Vivo O Sonho

Living the Dream
Vivo O Sonho
  • Home
  • You Live on a Boat?!
  • Story Shelf
  • In the Galley
  • Category: Random Topics

    • 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.”

      Share this:

      • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
      • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
      Like Loading...
      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.”

      Continue reading →

      Share this:

      • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
      • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
      Like Loading...
      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.

      Continue reading →

      Share this:

      • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
      • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
      Like Loading...
      Posted in Living the Dream ... Finally!!!, Random Topics | 2 Comments | Tagged BoatingLife, LifeOnboard, LiveAboard, LivingTheDream, SailingWriter, SeaofCortez, Tayana, 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.

      Continue reading →

      Share this:

      • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
      • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
      Like Loading...
      Posted in Random Topics | 1 Comment | Tagged Cruising, LivingTheDream, SailingWriter, VivoOSonho, Writing Sailor
    • Lagoon Blues

      Posted at 9:53 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on June 27, 2021
      This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 199903028_10222278837012818_5334682096590169470_n.jpg

      Tara drug the small rubber dinghy from the surf onto the sand and turned to the ocean behind her just in time to catch the final glimpse of her beloved sailboat’s mast as it sunk.

      Single-handing is risky, even for an experienced sailor such as Tara. Safety was always her top priority and she had double-checked the paper and electronic charts before venturing slowly into the island’s cove to take shelter from the storm closing in on her stern. Nothing prepared her for the loud crunch and sudden hard stop when her keel struck the reef. She was thrown forward, hitting her head and wrenching an ankle, but quickly gathered her wits and assessed the situation. Water was gushing into the cabin below, faster than the automatic bilge pump could empty. She grabbed the hand-held radio, ditch bag with her important documents and a few precious mementos, and went on deck to deploy the life raft. With one last glance at her home of over a decade, she abandoned ship.

      Continue reading →

      Share this:

      • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
      • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
      Like Loading...
      Posted in Random Topics | 1 Comment | Tagged FlashLitChallenge, LivingTheDream, SailingWriter, ShortStory, VivoOSonho, Writing Sailor
    • Feathered Friends

      Posted at 7:44 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on June 16, 2021

      “Feathers? Seriously, Amy, this get-up is too much.”

      Dora eyed her friend’s outfit. Amy was known for her flamboyant get-ups, but this one was over the top. Turquoise feathers were attached to a sheer body suit, strategically covering her private bits. Barely.

      “Really?” Amy answered, “It took me days to create. I’m wearing it.”

      This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 192755820_10222184176966376_5017448503756613783_n-1-edited.jpg

      “Well, you better wear a coat or they won’t let you in. You’re practically naked.”

      “I look fabulous! You’re such a prude, Dora. Why don’t you let me do your make-up tonite?”

      “Fine. Just don’t make me look like a clown. I’m a firm believer in ‘less is more.’ “

      Despite Dora’s predictions, the girls had no problem getting into the night club. And as expected, all eyes were riveted on Amy as they made their way through the crowded room to the bar. Amy loved being the center of attention and Dora didn’t mind being in the wings. She was a psychology student and was fascinated by the lengths that men would go to flirt with Amy. She often used these outings as case studies for her assignments and was sure there would be plenty of fodder tonight.

      Continue reading →

      Share this:

      • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
      • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
      Like Loading...
      Posted in Random Topics | 0 Comments | Tagged FlashLitChallenge, SailingWriter, ShortStory, ToLiveandWrite, VivoOSonho, Writing Sailor
    • Pandemic Killed the Blog Star

      Posted at 11:43 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on March 28, 2021

      Deep breath. You can do this, Heidi. You can focus and get back into that groove, that happy place, where words come easily and you pull stories and recipes and musings about living aboard out of your brain and heart and soul (and yes, sometimes it seems, out of your ass!) and they flow into your lightning-fast typing fingers onto the page. You’ve faced far worse challenges where you felt like you were drowning and always burst through the waves for that big gulp of fresh air and a fin-flip to take you in a new direction. So why not NOW?

      For two solid years I posted at least once a week on this Blog. If I knew I’d be busy, I’d write the posts and schedule them to go live so I wouldn’t miss a week. Not a single week for two years … over 100 posts and now at nearly 200. I had a nice following of people from around the world that read my writing and the feedback was always positive from friends and family. I would joke to my husband that I was an “International Blogger” and I had to keep up my Blog so as not to disappoint my “Fans.”

      I wrote daily and scheduled time to write. I went on writing retreats, met with our writing group at local coffee shops, and found inspiration all around me. I submitted my work in competitions and read it aloud in front of live audiences. After not believing that I was good enough for decades, I proudly proclaimed myself a “WRITER.”

      Then COVID-19 swept across the globe. Life turned upside down. Our plans to go cruising were put on hold. Again. I became the caregiver and Head Schoolmistress for my beloved grandchildren. I had to cease swimming at the gym and working out with my personal trainer. Grocery shopping was more for survival than for enjoyment so meals became boring. We watched the terrifying news of the infections and deaths as they rose and panic and fear were the prevailing emotions. Add the election, with so much hatred from the Trumpers, and there seemed to be very little light in the world.

      Continue reading →

      Share this:

      • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
      • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
      Like Loading...
      Posted in In the Galley, Random Topics, Story Shelf, You Live on a Boat?! | 0 Comments | Tagged SailingCook, SailingWriter, TinyKitchen, VivoOSonho, Writing Sailor
    • Moon

      Posted at 4:35 am by Heidi Benson Stagg, on June 25, 2020

      Moon CardMerrow packed her overnight bag thoughtfully. This getaway coincided with the Lover’s Moon. She would welcome a masculine presence, real or mystical, yet she wasn’t expecting any revelations as her morning tarot reading was unclear. The Star card served as a reminder to keep the faith and the Moon card predicted the existence of illusion. The Lover’s card showed up in reverse, which could be interpreted as conflict and the need to make a decision. She pondered the complicated meanings of the cards as she prepared for her journey.

      “Got the survival kit packed: wand, broom, cauldron, chalice, crystals. Need to pick and bind new sage. Candles? Damn. Have to stop for a fresh pack.”

      Merrow’s organizational voice carried on a conversation with itself as she placed clothing and toiletries alongside her spellcasting tools. She was an old soul and many ancestral spirits coexisted within her, each rising to the occasion when summoned and more often of their own accord. They had started as whispers and as she learned to listen and heed their advice, they had revealed themselves in signs and thoughts. Great Aunt Zelda, always the romantic, encouraged her to pack a pretty nightdress so she tucked a seafoam green silk chemise next to the altar cloth.

      Continue reading →

      Share this:

      • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
      • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
      Like Loading...
      Posted in Random Topics, Story Shelf | 0 Comments | Tagged 2LWA, AlamedaShorts, LivingTheDream, SailingWriter, ShortStory, ToLiveandWriteinAlameda, VivoOSonho, Writing Sailor
    • Categories

    • Archives

    • Categories

    • Follow Vivo O Sonho on WordPress.com
    • Tags

      2LWA 2LWAFlashLitFeb 2WLAFlashLit accessibility adventure AlamedaAnimalShelter AlamedaGroceryOutlet AlamedaRiviera AlamedaShorts BahiaLaPaz Baja Ha-Ha BargainMarket Baseball BCSMexico BeatrixPotter BoatingLife Books Inc Bridgewatch Angels Cruising DaysofAwe disabled DogOnboard Dolphins Elsie Hanna FAAS FlashLitChallenge FlashLitOct GalleyCooking GOAlameda GroceryOutlet handicap homeofWOW LaPaz LifeOnboard LiveAboard LivingTheDream MarinaLife MarinGeneralHospital mexico mlb nana nature NorthernIreland OrangeIrish RoshHashanah sailing SailingCook SailingWriter SeaofCortez shoplocal ShortStory sonho sports StPatricksDay SuicidePrevention Tayana Tiki TinyKitchen TLWA ToLiveandWrite ToLiveandWriteinAlameda travel VivaLaMexico VivoOSonho Writing Sailor
  • 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.

    View Full Profile →

  • Enter your email address to follow Vivo O Sonho's Blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 1,158 other subscribers
  • Follow Vivo O Sonho on WordPress.com
  • Follow Us on Facebook

    Follow Us on Facebook
  • Vivo O Sonho Blog Stats

    • 26,594 hits

Start a Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Vivo O Sonho
    • Join 78 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Vivo O Sonho
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d