We have not posted in a while. But hopefully our Christmas letter will help catch you up.
2025 has been a year of surprises and changed plans. It was pointed out to us that cruisers write their plans in the sand on low tides. We did not sail south as planned and instead stayed put in Ensenada.
There were a lot of plane rides during the year. Pauline went back to Singapore mid March when her mum passed away and stayed a few weeks and again in August for a total knee replacement, where she stayed for 3 months. She finally flew back to San Diego early November when she felt competent and mobile enough to travel.
Mark did not fly to Singapore with Pauline in March because he was on call for a job taking a barge from Honolulu to Seattle. He went to work again in May, taking a barge from Seattle to Cape Lisburne. Cape Lisburne is way above the Arctic Circle and they were actually delayed due to ice blocking the way, in July! They stayed around Nome waiting for the ice to break up. Nome though not in the Arctic Circle still has pretty much 24 hour sunlight at that time of year. it never got darker than dusk as the sun
only set for an hour or so. What was really strange to see was when they finally made it to Cape Lisburne, the sun only went down to about a finger width above the horizon and crossed the sky and began to rise again. A memory he will keep forever. He got back to Ensenada just before Pauline left for Singapore. He could not go to Singapore with Pauline in August because he had to work, from Seattle to Nome, with stops along the way. In fact he worked 181 days in 2025. Not bad for being retired.
We spent Thanksgiving in North Carolina with Mark’s parents and his sister Laura and brother-in-law Steve. We barely got back to Ensenada before we went back on a plane to Seattle for Mark’s company Christmas party.
We are both tired of being on airplanes and will spend Christmas and the New Year in Ensenada.
Our plan for 2026 is simple. Pauline will be going back to Singapore in the spring to get the other knee replaced and Mark will be trying to work while she is gone. Sari Timur will be staying in Ensenada till the end of 2026 and if things go according to plan, we will start cruising south.
We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2026
