207.00 US dollars.
Samie spent a couple hours at the internet café – talked to Goon on the computer phone.
John changed the genset oil and main engine oil.
We met Bill and Velinda Barrington at Tequila’s for dinner. They got here today for their first anniversary.
Hearing the latest version of the same old shit doesn’t make us want to hurry back.
As we came down the hill into the marina, we could see the “Three Sisters” – 3 high mountains on the Baja side, 70 miles away. Beautiful full moon coming up over the Goat Tit Mountain.
Called Schyler for his birthday, he’s sounding so grown up, 6.
Samie was only a year older when we started cruising.
*I had to do some research to figure out what Mom was talking about. I didn’t find any nearby mountain ranges by this name, but the 3D map leads me to believe these are the mountains Mom was referring to. I also highlighted the road from San Carlos to Marina Real. I miss this place. If I ever do get the Star back, I would love to sail her back to Baja and have Marina Real be her home port.
May 6, Sunday
San Carlos
Beautiful and warm, only a 10k breeze later on.
At 2 pm we went into Guaymas for dinner at Michael’s house. He is crew for the marina owner’s boat. Wonderful guy, we have known him for 3 years now. He, his wife Maria, daughter and son are all very nice. Though it’s hard with our little Spanish and their little English. Still, we enjoyed the afternoon.
*I remember going here - but of course, I only remember watching TV and one of the new song releases that really impacted me that year. I remember being moved to tears, hearing the song and watching the video. Music has always had a huge influence on me.
May 7, Monday
Calm, hot - 90°, the breeze kicked in 15k around 3 pm. Good thing Storm Haven was all backed into their slip before the breeze came up. Bob caught 2 small dorado and they shared with us at dinner.
Bill and Velinda stopped by for a while.
May 8, Tuesday
We went with Bob and Cynthia to Jax Snax for dinner, coming back into the marina we saw a bobcat walk across the road, pick up a dead kitty cat and walk off. There was also another dead kitten there.
May 13, Sunday
San Carlos
*Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy!
I LOVE YOU!! – Samie Kinney*
We didn’t see too much of Velinda and Bill, they went home Saturday.
Rick and Brent Garsha came down with several other guys and were out fishing 4-6 miles off shore in Dos Maria when the intake on the exhaust broke and they were taking on water – bilge quit and another boat went out to tow them in. Exciting – NOT.
We had Louis re-cover the front seats in the van – material and padding (a close match) and labor for $90 US. He did a great job.
Talked to my mom today, she’s gonna have Mother’s Day dinner at Janet and Andy’s.
*$90 dollars US?! That made me do a double-take. What a deal.
*We must have gone out to dinner for Mother’s Day. I remember taking this photo with Cynthia. Wish we would have gotten one with Mom, too!
May 14, Monday
San Carlos
Busy with this and that. John and Bob went diving – scallops.
May 15, Tuesday
John and I went out for 5 hours with Bob and Cyn on Storm Haven fishing – only caught 2, and 1 of the dorado got away. For dinner, we all had scallops, dorado, steak, beans and macaroni salad – wonderful.
It has been really hot and no wind.
May 16, Wednesday
John was still in bed when the sun came up at 5 am – I knew he must be sick – and he was. He threw up and had the shits all night. Maybe too much sun yesterday. It has been terribly hot - 90° - and humid. He didn’t do too much – took it pretty easy.
I packed the van and got a lot done.
May 17, Thursday
San Carlos
John’s feeling better – we finished things up – at 6 am the wind started blowing, so we hustled and left Marina Real an hour early. Samie drove the boat all the way around to Bahia San Carlos and held us in a neutral spot while we waited to go into the ramp and haul out. We had 10-15k SE and small swell.
We had some paint blisters, so they’re gonna work on that. Hope it doesn’t end up worse.
Samie spent a couple hours at the internet café while John and I finished up on the boat.
Stayed at Motel Creston, had dinner with Bob and Cynthia at Jax Snax. They plan to head out Sun or Mon.
It's so hard to leave San Carlos – such a pretty place – I miss the ocean most.
**I type these last entries from Mom just 11 days after the 23-year mark, as it is May 28, 2024 as I finish transcribing these. Of course I cried, and am touched to know that I was at the helm of my sweet Star on our last trip together in the Sea. I can’t grasp loving anything the way I love that boat, and I still hold on to a dream of her being mine again, one day. ❤ Thank you so much for dedicating time each night to record these memories, Mom – all these years later, it means so much to be able to look back on our most amazing years on the ocean. I can never state enough how much the whole experience meant to me. I love you! **
August 27, 2026 - 25 years later:
*Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I’m finally rounding out this project, 3 years after starting it!
From transcribing Mom’s original journals to designing and completing this whole site, the process has been a great labor of love. I truly enjoyed every part of allocating, scanning and organizing thousands of photos, as well as locating our (thankfully already digitized) videos, editing them, uploading them and making them viewable here in order to really give a full perspective of our memories. My curious mind enjoyed researching all sorts of extra information, details and locations mentioned along the way. Some weeks, especially in the beginning and the end here, I went into hyper-focus mode and spent 10-12 hours per day on the project. Sometimes, I burnt myself out and took incredibly extensive breaks (erm, a full year, most recently 😬). This last month I have spent almost every day recounting the last 3 seasons of our time on the Wandrin’ Star and, as nice as it will be to know this project is finally complete, it also saddens me that it is over. All along the way, things from the stories have lined up perfectly with events that were currently happening in my life, with such impeccable timing that I couldn’t help but take notice and laugh. It has all been so perfect, and such a gift in itself. I am so glad that Mom and I kept these journals, and so very grateful for every photo and video taken, which help us keep these memories alive.
My parents and I have loved revisiting these years and even regained some memories that we had forgotten over time. It has felt like we were on this adventure all over again; seeing these places for the first time, meeting our beloved friends and overcoming challenges together. I feel like this endeavor has helped me get closer to my dad, too - keeping in touch with him about updates and asking questions here and there. Any time Mom would tell him there was a new post up, he’d get a big ol’ grin, finish up what he was doing and get to the computer right away. They both have thanked me several times for bringing these to life, and I have thanked them repeatedly for making it all happen in the first place.
I have decided to put together one more post after this: a follow-up which will share what we were up to after all this and where we are now.
So, while this is not the final post, it is the last of our memories in Mexico.
✨Cheers to my parents.
Cheers to following dreams and pursuing the path less taken.
Cheers to life on the sea and the majestic wonders of the open ocean.
Most of all, cheers to our beloved Wandrin’ Star.
Thanks for taking such good care of us, sweet girl. Thanks for harboring us through every storm, every wave and gust of wind. Thanks for everything you taught us, every dream you brought to fruition, every memory you made even better. You were never just a boat to us. You were, and still are, more like a family member. We knew your every nook and cranny. Dad had repaired, sanded, painted or varnished damn near every piece and part of you along the way. For every ounce of care we put into you, you matched our effort and took care of us.
I will always remember my first and last days with you. Who knows, maybe one day I will call you my home again and bring this whole thing full circle.✨
We love you, girl. ❤
Thanks for all the memories.
Did you miss the beginning? You can start fresh here:
https://www.trh.space/crewsquarters
