Surfin' Safari

The street in front of our apartment.  The owner loves gardening and so she has filled the sidewalk and the inside courtyard with flowering plants.  It's lovely.

While our boat sale is pending final paperwork, we are living "La Vida Landlubber".  We've rented a sweet, little, one bedroom casita (little house) for $300/month USD in La Paz.  It's clean, shiny and new, with Internet, air conditioning, covered secure parking, and a lovely little garden/courtyard with outside seating.  It's cheaper than having a boat in a slip!  Two nights ago we hosted the good crew of 3rd Day at our place for a "Last night together in Mexico" delivery pizza feed at our place.  That's when you know you are a landlubber - you order in and they can find you!  Yesterday 3rd Day pulled chalks and headed out of La Paz on their way up the coast to America.  It's pretty cool that we started together and ended together.  3rd Day is one of the first cruisers we met in La Paz in Oct 2008 when we were both squeaky clean and wet behind the ears. Now nearly four years later we are both heading to the States.  It may have a lot to do with the fact that we each have a nearly-fifteen year old ready for a little more room and freedom from parents.

Anyway, our last weeks in Mexico are a celebration and so we've come out to Cerritos 1 1/2 hours south of La Paz for some surfing fun.  We brought along our new paddle board and Jack is using it quite effectively as a surfboard.  That kid amazes me!

Loading the car for our surfin' safari.  Here our car sits in the inside courtyard at our place, behind the iron gates shown above.  Nothing says you used to have money like wood 2x4's strapped to the roof of a Volvo!

Jack crashing through the waves to get past the breakers.

The waves were short spaced and worked up because of Hurricane Fabio which is just off the coast, but Jack made it work.

The Ups and Downs of Cruising - It's Not Just the Tide

In the beginning of our cruise, we were overwhelmed with the positives.  The weight of the world had slid from our shoulders and every day we would marvel at our good luck.  All of the usual stresses that the average American relates to were suddenly gone.   Patrick and Jack saw  the biggest changes. Jack was no longer moved to tears almost five days a week by the frustration a dyslexic faces at school.   For Patrick the change was remarkable - suddenly no Blackberry glued to his hand morning and night, seven days a week filled with work calls. Today's technology means you are ALWAYS at work. The biggest change for me was losing the hassle of Jack's school and all the hours it took getting him there on time, dressed, with homework in hand and  a lunch. (If you have a kid who hates the school experience, you know what I mean!)   Let alone all the time spent on extra school activities like sports groups, field trips, helping in the classroom, and fund raisers. Suddenly all those hundreds of hours were free since the demands of homeschooling were negligible in return. 

Other things that caused stress that I hadn't even noticed were gone, too.  Suddenly I didn't have a huge house to clean, maintain and improve - no huge kitchen with tons of appliances to keep clean, no huge closets waiting for "fashionable" clothes, no daily pile of laundry since we all changed clothes several times every day, no house-cleaner to hire, no enormous fridge and freezer to be filled with food from Costco trips, no servicing the car, no shopping for stuff to fill all that space.  Let me repeat that - NO SHOPPING for clothes, furniture, linens, towels, home theatres, decorating doo-dads, the latest "must-have" item, electronics, toys for the Jack, computers - you name it.  We didn't need it anymore, didn't want it, and didn't have room for it anyway.

No TV sucking up dozens of hours of "down time",  no newspapers, and very infrequent internet made a big change, too.  Suddenly, without all that awful "news" of  break-ins, violence, murder and rape constantly bombarding us, we lost  that underlying sense of fear and distrust that haunts so many people.  And more importantly, without all that non-stop marketing ramming down our throats, two big changes happened.  First, since we were no longer stressed out and unhappy, we didn't need to buy ourselves some new advertised "treat" because we "deserved it".  Second, we didn't need to impress anyone, any more.  Sadly, I didn't even realize that we had gotten into the trap of competing with the Jones's.  We had to leave the trap, to see we were in it.  We were giddy like school girls.

Suddenly our life was filled with something we had kept at bay - nature.  The American life does a lot to keep nature from interfering with our lives - air conditioning, lights, heat, snug homes and buildings,  and cars all insulate us.  You rarely have to even get wet if it's raining.  Living on the boat, we became attuned to nature and it was a gift.  We rose with the sun, and went to bed with it, too.  If it was cold we put on clothes, if it was hot we went swimming.  If it rained we got wet.  We paid attention to the wind patterns and clouds, analyzed wave/swell directions, and knew the changes of the moon and the tides.  We floated on a tiny oasis in the middle of the vast sea and we marveled at the life around us.  We caught our own food, went on long hikes, snorkeled for hours every day, slept outside under the stars.  We lived in nature, hour after hour, year after year.  It is an amazing experience to be so connected.

I don't think we can ever be the same, and we are grateful for it. Our cruise solidified our family into a very tight knit unit. It gave our son a wonderful education in the world, opportunites for great responsibility and the idea that dreams are goals that can be achieved with work. It taught all of us that "things" aren't important. We learned how to repurpose, recycle, make-do or go without on a whole new level. Jack was allowed to grow up and become his own person without the pressures of a relentless peer group forcing him to "fit in".  For Patrick and I, it gave us time to discover ourselves, and strengthen our marriage. Every minute of every day we worked side by side on our common goals whether it was anchoring, sailing, provisioning, repairing items, trouble shooting, cooking, or parenting. It was a very fun marriage-encounter weekend that lasted four years. Patrick is my best friend, and this experience cemented the bond, permanently.  Another amazing lesson we've learned is to just let things happen and stop worrying about future events.  Never having a schedule and being ruled by weather and breakdowns has completely taken away the feeling that we have control over our lives.  We don't - so stop worrying and planning.  (This lesson would be impossible to live in society, but  is still a valuable thing I will try to remember.)

So what could possibly be the down-side of cruising?  The negative of cruising is that it is a very indulgent lifestyle.   It's self-absorbed and based on pleasure.  Get up when you want.  Go where you want.  See who you want.   Move over there.  Move over here.   Have a potluck.   Meet some people, make some friends.  Go sightseeing.  Have cocktails.   Swimming?   Read a book?   Fishing?  Hiking?  Whatever feels good, dear.  You rarely have appointments to keep, or obligations to fulfill.  It's very social, very fun, and with few worries other than keeping your boat working, your crew fed, and the homeschooling accomplished.   It's bliss.

What's the negative, you ask again?   Honestly, it can be kind of boring.  Oh, you're busy all day long out cruising.  Your day is filled to the brim with mundane tasks, homeschooling and pleasure.  It's just not very challenging mentally, anymore.  After several years of this life, we've figured out most of the conundrums and challenges and the newness of life on a boat has worn off.  It's boring because it's so perfect, so free of stress, so effortless.  It's the boredom of ennui - a feeling of listlessness and general dissatisfaction resulting from lack of activity or excitement.  It's a feeling that only a very privileged person (read spoiled) could feel.   We still enjoy finding new anchorages, meeting new people, seeing new sights, but.... (I cringe to say it), "The thrill is gone, for now."

Even if we had won the Lotto and money was no object, our time cruising would be ending for now.  I think the biggest challenge we'll face as we move back onto land will be to keep what we've learned about living a simple, non-materialistic life, and take it back into America with us.  We'll feel bombarded and overwhelmed at first, of that I am sure.   However, I have a feeling we won't be feeling bored for quite some time. 

And after we've lived on land, restocked our money pile, gotten Jack started on his own road, then.....you better believe we'll be back out cruising again.  We love boating, we love the water, we love cruising.  Where?  Who knows.  Mexico is always going to be a love of ours, but we'd love to cruise in the Inland Passage  of Alaska/Canada, or maybe the Mediterranean, too.  It's all good and it's a big ocean. 

I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together

Jack, Patrick, and Rick from s/v Hotel California enjoying the fire pit at the new resort in Bahia Candeleros.

I've found myself humming the theme from The Carol Burnett Show quite often lately.  Every week in my childhood home, my family would gather around and watch Carol Burnett and her friends.  After a hilarious show with lots of laughs she would always end the show with the same song.  Remember?  "I'm so glad we had this time together, just to have a laugh and sing a song.  Seems we just get started and before you know it... comes the time we have to say, "So long.""  Then she'd tug her ear.  That ending is etched in my memory - along with her Tarzan yell.

Party on JaM.  With 18 guests,, there were hardly enough cleats for the dinghies.  In attendance were the crews of Eagle, Kasasa, Hotel California, Interabang, Eyoni, Third Day and ourselves..

These last weeks have been a lot like that for us.  We've been hanging out with old friends, having hilarious fun and then the  day comes and we look at each other and have to say "So Long."  They are heading north and we are heading south.  Then we run into more friends and start the process again.  Each meeting is so fun, and then each parting gets incrementally harder.  One thing is for sure, we have lots of friends out here.  Really good friends.  The kind of friends you always dreamed of having.  I am so glad we had this time together.

Walking, talking and beach-combing with Lori from s/v Third Day near Bahia Agua Verde.  Picture by Nancy

Puka Shell Party on Isla Montserrat with the crews of Hotel California, Eyoni, Brandywine and JaM.  This was the best beach party I've ever been to.  Just sitting on a beautiful beach, sharing appetizers, drinks, conversation and everyone sifting  through the sand, intently looking for pukas.  Picture by Nancy on Eyoni

There's always time to sing and do the dance moves to "Let's Do the Time Warp Again" (remember The Rocky Horror Picture Show?) with Nancy from Eyoni - even when you are standing on a rock in the water and if you really did the pelvic thrust you might possibly  knock yourself off your perch!  At Candeleros, picture by Nancy 

Patrick and Ethan on Eyoni, sharing a little manly talk over the windlass gypsy.  There aren't words to describe Ethan and we all three love and admire him greatly.  Nancy's picture again.

WWF Smack Down Water Fight on Eyoni.  Only the moms stayed dry.  We were too busy laughing and saying, "Oh Watch Out!  Be Careful!  Oh No!"  And Again - that girl loves her camera

Jack and Ethan being men.  Belly rubbing.  Not sure why, just nod and smile, folks.  On a hike at Candeleros to check out some caves and middens they spied on the hills.  Nancy, again.

Nancy and I, at the end of the night

We were lucky enough to run into Jesse from Frances Lee in Loreto.  Jesse's boat is in Guaymas, and he's living in the States right now,  but he came down by car to Loreto and we happened to meet.  He's always a hoot and we were so happy to see him.

More Discoveries



Light weather opens up marginal anchorages.  However, our spot offered some protection from the SW and West, which were the two sources of wind that 24 hour period.  Perfect.  We couldn't even find a name for this little indent in our guidebooks.  It's about two miles north of Punta Telmo on the Baja peninsula.

Just in the last few weeks, we've added five new anchorages to our list.  One of the anchorages  (Punta Colorado on Isla San Jose) quickly jumped to clain first place in "The Most Beautiful Anchorage" and is in the top five for "Best Snorkeling" for any anchorage we  have ever visited.

There are plenty of different categories in our personal little rating system for anchorages - Best Snorkeling, Best Town to Anchor In, Most Bullet-Proof, Best Beach-Combing, Earliest Sunset - you get the idea.  We visited two new anchorages in the last week that were spectacularly beautiful, rarely visited, and completely deserted.  Add to that the incredible rock formations, mounds of fossils, good beach combing and some of the best snorkeling we have seen.  I still can't believe there is more to see after four years of constantly covering this same area, but we are still anchoring in new places.  It's so fun to check out new places and be completely blown away by them.  How did we miss this earlier?  And more importantly, What have we missed??? 

Jack spotted these forssilized fern impressions on this huge boulder on the beach north of Telmo.  If it would have fit in my backpack.....  However, I did find a cool skull of a coyote/dog so I wasn't empty handed. 

Crazy colored rock layers add to the beauty at this anchorage north of Telmo..

Punta Colorado, Isla San Jose.  I couldn't capture the beauty of this spot in one picture. Take my word for it - it was remarkable.  The point is lined in tiny little beaches, with dramatic clffs of varying colors and excellent reefs for snorkeling.  Though this island is close fairly close to Loreto, few cruisers venture over to the east side for a visit, which means you get the place to yourself. 

Layers of creamy white rock, laden with fossilized shells grace Punta Colorado on the east side of  Isla San Jose.  This anchorage is the most beautiful I have ever visited.  It has amazing rock structures in white, yellow and red rock.  It offers pretty good protection from the SW and W.  It would not be very good protection in winds stronger than 15 knots.

Rock formations on one of many tiny pocket beaches that line the Punta Colorado anchorage.  The beaches all had mounds of fine white sand, but had very few shells.  However, the rock formations surrounding the beaches were breath-taking so I probably walked right over some amazing shells but didn't see them because I was too busy looking at the surrounding cliffs!  The snorkeling here was also very, very good.  Large boulders have calved off the cliffs in various places and created amazing reef structures for the fish.  Since it is seldom visited, the fish are not wary and we saw lots of big, beautiful fish.

Water games and more fun

After leaving San Marte with Hotel California, we moved up around the corner to Agua Verde in anticipation of the arrival of our friends on 3rd Day and Eyoni.  It was the largest congregation of cruising kids I've seen in some time.  Jack of course had a blast.   There were lots of other boats there too, and a large reunion ensued with 3rd Day, Eyoni, us, and many more.  After a few days in Agua Verde, we moved up to Candeleros which has a large new resort gracing the bay.   Even more boats were there, including s/v Eagle with two professional photographers (Jeannie and Tom) on board.  They were gracious enough to take several photos of Jack and his friends out and about in the bay.

Usually Jack skurfs on a regular old foam boogie board, not intended to be pulled behind a boat.  There are no straps and it does not have a smooth glass bottom and is not  rigid.  Jack has to stay on his knees while he slaloms around.   Jason on 3rd Day has an honest to goodness real knee board and a dinghy with powerful motor, so the action was better and faster.  Jack was having a great time.  Note the beautiful big new resort in Candeleros,behind Jack.   Photo by Eagle

Of course it didn't take long for Jack to stand on the knee board.  Still no straps to attach him to the board which makes jumping waves hard, but Jack managed just fine.  I'd love to have a bigger engine and a real board to see what Jack could do.  He obviously loves it.
Photo by Eagle



Jack and Rudy on our new paddle board.   We have a new toy to play with and it's a lot of fun.  Even Rudy likes it - hough I think he prefers to zoom around in the dinghy.  Photo by Eagle

More Photos of our "Vacation"

Visibility has been excellent allowing us to indulge Rudy in one of his favorite past times - driving over reefs in the dinghy and watching the fish.

Though we've been living the life for almost four years, this little trip does feel like a vacation.  We've had a lot of fun the last two weeks - spearfishing, snorkeling, hiking, exploring new places, reuniting with old friends, making new ones, and we even threw a party with 18 people on the boat.  All in all, I would say it's one of the best vacations we've ever had.

A pod of about fifty saddleback dolphins roiling the water.  We were underway and they came up for a quick visit but didn't stay long.

The sea cave at Ensenada La Ballena.  We went dinghy exploring with Hotel California and found one of the best snorkeling places I've ever enjoyed.   The sea cave was very large, the water was extremely calm and the visibility was excellent.  First we dinghied in, then after anchoring our dinghies outside, we snorkeled in.  It was amazing.  The walls of the cave were steep sided and lined with fan corals of all colors (purple, red, orange, yellow, white, and indigo blue) with lots of fish.  Outside of the cave, the snorkeling was also excellent with a steep sided underwater cliff to snorkel along and lots of huge boulders, interesting rock structures and lots of fish.  (Photo by Pam, sv Hotel California)

Approaching the cave.  (Photo by Pam)

Inside the cave.  (Photo by Pam)

On our dinghy trip we met up with some pangeros (the fishermen in the ubiquitous panga) and checked out their catch.  Like the vast majority of Mexicans we meet, they were very friendly and even offered to share some of their catch with us, for free.  (Photo by Pam)

On the Lam

To say we are feeling ambivalent right now, would be understating the problem.  When we woke up on May 22nd and had three new emails from people who were interested in seeing our boat, we couldn't wait to get out of La Paz!  There was no way we were going to sell Just a Minute before we even had a chance for one last Sea of Cortez blast.  We fired off three emails, sending along the info they requested and told them we were leaving!  We've been up in the Sea without internet ever since.   It seems that selling our boat maybe isn't the priority it should be!  It felt illicit to be leaving - so irresponsible - so FUN.  Like everyone knows, there's no fruit like forbidden fruit and even though we own the boat, it still felt like we were hot-wiring her and taking her "for a ride!"

Being on the lam has been a lot of fun.  The weather is getting hotter (80 - 90's), the water is warming up (about 72 degrees), the visibility is about 20-25 feet.  Life is good.  We've added a couple new anchorages to our list of ones we visited.  It's amazing that after four years of seeking out new places, we still  haven't seen it all.  Shortly after heading out, we hooked up with friends Hotel California and Full Shell in Bahia Marte.  Then just days ago we rendezvous-ed with Third Day and Eyoni in Agua Verde.  Today we stopped in Candeleros to pick up Internet at the new resort here and tomorrow with business taken care of, we head out to Isla Montserrat.  Below are pictures of some of our adventures in the last couple weeks.




 Ancient Cave Paitings near Agua Verde

My little hooligan getting ready to add his hand prints to the ancient cave painting.- he loves to tease.

View from the cave

First fish of 2012 - Jack nailed a 10 pound barred pargo in Bahia San Marte on the first spear fishing expedition of the year  Patrick landed about the same size leopard grouper the following day.

Our very first, complete and perfect paper nautilus!  Jack's eagle eye spotted it on one of our beach combing walks.  These elusive "shells" are the very thin, fragile egg cases for a species of octopus. When the eggs hatch, the octopus releases the egg case.  Few make it to shore whole, since they are quicklybattered to pieces by the surf.