s/v Field Trip

I know, I know, we have orphaned you all in our blog absence.  You feel alone, abandoned, and scared.  Wondering where you will get your next adventure fix.  Fear not, we are here.  Well, Mark is somewhere on the coast of northern Brazil and I am in snowy Colorado, but we are both thankfully connected to you and each other now that we have internet access that has more than a smidgen of bandwidth.  I have been piggybacking on my neighbor's wireless, and Mark is in a marina now with fast access (not in the travel plan, but enjoying the access nonetheless).  Ahhh, how wonderful it feels to be reunited with high-speed.  Snuggling up in the familiar arms of Google searches and video streaming. I have been following Mark via his Facebook posts, as many of you have, but while he has been sailing and catching fish for dinner, I have been trying to dip my toes back in suburbia without being totally sucked into the whirlpool of play dates, commercialism and Direct TV.  In all honesty,

A great crew is important.  It's even more important on a new boat. On the surface we probably look a little unruly.  Different languages,  backgrounds, experiences and minimal showers (grin).  Dig a little deeper, we are kindred spirits. All of us love sailing.  We are driven and enjoy hard work.  And....we were consultants!  Yep.  Small world.  Diego is an alumni of Deloitte and Carlos Bain Consulting. We have lists, project plans, status reports, more lists, and more spreadsheets than your average sailing crew.  Carlos whips out a report on an issue, documents all the details and emails to us diagnostics.  In short, we're having a blast, and performing great as a team.  Together we are turning what could have been a fairly challenging trip into a seamless, well oiled machine.  We have literally gone from 'Good to Great' in a week. We're off today for Ilha Grande (Rio de Janeiro).  Watch out Poseidon, we have a crew of consultants ready to tackle any is

“Wise men count their blessings;  fools their problems.”--Unknown You have heard stories, seen photos, and still can’t imagine the chaos that the past few weeks have brought for our family.    Mark has been in overdrive with spreadsheets and checklists.   And as he was running circles around the rest of us in a frenzy of final boat logistics and mechanical details, I have simply tried to do what Moms do best… hold down the fort.   It was a flashback of the days when Mark was in the rat race of corporate America, and I was home changing diapers and reading bedtime stories.    We knew these roles well.   Only in the past few months had we gotten a taste of “the good life” with overlapping roles and family time.   In many ways, our quality time together in that little Buenos Aires apartment had unknowingly prepared us and restored us enough to tackle the obstacles of these past few weeks.   And in the midst of the chaos, we had some very sweet moments.   In my attempt