After buying and moving aboard Camille Thanksgiving 2011 we set sail for Ensenada, Mexico just a short week later. With Ensenada being just a couple of hours from the border we were able to head back to California to easily buy gear we wanted to add to Camille.

January we celebrated Mike’s birthday, continued installing gear like solar panels and watermaker, got a new dinghy, explored Ensenada and made countless trips back to San Diego.

After some final trips to San Diego to buy food and to sell the van we were finally ready to leave at the end of February. At the last minute we bought a used SUP which fit perfectly under the new solar panels. On our way south along the Baja Peninsula we arrived at our first anchorage in Turtle Bay.

March and Turtle Bay brought our first storm at anchor – and a sand storm to boot! When we finally made it out of Turtle Bay we sailed for Cabo. Our first warm water destination.

In April we sailed across to Puerto Vallarta on the mainland to meet up with my parents on their boat. A couple of weeks later we headed over to Mazatlan and then back across to Baja to start exploring the Sea of Cortez.

May brought our first visitors. Together with Mike’s parents we explored the national park islands near La Paz.

In June we continued exploring the Sea, but with the start of hurricane season our time was running out. We visited some great anchorages as far north as Loreto and found a new use for the SUP.

In July we made our way back to Puerto Vallarta where we would be spending hurricane season. We beat against the wind to La Paz and then back across the Sea to Mazatlan. On our way to Puerto Vallarta we came across a sea turtle entangled in derelict fishing gear and were able to set it free!

In August we explored around Puerto Vallarta and spent a lot of time at the resort’s pool. We rented a car and took a roadtrip into the mountains to get away from the heat.

In September we had special guests fly in for the TV series Travel Secrets Mexico and then my mom and I flew to Germany to visit family.

We spent all of October in California. The main reason was to upgrade and renew our captains licenses but also to get away from the heat. Now we are both 100 ton nearshore masters! We lived out of a rented mini van and visited every national park from the Mexican border to Yosemite.

November was spent waiting for the heat to subside – which it eventually did – in December. We finally got a sunshade between the bimini and dodger and spent lots of time on the beach.

In December Mike won third place in a SUP race and we spent Christmas with my folks who are still here as well.

With hurricane season finally over we had planned on heading south after Christmas. Right now I’m sitting here with a bad cough and it’s pouring rain. We haven’t seen any rain since the end of the rainy season in September and I haven’t been sick since 2011. So I guess we’re not meant to go quite yet. Oh well, maybe mañana….