Flyin' Sideways in the Sea of Cortez

Flyin' Sideways, the former Seadasha, is a Columbia 43 Mark III. Notice the aluminum nose cone on the tip of the bow that extended the foretriangle by six inches. The mast on a Mark III is six feet taller and the boom one foot shorter than a Mark I or Mark II. 

Karin and Joe bought a Columbia 43 Mark III a little more than a year ago and, after living aboard for four months in San Diego, took off for Mexico. They spent some time in Ensenada refitting their boat and then continued on to the Sea of Cortez where they are now.

On the dock in Mexico.

Their blog, Flyin' Sideways, is a fun read, especially for Virginia and me, because they document the upgrades to their boat they are making while cruising. These are the same upgrades we're planning for Oceanus. They added a water maker, 100-amp alternator and multi-stage regulator, new chain, new battery bank, the list goes on.

Karin with Jack.

They started cruising with two dogs, Gypsy and Jack, but the older of the two, passed away some months ago. It's interesting reading about how they cruise with a dog. We love dogs, but we think we'll wait until we've finished our cruise to get another one.

Their boat is the former Seadasha of Marina Del Rey. They changed the name to Flyin' Sideways to reflect their love of flying. As it says in their profile: "We've been skydivers and pilots for most of our lives. We're trading in plummeting towards earth at 120 mph +, for Flyin Sideways at 7-8 kph, much scarier than our previous adventures."

I admire them for taking off and making upgrades to their boat along the way. They also left their boat and went back to Arizona to work and replenish the cruising kitty. They are doing what it takes to live their dream and seem to really enjoy it.