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  • Category: Living the Dream … Finally!!!

    • Bahia de La Paz Dolphin Dance

      Posted at 4:14 pm by Heidi Benson Stagg, on March 1, 2025

      I’ve been fascinated with sea creatures, both real and mystical, from the time I could swim at the age of two. I wanted to be a mermaid. And my favorite movie of all time is, of course, the Disney classic “The Little Mermaid.” But if I had to chose which animal I would be, my answer is always a dolphin.

      There are more than 40 species of dolphins around the world. Growing up sailing in San Francisco Bay, both bottlenose dolphin and harbor porpoise sightings were common and always a joy. We rarely saw large pods, though, and mostly only viewed them briefly surfacing before disappearing under the dark water near the Golden Gate Bridge.

      Cruising the warm waters of Mexico has been a sheer delight with an abundance of dolphins often approaching our sailboat and dinghy and entertaining us with playful splashes and jumping our bow waves. Bottlenose, common and spinner dolphins are found among the islands in the Sea of Cortez and also enter the Bay of La Paz to frolic amongst the boats at anchor.

      When we’re at the marina we like to take the dinghy for sunset “dink and drink” outings, putter around the bay, land on the mogote for a beach stroll, and cruise along the malecon. It’s our version of a “Sunday drive.”

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      Posted in Living the Dream ... Finally!!!, Random Topics | 2 Comments | Tagged adventure, BahiaLaPaz, BoatingLife, Cruising, Dolphins, LaPaz, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, nature, sailing, SailingWriter, Tayana, travel, VivoOSonho, Writing Sailor
    • Back to the Blog … Revisiting May 2023 to February 2025

      Posted at 12:03 pm by Heidi Benson Stagg, on February 16, 2025
      December 2022. We arrived in Marina de La Paz with the intention of staying for a month … which became three months … and then we decided to take a permanent berth! We’re into our third cruising season in La Paz and still loving it!

      I started this blog on April 16, 2018 with the intention of using it as a platform for sharing our preparation of Sonho to embark on our cruising lifestyle after retirement (which we had planned for April 2019 before a series of complicated circumstances delayed us until 2022). I also posted short fiction stories, memoirs and recipes for several years. It gave me so much joy as my readership grew and I became a confident writer.

      Life got in the way of writing as I became heavily involved in the La Paz community as soon as my feet hit the Marina de La Paz dock in December of 2022. I found myself coordinating events for our local yacht club, Club Cruceros, and before I knew it, I was back to having meetings and being on a schedule.

      I finally published “Sonho’s Journey to La Paz” on April 1, 2023, detailing the timeline, hours and nautical miles of travel from Alameda, California to La Paz, Mexico between October-December 2022. Two weeks later I published the first of what I intended to be eight blogs describing the experiences of each leg down the coast, “Cruising Down the Coast: Alameda to Monterey.”

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      Posted in Living the Dream ... Finally!!!, Random Topics | 1 Comment | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, Tayana, VivoOSonho
    • What a Drag! (figuratively and literally)

      Posted at 6:00 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on May 9, 2023

      As our friend Bob Bitchin says, “The difference between adventure and ordeal is attitude.” And as his first mate, Jody, says, “Sometimes it’s just an ordeal!”

      The little arrow mid-picture is where we were anchored. The circle around the little island in blue near the top is Isla San Francisco. The green dot at the bottom is Bahia de La Paz.

      It was our last night in the tranquil anchorage of Ensenada Grande Norte, a cove located off Isla Partida in the Sea of Cortez, Baja, Mexico. We’d just spent four idyllic days snorkeling and swimming in clear, warm water and taking our dinghy to explore the rugged island shoreline and pristine beaches. Aaron had grilled pork chops and pineapple for dinner, as it was the first afternoon that the wind hadn’t blown in the cove.

      That should have been our first clue. At this time of year, there seems to always be a late-day breeze that is just enough to keep the barbeque from staying lit. But not today. We had watched the sun set and were relaxing in the cockpit when a fast puff of wind suddenly blew through the cove. Then a lull. We looked at each other. Then another blast, a brief pause, and full-force steady wind at 18 knots came at us. No build up, just an all-out blow with gusts to 24 kts.

      Aaron pulled up the weather model (which he had checked earlier and noted that there was a chance of a very light wind developing later in the evening) and checked our anchor watch app. For four solid days our anchor had held firm and we never moved outside of the scope of the anchor watch perimeter. Now, it appeared we were dragging.

      Without another word he started the engine, just in case, and we went topside together.

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      Posted in Living the Dream ... Finally!!!, Random Topics | 2 Comments | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, SailingWriter, SeaofCortez, Tayana, VivoOSonho, Writing Sailor
    • Cruising Down the Coast: Alameda to Monterey

      Posted at 12:34 pm by Heidi Benson Stagg, on April 15, 2023

      For over a decade we talked about “cutting the docklines, heading out the Gate, hanging a left and not looking back.” It’s why we bought our particular boat: to sail oceans. It took a ton of sweat, tears, money and really hard work to get us there, but on October 10, 2022, we did it. (For a detail of our prep, see the blog post Cruising Preparation on a Fast Track.)

      We did look back. We knew it was going to be a long time before we saw the Golden Gate Bridge from Sonho, and it was definitely bittersweet. We were leaving our home in Alameda, California for a foreign country and although it was a lifetime dream, it was also terrifying. Did we have all the safety equipment to sail thousands of miles on the ocean? Were we really able enough sailors to handle doublehanding on overnight passages? Would all of the newly installed systems work? Would we like living in Mexico?

      So, as I blogged back in November, we cut the dock lines and headed out the Gate and hung a left. Following are recollections of the first leg of our journey to Mexico. (Click here for the first blog post on our journey: Living the Dream on Stagg Time.)

      Day 1: October 10, 2022
      Departed 0806 from Marina Village Yacht Harbor, Slip P16, Alameda, California
      Arrived 1538 at Pillar Point anchorage, near Half Moon Bay, California

      We left our home of 13 years under the usual fall, coastal conditions … grey skies and cool, light air. As we motored out the Alameda-Oakland Estuary (which I fondly refer to as the Alameda Riviera), we fired up the new electronics and auto pilot, cranked up the RPM’s on our recently tuned engine and put them all to use for the first time. (Thankfully, they all worked perfectly and Aaron wiled away the ocean hours programming and learning.)

      We had left ourselves no time to test our new systems. The weeks leading up to our departure were the most stressful we have ever experienced in our relationship. There were so many goodbyes, last minute details and a few surprises that almost kept us from leaving (again). We had put all we had into the preparation (which sorely tested our marriage) and finally figured that whatever needed to be bought or fixed could happen on the way to San Diego. It was time to go.

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      Posted in Alameda to Mexico, Living the Dream ... Finally!!!, You Live on a Boat?! | 1 Comment | Tagged BoatingLife, GalleyCooking, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, Tayana, TinyKitchen, VivoOSonho
    • Sonho’s Journey to Mexico

      Posted at 6:00 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on April 1, 2023
      Our original itinerary: Leaving Alameda on Sept. 18, 2023 and arriving in Cabo San Lucas on Nov. 14, 2023. (Itinerary graphics and Sonho’s logo were designed by our son’s fiance, Jenna Miller.)

      Our initial itinerary had us leaving Alameda on Mon., Sept. 18, 2022 (my 58th birthday), following our Bon Voyage Party on Sept. 16 at Encinal Yacht Club and arriving in San Diego on Wed., Oct. 19, 2022. We would be entering 10 different ports and staying at six reciprocal yacht clubs. It was a relaxed journey and each stay would be at least two nights, with only one overnight at sea.

      Fate had other plans.

      Due to the late delivery of essential parts and projects taking waayy longer than expected, we ended up leaving Alameda with our hair on fire on Oct. 10, 2022, with a reduced itinerary of now entering only seven ports and staying at three yacht clubs (two of which were in San Diego). We had to add a second overnight at sea and shorten our stays in each port.

      Still, our plan was to leave San Diego with the Baja Ha-Ha Rally on Oct. 31 with Aaron’s dad, Jim, and our grandson, Cody, onboard and arrive in Cabo San Lucas on Nov. 14. From there, we’d easily make it to La Paz by mid-December. Our friends Dave & Speranza would meet us and boat/pet sit while we went home for the holidays and returned to Mexico in early January 2023.

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      Posted in Living the Dream ... Finally!!! | 1 Comment | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, SailingWriter, VivoOSonho, Writing Sailor
    • 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 22nd 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 5th. 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 23rd. 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!!! | 1 Comment | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, MarinaLife, SailingCook, SailingWriter, Tayana, 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
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  • Vivo O Sonho

    Heidi Benson Stagg

    Heidi Benson Stagg

    I live aboard a 42 ft Tayana Vancouver sailboat, hull #5 laid in 1979, with my husband and little dog. We left our berth of 15 yeas in Alameda, California in the Fall of 2022 and now live in La Paz, Mexico. I enjoy blogging about our journey, cooking in my tiny kitchen and writing short stories.

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