Sunday, April 19, 2015

Write your plans in the sand, at low tide.

One thing we've learned about cruising on a sailboat is that making plans can be futile. We have found it is better to just make longish term plans and just go with the flow until you get there. This is why we tell anyone, visiting us from the states, we can plan to meet at a specific place OR a time, but most likely not both. 
We didn't plan on being in LaPaz Mexico this long. The local "cruisers" like to say there is a LaPaz bungy cord, and everyone comes back. We have found it to be more of a ball and chain. Don't get me wrong, we like LaPaz. But leaving here has been harder then it should be.   But the world is big and we still have a lot to see, so we must leave. We love the other cruisers and the locals, we have met here. I have never known so many people that will help each other without payment or hesitation. The cruiser community has renewed my faith in humanity. 
In just the past month we have had to change our departure date 4 times. Part of this is not having a regular paycheck and having to get most of the things we need for the boat by trading and/or swap meets. Also when your boat is everything, from house, transportation and everything you own, it's extremely important to keep it running and ship shape. We have had a few boat related set backs we don't plan on. We have both worked hard to get ready and Dominga found a great place to work so now we have everything in order to sail away, we still can't leave until the coast guard mails the new documentation. We have been waiting over two months for the documentation. We can leave La Paz but we can't go into another port without a updated documentation. So, technically we could leave, we just can't go anywhere.
We are so looking forward to sailing in the Gulf of California ( better known to gringos as Sea Of Cortez)  for a month! 

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Rambling

James has made a trip to the grocery store, on a borrowed bike while I do some research on requirements for brining a US car from Mexico to the US. What insurance is required, and for how long....blah blah. I got some info, and a head ache from trying to decipher the many different forums out there with way too much information, and decided rambling on the blog might be more fun.

It's Semana Santa here in La Paz, interesting blend of Spring Break and Holy Week leading up to Easter sunday. On Easter weekend most locals party on the beaches. Apparently there aren't enough beaches to go around. Some have been setting up tents and staking out their spot for days ahead of time. Even the "Mogote' beach, where we normally walk the dogs everyday, is over run with tents and people. Why can't they do something normal like having a magical man sized bunny hide brightly colored eggs?

 It seems this time of year also signifies the many cruisers continuing their adventures. Our good friends on Silent Sun are departing Nuevo Vallarta for the Pacific Puddle Jump. We're very excited for them, and cannot wait to see photo's and videos of their trials and tribulations. A few other friends have left already for the puddle jump, Dina and Malcolm, some of our first cruiser friends, left a week ago. Others are beginning to head north, up the sea to put their boats on the hard for hurricane season, and still others are doing the Bash, back to the states. We as per usual, are slacking behind a bit. We'll be here in La Paz a few more weeks, figuring out how to get home after being stiffed on a job. 

The weather is wonderful. The water is warm. The people are new and interesting, but it's not an easy way of life. If it were, there would be so many more living it. We've found, talking to so many cruisers, that most wait for retirement, or until social security kicks in and they have a regular income. Many will never go further than here, because it's comfortable. The "working cruiser" seems to be a rare breed of sailor. And the most inspiring to us. We have friends on a budget tighter than ours, that have been trying for the past few months to spend almost no money. They fish, dig for clams, catch lobster. They make the best sushi I've ever had :) They are amazing young people we hope to run again and again, because the sushi gets better every time we see them! We may see them in a few weeks when we start our next adventure....