Hello!

Welcome to our mid-life crisis! These are the chronicles of Laura and Patrick, their young son Jack, and their goofball Labrador Retriever named Evinrude (Rudy), as they travelled the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific coast of mainland Mexico in their catamaran. We went cruising in search of a change of pace, a closer knit family, and peace of mind. We found all three and more. The fun all started in October, 2008 and nearly four years later the Mexican adventure came to an end August 3rd, 2012. With our mid-life crisis cured in Mexico, we are excited to start a new adventure - life back in America.

Candeleros Chico

Candeleros Chico
Just another beautiful day at anchor on the Baja. 2010

Dolphins at play in the bow wake 2011

Dolphins at play in the bow wake  2011

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

and waiting.....

This week we have tried to do some new things. We went to the aquarium and saw a great sea lion show. There were lots of tropical fish, sea turtles, sharks and coral to look at. There were also large crocodiles in pens outside. Unlike zoos in America, the Mexicans expect you to have some common sense. You could easily stick your fingers inside the pens to touch the crocs, or even climb in with them - but only if you were an idiot. They looked scary just sitting there two feet away behind a fence. At the sea lion show, mothers were bringing their babies up to the sea lions and having them touch the animals before the trainers were even there. It's a very different way of doing things for us lawsuit-wary Americans.

Also, the surf has been up and we have been boogie boarding almost every day. On Saturday, we took our boat out to practice our sailing skills and safety maneuvers like heaving to, man overboard, and reefing the main. It was a great day. We caught a fish, saw some dolphins up close and had a great time watching the commercial shrimp boats deploy their nets.

We have enjoyed a very nice response from people around America since the article in Cruising World online. Thanks for all the kind words. We have really appreciated the feedback!

On the Yanmar front, as of this morning, we have been told that all necessary parts have been ordered. We are told that we will find out tomorrow when the parts will show up. Yanmar has agreed to send us one complete sail drive to replace the one that had sea water in the oil, and the parts to fix the other one. When the parts arrive, a haul out will be scheduled and we will be out of the water for about two days. So all and all, our warrantied repair in Mazatlan will have cost us five to six weeks out of our cruising time. Its very expensive to be sitting in the Marina El Cid for so long. This engine breakdown is a very frustrating and expensive lesson in patience. We hope to have more exciting things to blog about some day.....

Laura

1 comment:

  1. I Love reading your stories, my wife and I so want to take the plunge....we are struggling with which boat to buy with 4 children space is an issue, we will definitely get a cat, but which one and at what price....oh the decisions. - How long are you "planning" on cruising? We are thinking of at least two years before the kids get into high school then back for them to finish school and off again.
    Keep the faith, and good luck!
    Pete

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