The Home Stretch

Bit of a south wind yesterday, dolphin show, and sailboats everywhere! A few motor boats mixed in, and the sun finally came out to make it a beautiful day. June and I are back at Chuck Lee's boat and are gonna pack up early and head out to Long Beach. We're in the final stretch now. I can't believe that I'll be paddling to Dana Point today!! It's actually the only stop on this journey that I've actually been to previously so I know right where to go.Now that we're in the more populated areas I'm actually finding trash in the ocean. Yesterday it was plastic bags, a beer can, and a bunch of balloons which needed to be popped before squishing them into the bungees on my boat.Can't believe this journey is about to end, and I can't believe some of the events I've missed at home. Carl told me yesterday that three weeks ago little Chippee, Billy's guinea pig, died. Carl figures he might have been diabetic, because he was very lethargic and he seemed to urinate a lot more than Julia's pig. I don't know. I just felt horrible that I was not there for Billy and Julia's first loss to comfort them. We had gotten Chippee about two years ago and everyone's been quite attached to the little fellow. It never crossed my mind that we'd lose him prematurely-guinea pigs live anywhere from 5-7 years, and we've had him for only two. Poor little thing, and poor Billy and Julia! And no momma home to comfort them! I know Carl of course did, but it makes me sad to think I wasn't there to hug them.I know it's not Sunday, but I figured that today would be a good day to post Luke Esvlin's, of Kamanu Composites, "Sustainable Sundays" things to shoot for. Luke and the guys at Kamanu donated the outrigger canoe I'm using for the trip. It's not like they need the press, it's already a hot selling boat with a back order. They are seriously fast boats! So Luke put together this Sunday challenge for his fiancé and him to follow in an effort to decrease their footprint.Here it is-1) Walk or bike only (unless there is a race or an emergency)2) Zero waste (no take-out, plastic bottles...anything that would generate trash)3) Support of local business establishments only.4) Limited use of electricity and water.I think it's something my family should try! We actually did bike ride to church once and were amazed that, going slow and casual so as to not sweat too much in our church clothes, it only took us 5 minutes longer than if we had driven. I think we might try this again! It kind of is an adventure to experiment with ways you can consume less. In art, "less is more" and I think that that applies to life, too!Go Luke!! I think we'll have to figure something out like that, too. And yea, races are definitely gonna have to be an exception (and maybe family events!!). I know our kids enjoy "power out" nights when we turn off our power and read or play games by the light of the wood stove, candles, or flashlight.Time to get moving around a bit. Can't believe there's only a few more days of paddling left before I paddle into the San Diego Chapter of Surfrider's "Paddle For Clean Water" event in Ocean Beach. I never thought I'd get out of Oregon!!... and that was after when I’d thought I’d never get out of Washington!!