When we shoved off from the dock after clearing out in Nuevo Vallarta, it was exhilarating. We were leaving Mexico for new adventures starting off with an ocean passage unlike anything we had ever done before.
Not so fast.
The VHF radio chatter started amongst our buddy boats, and we soon learned that the Paradise Village clan had come up with their own secret language, but no one bothered to tell us about it. Apparently, everyone was going to “waypoint 1,” except for Chara who was going to “Waypoint 0.” I mentioned that we had no idea what they were talking about, so Steve said he would send us an e-mail, because apparently there would be a huge breech in national security should they let it slip what these waypoints were over the radio. We checked email about an hour later, and well, there was no email. Thanks to Chara who was both kind and sane enough to tell us over the radio that Waypoint 0 was La Cruz and waypoint 1 was Punta de Mita. You see, after clearing out you are supposed to leave Mexico immediately, so I guess they thought the Port Captain had nothing better to do than track us on VHF. Anyway, all that aside, “what the hell, I thought we were leaving!?!”
Turns out that they were all going to wait until the next day to leave. I was a little irked because first of all I was ready to leave, and second of all, no one told us what was going on. Well, Tim talked me down from the ledge, and we ended up staying the night in Punta de Mita. I wanted to leave, but Tim wanted to stay with everyone else. It seemed silly to me because 1) We wouldn’t be having any party that night (like Tim was anticipating) because all the dinghies were tucked in their beds for the passage, 2) There’s no way we would all stay together over the long passage anyway, and 3) OK, at this point I can’t remember what #3 was but there was definitely a #3 and I’m sure it was a very good reason. In the end, of course, it didn’t really matter when we left, and on the very positive side Brenden and Kyle got in some last-minute surfing at Punta de Mita, so that helped my soul be at peace with all of it.
Spoiler alert: Of course, we didn’t have a party that night, because like I said, no one was going to launch their dinghy. We DID stay together on passage much longer than I thought we would. And I’m sure #3 was still a very, very good reason.
Gresham Family Exodus 