Vivo O Sonho | Living the Dream

- Why I Wear Orange on Saint Patrick’s Day
  
  Posted at 10:13 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on March 17, 2019
  
  My parents were both born in Belfast, Northern Ireland but St. Patrick’s day was never celebrated in our house. Why, you ask? Because we are proud Orange-Irish! (Or British, or English, depending on who you ask.)
  
  Growing up, my sister Jacqueline and I were NEVER allowed to wear green to school. We would try to sneak out the door and Daddy would turn us about saying, “No child of mine is wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day. Go and put on your orange.” No matter how we pleaded about getting pinched, Daddy was always true to his heritage. And I passed that on to my children and grandchildren.
  
  And just what is the difference between “Orange” and “Green” Irish? The easy answer is “Orange” is Protestant and “Green” is Catholic. The hard answer is a deep delve into a long-standing battle for political power that has little to do with religion, in my humble opinion. What follows is my own take on it, provided by stories handed down by my Nana and Daddy and a bit of research. I’m not trying to sugar-coat any of it; the Irish have shed far too much blood in the name of so-called “pride.”
  
  And now, for your reading pleasure and education, my annual explanation on why this 100% Irish, first generation American, wears Orange on St. Patrick’s Day.
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  Posted in Story Shelf | 0 Comments | Tagged BoatingLife, GalleyCooking, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, NorthernIreland, OrangeIrish, ShortStory, StPatricksDay, Tayana, TinyKitchen
- Nopales (Cactus) Salad
  
  Posted at 9:26 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on January 21, 2023
  
  I love trying new ingredients, especially when they are unique and fresh to a region. Currently, I’m living in La Paz, Mexico, and am in love with the fresh fruits and vegetables which can readily be found in supermercados (supermarkets), small local market stalls, farmer’s markets, and even convenience stores (OXXO is the most common corner store; similar to an American 7-11).
  
  Unlike America, where a great deal of produce is picked and shipped in from other countries before it has fully matured, the most plentiful and popular Mexican produce is grown nearby and offered fully ripe. Cactus is in abundance and inexpensive.
  
  Prickly pear cactus leaves have become a favorite ingredient of mine. They taste similar to a slightly tart green bean when eaten raw, and a bit like a green bell pepper when cooked. They produce a gelatinous substance when cut, not unlike okra. Some people find this slimy texture off-putting and it can be removed by cooking, which I prefer. It sounds weird, but by boiling the cactus with the husk of a tomatillo, the gel is absorbed into the husk and there is no slime! You can also cook out the gel by sauteing, which I do when adding to eggs, etc.
  
  Most often you’ll find the leaves (called pads) with the needles removed. If not, gloves and a sharp knife are required to cut off the needles and outer vein. Look for smaller sized, firm pads and use within a few days or wrap tightly and refrigerate for up to two weeks. If they become limp, they are beyond their prime and will have lost their crunchiness but can still be used in soups until mold develops.
  
  Cactus contains beta carotene, iron, B vitamins, and are good sources of both vitamin C and calcium. Research has showed that it contains anti-viral and antioxidant properties, protects nerve cells, may reduce cholesterol and eliminate hangovers.
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  Posted in In the Galley | 0 Comments | Tagged BoatingLife, Cruising, GalleyCooking, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, SailingCook, TinyKitchen, VivaLaMexico, VivoOSonho
- Cruising Preparation on a Fast Track
  
  Posted at 3:20 pm by Heidi Benson Stagg, on January 14, 2023
  
  Feliz Año Nuevo (Happy New Year) from La Paz, the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur! We left San Diego, California on November 22^nd with Aaron’s dad, Jim Stagg, and our 10-year-old grandson, Cody Wood, and our Chiweenie, Tiki, and arrived in San Jose del Cabo on Mon., December 5^th. It was more often a rough ride than not, but was also filled with memories that we all will treasure forever. (More details in a future post.)
  
  From San Jose del Cabo, Aaron and I headed north, up the Sea of Cortez, arriving at La Paz on Fri., December 23^rd. The journey held unexpected delays due to weather and we were both a bit shell-shocked from transitioning to this new lifestyle. It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but also a lot of work to get to where you want to go!
  
  We have a berth in Marina de La Paz until the end of March. Berths are difficult to attain in the winter and there are long waiting lists at all marinas. We had been on a waiting list for over six months and got lucky when someone cancelled. Otherwise, we would be at anchor in Bahia La Paz and having to dinghy to and from shore and deal with making water and electricity. We won’t be in the marina the entire time, but will use it as our home base as we explore the nearby islands and anchorages and hopefully entice our family and friends to come for a visit.
  
  We’ve come to realize that we are not quite ready to completely let go of the ties to land and commit to being full-time sea gypsies just yet! Going with the flow (and winds and waves) is the motto of cruisers, and this is what feels good to us at this point in our new lifestyle.
  
  So, now that we’re stable for a few months and I have the time and internet connection to write, I’ll go back to the beginning of this journey and share some of the highlights and challenges in detail.
  
  Before we cut the docklines at Marina Village Yacht Harbor in Alameda, California, on October 10th, 2022, we had a TON of preparation to do to become self-sufficient. Being a live-aboard in a marina is a far cry from living at sea and anchor.
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  Posted in Living the Dream ... Finally!!! | 0 Comments | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, SailingCook, SailingWriter, Tayana, VivoOSonho
- Creamy Mushroom Soup
  
  Posted at 8:32 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on January 7, 2023
  I love, really love, mushrooms … raw, cooked, on pizza, in salads, definitely sauteed on steak, and most especially as the featured ingredient in a rich, creamy soup. I often make a meal of the soup, with a big chuck of buttered sourdough on the side, but it’s also a lovely starter or complement to a light main course.
  
  The key to developing the rustic flavor is to cook the mushrooms low and slow in the butter/olive oil. I personally think this is best done in a cast iron dutch oven. I use the one my Nana brought from Ireland to the United States when she immigrated to Washington State in 1946. It was her mother’s and is now over 100 years old. It is one of my most treasured galley items and infuses the secret ingredient of love into every dish.
  
  Variations:
  - Get creative with your choice of mushrooms for a slightly different flavor profile. Fresh baby portobellas and criminis are more robust than the white button variety. Dried oyster, shitaki and lobster each bring a different nuance than porcinis.
  - Make it vegan by replacing the butter and cream with dairy-free alternatives and use vegetable stock in lieu of chicken stock. Or skip the cream al together for a broth-based soup.
  - Don’t have fresh thyme or tarragon? Substitute with 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme and 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon. You can also leave out the herbs altogether.
  - Some folks prefer their mushroom soup rustic instead of pureed. Simply skip the blender step, if so.
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  Posted in In the Galley | 0 Comments | Tagged BoatingLife, Cruising, GalleyCooking, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, SailingCook, TinyKitchen, VivoOSonho
- Temporarily Disabled: An Eye-Opening Experience
  
  Posted at 6:18 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on November 10, 2022
  I’ve been extremely fortunate that, until a few weeks ago, I have never broken a bone or had a physical disability that made the. use of a wheelchair necessary.
  
  I’ve sprained my ankle and pulled a hamstring in the past. These were minor inconveniences as I still got around pretty good and I was back to my usual Energizer Bunny status fairly quickly. I’m also deaf in my left ear, but this doesn’t hamper my mobility. (Yes, it’s a “disability,” but it’s one that I can control with my BAHA (bone activated hearing aid) or ear plugs, for the most part. Since living with the slow decline in hearing over 10 years, I’ve learned to deal with it quite well and find it more annoying than disabling.)
  
  Being dependent on a wheelchair when I’m not at home on the boat has been an eye-opening experience. I’d like to share a few observations and suggestions from a temporarily disabled point of view:
  - I am very self-conscious when in public. Upon arriving at a restaurant, for instance, people turn to stare. I can understand this is just curiosity, but it makes me feel as if I am on display. Hubby often has to weave between tables, get me settled and then find a place to put the wheelchair. (And God forbid that I should need to use the restroom before the meal is over; that in itself is a royal pain and I’ve learned to “go before I go” anywhere.) Normally, I’m very confident, but this experience has shaken my ego. When you see someone in a wheelchair, don’t just look them over or through them and turn away; offer a smile and a nod to make them feel seen. We all like to feel acknowledged and welcome.
  - Access is the biggest obstacle and surprisingly very poor. Doors are tough to navigate through. Finding a ramp instead of stairs is challenging, and some ramps are extremely hard on my hubby to push/pull me up/down (especially boat ramps that become very steep with low tides). Even when a venue says it is “handicap accessible,” it may not be. Surfaces such as carpet and grass are extremely difficult for most regular-use wheelchairs. Ask if you can lend a hand when you see a person in a wheelchair and/or the caretaker struggling; hold the door for them, offer to carry a package or bag, or, if assistance is declined, show support with a “great job” comment.
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  Posted in Living the Dream ... Finally!!! | 0 Comments | Tagged accessibility, BoatingLife, disabled, handicap, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, VivoOSonho
- Living the Dream … On Stagg Time
  
  Posted at 10:10 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on November 1, 2022
  
  Captain, First Mate & First Dog with the cut dockline!
  
  We did it. We cut the docklines, backed out of the berth and left Alameda and land-life in our wake. We spent 13 years, 1 month and 9 days at Marina Village Yacht Harbor , Gate 9, Dock P, Slip 16. Funny thing is, because we lived on a boat, we were technically “homeless” the whole time. When I enrolled my son in school years ago, we were listed as “transient” because we didn’t have a permanent address. Which was true. We could have taken our home away at any time. And we finally did!
  
  It has been a very, very, very long journey to make our dream a reality. Job lay-offs, medical issues (brain tumour, hip and shoulder surgery), family needs and Covid had us believing that it was never going to happen. And frankly, until several months before we left, we were still in denial, waiting on another squall to keep us in Alameda. Were we going to be “one of those” boaters that talks the talk but never sails the sail?
  
  Then I pulled the trigger in July. I signed us up for the Baja Ha-Ha Fleet of 2022, gave my notice at work and planned our Bon Voyage Party. Hubby took a bit longer to leave his job. He felt a responsibility to finish a project for a company that couldn’t care less about him. He started researching and purchasing systems for our boat and soon realized that he couldn’t keep working and doing projects on the weekends and have us ready to go in time to meet our goal of leaving on Sept. 19 to leisurely cruise down the California Coast before meeting the Ha-Ha Fleet to sail to Mexico on Oct. 31. On August 1, he gave his two-week notice and retired after 34 dedicated years of service as an IBEW 595 Union Electrician. Then he promptly caught Covid (parting gift from a co-worker) and dove in headfirst to 24/7 boat work.
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  Posted in Living the Dream ... Finally!!! | 1 Comment | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, SailingWriter, Tayana, TinyKitchen, VivoOSonho, Writing Sailor
- International Blogger goes Adrift
  
  Posted at 2:22 pm by Heidi Benson Stagg, on June 5, 2022
  
  We have a running joke in my family that because I have a few followers from other countries, that I’m an “International Blogger” and the “celebrity status” has gone to my head. It’s said very tongue-in-cheek with many eyerolls and laughter.
  
  The truth is that I am very proud of the planning and hard work I put in to launch this blog back in April 2018. This was when we believed that we would finally Live the Dream that Aaron and I had since buying Sonho in 2009. I would blog about our preparations to cut the docklines and circumnavigate the globe beginning in April 2019.
  
  I blogged at least once a week. Every. Single. Week. For almost three years. And I really had grown a huge following from people all over the world. Even when we had to put off our plans to go cruising in 2019, I still posted recipes from my tiny kitchen and fictional short stories. I was a Writer.
  
  The pandemic took the wind out of my sails. My entire life shifted and I no longer knew who I was. I wasn’t a cruiser, I wasn’t a writer, I wasn’t making a difference in the corporate world. I was basically a responder to the needs of others. Being of service brings me great joy so I did find happiness in keeping a nice home for my husband, home-schooling my Grands and working as an administrative assistant at Beth Chaim synagogue.
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  Posted in Random Topics | 1 Comment | Tagged Cruising, LivingTheDream, SailingWriter, VivoOSonho, Writing Sailor
- It’s GO Time … September 18, 2022
  
  Posted at 10:22 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on January 29, 2022
  
  What is GO Time? According to the Urban Dictionary, “go time is a phrase to say when it is time to undergo a task and get serious about doing something.” It’s time for Aaron and Heidi Stagg to get serious about leaving the safety and security of being tied to land and venture out on Sonho to Live Our Dream on the open ocean and in foreign coves of warm, turquoise water.
  
  Life at the marina means room on the dock for toys, chairs and other fun stuff as well as easy access to power, water, groceries and services.
  
  For us, “GO” is also short for “GET OUT” as in “Get Out the Golden Gate!” We bought Sonho for the sole purpose of living aboard and crossing oceans and are determined to see that vision become reality.
  
  In January, it’s cold and feels like a very long time until my favorite season of fall. It’s a little over 7 months and precisely 232 days from today (January 29, 2022) to September 18th. We’ve lived aboard for almost 13 years now, so you’d think we could just throw off the docklines and head to sea. It’s not that simple.
  
  Life at the marina includes readily available water, electricity and garbage service. We simply plug in for energy needs and pull the hose out to fill our water tanks. We take our trash and recycling to shared refuse cans and someone else hauls it away. A pump-out boat comes to our slip, sucks out and disposes our toilet/head waste. And if we forget an ingredient or get a hankering for a particular food, we drive to any number of stores with a myriad of choices. We can easily call specialists with help for our systems or visit a chandlery for specific maritime needs. What we can’t find locally, we can order online and have delivered to our postal box in a matter of days.
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  Posted in You Live on a Boat?! | 0 Comments | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, Tayana, VivoOSonho
- New Year, New Resolutions to Live Our Dream
  
  Posted at 2:22 pm by Heidi Benson Stagg, on January 22, 2022
  
  I’m a goal-driven person. I’m also a list-maker. So New Year’s Resolutions are totally in my wheelhouse. I make them every year and, for the most part, I achieve them. Usually, they’re focused on personal intentions … beginning a new exercise or health routine, setting goals for writing, or learning a new skill.
  
  Five years ago, I set a big goal of launching a blog to chronicle our preparation to circumnavigate. I was so very proud when I hit the button on the first published post. It has given me much joy as I share our life aboard our 42 ft sailboat on the Alameda Riviera, culinary creations from my tiny kitchen/galley, short stories and random musings. I posted weekly for three solid years, even as our goal to leave kept getting pushed back due to family circumstances. My audience grew to over 10,000 followers across the globe, and I reveled in the knowledge that I really was a writer.
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  Posted in You Live on a Boat?! | 0 Comments | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, VivoOSonho
- My Covid Journey
  
  Posted at 10:06 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on December 6, 2021
  
  Life onboard can be challenging enough, but surviving a virus during a pandemic and having to isolate for 10 days meant for lots of patience and biting of the tongue a time or two. I’d say that our marriage is unbelievably strong at this point … we spent a month on a 46 ft sailboat with our friends and then came home to catch Covid and went into lockdown on our own 42 ft boat. All the anchors are still attached and no one is missing, so I’m calling it a success!
  
  We’d both done a lot of reading about the virus during the course of the pandemic. But when one contracts a deadly disease, so many questions arise. Perhaps the most disappointing thing has been the lackluster communication from our health provider, Kaiser. I know that doctors are overwhelmed with emails these days, but taking days to answer about symptoms and then answering with canned replies after we tested positive isn’t very compassionate. I’ve still not talked to my doctor; an associate reached out and I finally had a call from their Covid team as I was on the road to recovery. I did get a call from a doctor with the offer to receive a dose of a medicine that helps to lessens the symptoms; but since I was on the tail end of my infection, I was no longer eligible. I sure would have loved that opportunity early on!
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  Posted in You Live on a Boat?! | 1 Comment | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, VivoOSonho
- It’s Not Just a Cold This Time
  
  Posted at 11:55 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on November 30, 2021
  
  Seriously? There must be some mistake. I am Queen of Covid Avoidance and have followed all the CDC guidelines to stay healthy in this pandemic. I’ve been known to chide others to wear masks and stay socially distanced, and I avoid those who are unvaccinated like the plague that it is.
  
  This result was from a Rapid test and was followed up by a call from a nurse at the testing site who recommended we both get a PCR-24 hour test as soon as possible as it is more accurate. I had already gotten a PCR test at Kaiser upon the advice of my doctor and Aaron suggested driving through the airport Rapid test site on our way home. As soon as I got the Rapid test results, he went and got a PCR test. His results came in before mine and he is positive. So there’s now no doubt that we are both infected.
  
  This is no joke. My symptoms went from lethargy and a mild cough and low grade fever to a hacking/wheezing cough that leaves me completely exhausted, whole body aches and a raging headache. All I want to do is sleep. Oh, and I’ve lost my sense of taste and smell! I realized this when I put a drop of pure peppermint essential oil under my tongue to help with my congestion and didn’t taste a thing. I won’t go into detail on the stomach issues after eating a fast-food cheeseburger. Oy vey!
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  Posted in You Live on a Boat?! | 3 Comments | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, VivoOSonho
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Vivo O Sonho

Heidi Benson Stagg

I live aboard a 42 ft Tayana Vancouver sailboat, hull #5 laid in 1979, with my husband and little dog. We are preparing to head to Mexico in Fall 2022 and I enjoy blogging about our preparations for our journey, cooking in my tiny kitchen and writing short stories.

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