Life and Adventures in the Last Frontier: Sunsets Aboard Sol Searching

In the fall of 2007, we bought a 26' MacGregor and spent our first night on the hook on Big Lake, located just north of Wasilla, Alaska. Mostly, I remember the beautiful sunset, star filled skies, and our first of many conversations in the cockpit planning the places we needed to explore in this powersailor boat we named "Sol Searching."

Gus, Wyatt, and I aboard Sol Searching on Big Lake.

Between work, family, and house obligations, we were able to squeeze many hours of sailing, fishing, and exploring in Alaska's waters.

Sunset in Port Graham near Homer, Alaska

Kachemak Bay in Homer, Prince William Sound in Whitter, and Resurrection Bay in Seward were the ports and places we visited most often during the Summers of 2008 and 2009. I never dreamed of going beyond Alaska with Sol Searching. I thought the idea of "Sol" meant finding the few pieces of sunshine that Alaska offers each summer.

Perry Island, Prince William Sound

But sometimes life takes a different turn. This happens when one person in the relationship thinks of a crazy idea and the other one is crazy enough to say, "Sure, why not." And it works our best for things to go this way. Sailing takes a lot of time, energy, and money; couples need to buy into the idea together or get used to the idea of spending a lot of time apart. Luckily we were both on the same page. Bryant and a buddy trailered "Sol Searching" to San Carlos, Mexico in November of 2009. After a few days of hard pack rutted snow on the Alaska Highway, they eventually found better roads through the mainland of U.S., then south toward San Carlos, Mexico and of course, some "Sol." His buddy predicted that this boat would never see Alaskan waters again.

Sunset from Bahia San Pedro north of San Carlos

After a few vacations in San Carlos cruising the eastern side of the Sea of Cortez, we wanted to go further west where the sunset. There wasn't a ripple in the water on that 15 hour motor crossing to Bahia Conception on the Baja. When we couldn't make it back across a week later due to rough seas, we had to rethink our plan and only being vacation cruisers, the option of "waiting out weather" didn't exist. Eventually, Bryant flew across to Guaymas and drove the trailer back around with the truck we had in San Carlos. At the end of our vacation, the boat and trailer stayed in Baja and we drove the truck back home to Alaska.

Santa Rosalia Boat Harbor

The Baja Cruising Guide book became tattered and torn as we worked our way in and around the islands and coastline between Santa Rosalia and La Paz. It didn't take long for 2010, to roll into 2011, and then 2012. We visited Mexico a lot more than I had ever dreamed I'd visit Mexico. This past January while we were on an after Christmas vacation basing out of Marina Palmira in La Paz, we decided to list "Sol Searching" with La Paz Yachts. We hit a point where we were revisiting spots we had already seen and as fun as it is to be on the boat, being an absent owner was taking its toll on the Captain.

Anchored in Ballandra near La Paz

Within 3 months, we had someone interested and it wasn't long before "Sol Searching" had new Canadian owners, who planned on keeping the boat on the Baja. A few evenings later, Bryant was downstairs on his laptop and I was upstairs on the desktop and we both had "Craigslist" open and looking at what sailboats were for sale. While we both agree we don't want to get into another boat investment while we are still working full-time, we haven't closed off the option of traveling and exploring by sailboat when we have a little more leisure time. I guess time will tell . . . . but most of all, I'll miss the sunsets.