Author: cruisingrunner

One of the major activities of Brenden and his buddies in La Cruz was Lego trading.  Brenden even labeled one of his containers “Valuable Legos” that he would use for trading.  Each kid was interested in different things and had different priorities, and they would spend hours on the dock or in one of the boats working out their deals.  Some parents were protective of what their kids were trading away, but I really wasn’t interested in it.  Brenden has so many Legos even if he gave any away, let alone trade them, I wouldn’t mind.  But I did cousel him about being fair.  Since he was one of the oldest of the Lego trading crowd I wanted him to be sensitive to not taking advantage of the younger kids. 

We had been away from La Cruz for a few weeks, and there had been some new kid boat arrivals while we were gone.  When we left there were mostly younger kids, younger than Brenden, not that he cares, he has such a playful spirit.  But now there was a whole new crowd of young teens, and so now Alex and Kyle had a group to fit in better with.  In fact, during this last stay in La Cruz it seemed like Alex and Kyle started connecting a little bit more as peers while prior it was always Kyle and Brenden, since Brenden is, after all, Kyle’s mini-me. 

The La Cruz marina even hosted some beach camp outs for the kids.  It was put on by Katrina, the marina PR lady, and Mike from PV sailing/North sails (on channel 6-8).  They had one while we were gone and they tried to make it 12 and up, which I personally have no problem with, but of course wherever you draw the cutoff line some kid will be left out, and I heard there was some tears and some complaining, so they ended up letting all the younger kids go too.  Well, they were going to do another one, so rather than stay at Paradise Village we bashed across the bay into a headwind to get back to La Cruz in time for the campout.  Like I said, I had no problem with an age cutoff, because I understand first that it’s unfair to expect Katrina and Mike to be babysitters, and second, I think it’s fun for the older kids to have a getaway without all the younger kids around.  And more specifically, I thought it would be fun for Kyle and Alex to go hang out without their little brothers along.  I certainly wouldn’t want to force age segregation all the time, but no harm in just this once.  So, I formed a plan to keep Brenden and Joel happy too.  We decided to have a sleepover on Exodus, and once we had Fluenta and Kenta Anae on board with the plan they didn’t care one bit about the campout they’d be missing. 

Tim dropped Kyle and Alex off at the dock and then picked up the Fluenta and Kenta Anae kids and as they were pulling up to Exodus in the dinghy, I saw the folly in the plan I had formed.  Tim and I were going to spend the evening on a boat with 6 kids, 11 and younger.  And let me just say that Brenden fits in quite nicely with this group, so saying they are an active bunch pretty much sums it up.  They played with building toys that Shandro and Matero brought (they built swords, what else?!), fished off the bow of Exodus, ate hot dogs, and generally had a great time, especially if fun can be gaged by the volume of the activity.  Tim and I survived, and while I don’t know all the details, Alex and Kyle had a great time at their campout too.

Our last couple nights in La Cruz the entire kid gang had sleepovers at the end of dock 11.  The first night I didn’t let Alex and Brenden go (boo, Mom, boo!) because we were out in the anchorage, and if they got kicked off the dock by marina security we wouldn’t be there.  However, since we stayed in the marina our last night, I pretty much let them loose the entire day and night.

The time we spent in La Cruz with all the kids was the closest the boys have ever come to answering the question, “Would you rather go home or stay cruising?” with, “stay cruising.”

It’s almost time for us to leave Mexico, and I can’t believe how fast the year has flown by.  Since we made the decision to slow down and stay in the Sea of Cortez for the summer, travel has been at such a nice pace.  We’ve taken the time to enjoy the towns and anchorages we’ve been in, sometimes two or three times.  I am starting to get a little sad that we will be leaving soon, so I’m also starting to chalk up a list of regrets.  It’s a short list, but it’s a list all the same.  When we decided we would give up on Central America and jump the Pacific from Mexico, I could deal with that because I thought, well, at least we will really get to see mainland Mexico.  Turns out time still got away from us, and we even cut our touring of the mainland short.  I thought perhaps once we got out of Banderas Bay, we would just keep heading South to Zihuantanejo and jump the Pacific from there.  But when I was doing the math in my head, I realized that by the time we got there we would only have about a week, and most of that would be consumed with provisioning and final preps to leave.  Not a lot of time left for exploring a new place.  So, we regretfully made the decision we should head back to Banderas Bay, because if we are going to be doing frantic provisioning, I’d rather be doing it somewhere that I’ve already got the lay of the land.  We ended up going no further south than Tenacatita, so we didn’t even make it to Barra de Navidad, which is another cruiser favorite.  However, we thoroughly enjoyed our time at Chamela and Tenacatita and the anchorages in between, and our last cruising stint in Mexico was as it always had been, relaxed and never rushed. 

So, this is my short list of regrets: 1) No Barra 2) No Zihuat.

Although these are regrets, they do not cut very deep.  The nature of our journey will change a lot going forward, both in the type of sailing we will be doing (much more offshore than coastal) and in destinations we will visit.  It’s hard to dwell too long on regrets when you have all of that ahead of you.

There is this strange phenomenon among long time cruisers in Mexico.  I don’t mean to generalize, because of course I didn’t get this from everyone, but many, many times when the conversation turns to future plans and I mention that we are going to the South Pacific, it’s like they immediately go on the defensive.  Like just because you say you are leaving Mexico you must be wondering how come they are not, and maybe even be judging them for it.  Sometimes I hear that was once their plan but they like Mexico so much they stayed.  I get that.  I respect that.  I love Mexico, and I think it is amazing cruising, and I could stay here forever and be quite happy.  Sometimes they say, “I have friends who have cruised the world and they say Mexico is the best cruising, so why leave?”  OK, this I don’t get at all.  Everybody has different perspectives and different priorities and different things they like, so why is that even relevant?  Stay in Mexico if you want to, I totally get that, but don’t tell me other people say Mexico is the best, because the way I see it, even if we spend 2 years in the South Pacific and go to places like French Polynesia and Tonga, and I look back and I think, “you know what, Mexico was my favorite,” I would NEVER regret going.  I would want to be able to say that for myself, I guess.  I must admit, though, that I do hope Tim and I end up retired in Mexico playing Bocce Ball and Mexican Train.  It’s a good life.

When we arrived back in La Cruz about mid-day, we pulled up alongside Lady Carolina, and it felt like home.  They welcomed us back with drinks, snacks, and a fun afternoon just hanging out on Lady Carolina. I mean seriously, we felt really special the way they dropped what they were doing, and Carolina made a bunch of yummy appetizers and Steve, well, he poured the rum.  After a few hours we headed to town for an early dinner at Los Twins, and let’s just say the evening turned into another one of those nights where we need a conch, and all you have is a ketchup bottle.