Don and I really enjoyed our trip down. As a measure of our compatibility, I note that I did not crack a book ONCE (except the cruising guide). Conversation with my last skipper was so difficult that I retreated to reading whenever I was not engaged in cooking, cleaning, helming or anchoring. The good part about that was that I learned a lot reading about weather forecasting and sextant adjustment!
In the course of our transit, Don and I found all kinds of things to talk about, tease each other about and set up on the boat. We alternated between sailing and motoring, based on wind or timing. The sun sets here around 5:30 and nobody sails at night – given the fact that aids to navigation are few and far between, and Mexican charts are sketchy at best, people rely on cruising guides and visual navigation, and hustle to get anchored up before dusk. Our second night out, our buddy boat caught a skipjack on a handline and invited us over for potluck – I brought a guacamole rice salad and we all watched the sunset over La Paz from Isla San Francisco 40 miles away.
Don and I have very compatible eating habits, which made mealtime fun and easy. I had bought a 15 pound bag of oranges for $4 in Loreto, along with a kilo of tortillas and lots of tomatoes, avocadoes and fresh goat cheese. We don’t seem to tire of quesadillas for lunch…what a treat to have avocadoes every day!
Back in La Paz, I visited some friends and began looking for the next crewing opportunity, because Don will be staying in La Paz until he goes to Indonesia in February. There is a ‘morning net’ on the VHF in the marina when people check in, compare information and offer items for trade. It’s a fairly small community with many boats returning year after year, and I am learning how to check references on skippers who may want crew. I put the word out on the net that I was available for crew and quickly had a return call from a skipper looking for a third person for the crossing to Puerto Vallerta. We will be leaving on the 27th and expect to take a week to do a leisurely crossing with stops en route to fish and check out the wildlife.
In the meantime, Don is happy to have me stick around for a while, helping him with a few projects and ensuring that he has something better than trail mix for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pretty much everyone is hunkered down here in another ‘norther,’ watching their windexes hit the other side of 30 knots and whitecaps washing over the decks. It’s so strange to be in winds like this without an accompanying downpour!
