PANDEMIC SURVIVAL RATIONS
The further north you travel in the Sea of Cortez, the more challenging it is to get provisions for Exit Only.
Loreto is the last big town as you head north until you reach Santa Rosalia, and after that there are only small villages on the western side of the Sea of Cortez.
Loreto may not have the same food products found in your local grocery story back home, but it is close enough to get 95% of what you want and need.
The big challenge is getting the groceries on board without breaking quarantine.
Mexico would be a bad place to get Covid 19 for many reasons, but one of the most important reasons is limited health insurance benefits in a pandemic.
Once the government declares a level 4 pandemic condition, the health insurance coverage disappears for pandemic related illness.
If you break an arm or leg, or if you need your appendix out, you are covered, but there is no coverage for Covid 19. Not an optimal situation when there is a global pandemic.
In normal years and normal situations, this would not be a problem. But this is not a normal year, and lots of cruisers have no health insurance because of the pandemic exclusion.
That’s why we take our shopping seriously and we are careful to not break our quarantine status.
How do we shop without bursting our quarantine bubble?
We hire a shopper to do it for us.
We give her a list of everything we need to reprovision Exit Only, and she spends three of four hours with her assistant shopping for everything on our list.
She brings our groceries down to the dock where Dito meets her wearing gloves and face mask, loads the groceries into the dinghy, and then he brings the groceries out to the boat.
After a few hours of packing all the stuff into the pantry, we have enough provisions to last a couple of months.
She gives us an invoice for the groceries, and we pay her an additional 20% as her charge for doing the shopping and transporting it to the dock.
A 20% surcharge might seem like a lot of money, but it’s very cheap compared to the cost of getting infected by Covid 19.
We got what we needed, and we kept our quarantine bubble intact.
If everyone remains healthy for the next 14 days, we will have defeated the invisible threat once again.
Defeating invisible threats is what we do on a daily basis.
Awesome music video that captures the essence of what it's like to sail offshore in a catamaran around the world when conditions are less than perfect. David Abbott from Too Many Drummers sings the vocals, and he also edited the footage from our Red Sea adventures. This is the theme song from the Red Sea Chronicles.
Sailing up the Red Sea is not for the faint of heart. From the Bab al Mandeb to the Suez Canal, adventures and adversity are in abundance. If you take things too seriously, you just might get the Red Sea Blues.
If you like drum beats, and you like adventure, then have a listen to the Red Sea Chronicles Trailer.
Flying fish assault Exit Only in the middle of the night as we sail through the Arabian Gulf from the Maldives to Oman. And so begins our Red Sea adventures.
Sailing through Pirate Alley between Yemen and Somalia involves calculated risk. It may not be Russian Roulette, but it is a bit of a worry. Follow Team Maxing Out as they navigate through Pirate Alley.
Stopping in Yemen was just what the doctor ordered. We refueled, repaired our alternator, and we made friends with our gracious Yemeni hosts. We also went to Baskins Robbins as a reward for surviving Pirate Alley.
After you survive Pirate Alley, you must sail through the Gate of Sorrows (Bab Al Mandab) at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. The Gate of Sorrows lived up to its name with fifty knots of wind and a sandstorm that pummeled Exit Only for two days. Life is good.
Captain Dave and his family spent eleven years sailing around the world on their Privilege 39 catamaran, Exit Only. During the trip, the crew shot 200 hours of video with professional cameras to show people what it's like to sail on a small boat around the world.
The Red Sea Chronicles is a one hour and twenty-two minute feature film showing their adventures as Exit Only sails through Pirate Alley in the Gulf of Aden and up the Red Sea. The professional footage documents their experiences in Oman, Yemen, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt, and the Suez Canal. It chronicles the rigors of traveling in a remote section of the world rarely visited by cruisers. Exit Only dodges Yemeni pirates, fights a gale and sand storms in the Bab al Mandeb at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. The crew explores deserted islands on the western shores of the Red Sea, and learns to check the cruising guides for land mines before venturing ashore.
The Red Sea Chronicles also has outstanding Special Features including an Instructional Video on Storm Management that tells sailors how to deal with storms at sea.
And don't forget the two Music Videos: "The Red Sea Blues", and "Captain - Save Our Souls".
The Red Sea Chronicles is a first class adventure that stokes the sailing dreams of both experienced and wannabe sailors alike.
Join Team Maxingout as they sail through Pirate Alley and up the Red Sea
See what it's like to cruise on a catamaran before you spend a bazillion dollars purchasing one
After watching the Red Sea Chronicles you will be able to see yourself sailing on the ocean of your dreams
Although I like the feel of a paper book in my hand, I love trees even more. When people purchase an eBook, they actually save trees and save money as well. Ebooks are less expensive and have no negative impact on the environment. All of Dr. Dave's books are available at Save A Tree Bookstore. Visit the bookstore today and start putting good things into your mind. It's easy to fill your mind with positive things using eBooks. No matter where you are or what you are doing, you can pull out your smart phone or tablet and start reading. You can even use electronic highlighters and make annotations in your eBooks just like paper books.
