Dreams (written in December)

The marinas and work yards in Guaymas and San Carlos are humming like a hive of bees in a field of blooming clover. Cruisers are working hard to get their boats ready for another season of sailing. Cleaning off the dust from the summer months when the boats sat idle in storage yards. Re-running lines. Bending on sails. Repairing all those things that failed last season. Installing new equipment. Inflating dinghies and checking for leaks. Starting outboards to make sure they run.

 

"Faith" getting her bottom painted.

We have had “relatively” few new projects this year and most of those are on a much smaller scale than the past couple years so we are pretty much ready to go sooner than usual. What we have had to wait for is our new immigration cards and those arrived on Monday. We’ve notified our friend, Mary, that we are ready and will be picking her up tomorrow since she is joining us for the trip south.

As we plan this year’s voyage I am struck by the changes that have taken place since I first began dreaming of “sailing off into the sunset”. Way back when, I wanted to sail around the world so badly I could almost taste it. As much as I wanted the adventure, I was also afraid I couldn’t do it. Over the years I have accomplished much of what I dreamed of and changed plans so many times one would almost think I was schizophrenic. I do think, however, that being flexible is a very necessary part of the lifestyle.

There are as many different kinds of cruising as there are people who cruise. There are folks who are not able to be away from home, family, jobs for long periods of time so they keep a boat in the port of their choice and whenever they can get away they go for a few hours or a few weeks. There are people who don’t know any life other than on a boat and spend their lives circumnavigating the world and have long lists of foreign countries they have visited. Then there are hundreds of styles in the middle.

 

The cold, gray Pacific Ocean.

Over time, Chris & I have pared our cruising down to spending winters on the boat in Mexico. When we began this journey, 6 years ago, we had visions of the South Pacific, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Europe and “the world as our oyster”. The first wakeup call was the leg from Portland, OR to San Francisco, CA. Even though we spent much time waiting for bad weather to pass the conditions still involved mostly big, sloppy seas, fog, too much wind and cold & damp that permeated our bodies all the way to the bone marrow. At that point we adjusted to “places that are warm and sunny”. Then, we received an invitation to crew for friends in the South Pacific. We flew to Tahiti and sailed with them as far as Tonga. Overall, it was a wonderful trip and we got to see many of the places we’d always dreamed of…not to mention getting married on an uninhabited island! It was very nice but we came to realize the boats that do these very long passages take a huge beating, as do the people.

 

Wedding on the beach - Suwarrow Atoll, Cook Islands

Over the past six years of cruising in Mexico I have discovered that I am not a big fan of long passages. I am finding that as I age, my eyesight (especially night vision) is gradually deteriorating which makes me pretty uncomfortable on night watches. I also find it difficult to sleep as every small noise causes me to awaken with “What was that?” screaming into my mind. And, every year there are more of the physical jobs that we hire out because our bodies are getting older.

 

Jesus & Eduardo. Our faithful helpers in San Carlos.

This year has begun with a higher than usual amount of lousy weather which meant sitting in (supposedly) protected anchorages for longer periods of time waiting for it to end. It is cold & windy with very large chop which makes moving about much more uncomfortable. Add to that a fairly major boat issue that came up after we left San Carlos and my flexibility ability has really taken a dive.

So…while dreams are what propel us into action and keep us looking forward to new experiences, it is important to remember that dreams are not set in stone. The only constant in life is change.

Immigrants

Since we arrived late in Mexico we found ourselves with a mere three days to renew our “green cards” (Temporary Resident Status). Given the challenges in the past we were a bit concerned but first thing Monday morning we took ourselves to the INM office in hopes that all would go well. The very nice young woman gave us a list of items we needed to provide and stressed that we had no more than 2 days to get back with everything.

After a quick stop to have the required “prison” photos taken (no jewelry, no makeup, no bangs, no glasses, no smiling), we stopped at JJ’s for a couple tacos and a beer and then spent the afternoon at the RV putting together the balance of required items.

The first item of business was to complete an application for renewal. You go to the INM website and fill out the application form (which is, of course, all in Spanish). I filled it out with the Spanish/English dictionary by my side but Chris figured out that if you check the “Nue” box it will pre-fill everything from last year and all you have to do is make corrections on anything that has changed. Arggh. In our case, the only thing we changed was our physical address. In the past we have used the marina where the boat is but this year we decided the RV park address would work better…especially since the coach will stay here even while we are out cruising on the boat. Once completed, printed out a copy. Check.

Next, make copies of 1) a very specific letter asking Mexico to allow us to continue being temporary residents in their country; 2) page 1 of our Passports; 3) both sides of our current green cards and 4) bank statements (for each person) from the past 3 months. Mexico, like most countries, isn’t all that jazzed about immigrants who can’t support themselves.

Next: have a glass of wine to celebrate completing everything without becoming overly stressed out.

First thing the next morning we were off to pick up the photos and go to the bank to pay our fees. Since we were requesting a 3 year renewal the cost was $6,154 pesos for each card. At the current exchange rate that is somewhere between $439 and $473 U.S. The bank was a little challenging since they will only accept cash (no credit or debit cards) for this transaction but, fortunately, we had both gotten money from the ATM the day before so didn’t exceed our daily limit to get the rest that way.

When we got to the INM office the young woman who processed it was pleased that we had everything but did chastise us a little (with a smile) because we hadn’t made copies of the receipt from the bank. Still, she made the copies, stamped everything (Mexican authorities REALLY like stamps) and said the cards should be ready for pick up in a week.

The next day I received an email telling me my card would be ready in 3 days. This morning I went into the website to check and received the message that the card is “aqui” (here)! Given past experiences with Mexican government stuff I am stunned at how quickly everything was done. But…happy! Now we can leave any time the boat is ready. That, of course, is a whole different issue!    

Hitchhikers

First and foremost a note for all my loyal followers:

I recently discoverd that my original sailing blog, Travels With Faith, has been hijacked. Every time I try to go there it opens and then immediately gets re-directed to a Neoworx advertisement. This has made me very sad as I've lost several years of writing but I am attempting to look on the bright side and start over. Here is my very first post on the new blog. I hope you enjoy it. 

 

We are finally south of the border, 3 weeks after leaving home, and this was one of our slower transits to our winter entertainment in Mexico. Both of us had to survive a cold so that sapped a goodly amount of energy, and, in addition, a substantial number of wind and rain storms chased us down the I-5 corridor so most of our stops ended up being 3 or 4 days instead of 1 or 2. That is not a bad thing…just different.

One constant this year – as in the past – has been our hitchhikers! The first bunch made themselves known when we arrived in Sutherlin, OR and closed the drapes on the front windows. There they were, probably 25 or 30 of the little beggars – Stink Bugs! 

Every fall in the NW the Stink Bugs start looking for a warm place to spend the winter months. They are apparently Snowbirds like us as they seem especially adept at hitching a ride to warmer weather. The first bunch got off (with a little help from Chris) in Sutherlin but some made it to Redding, CA, a few more got to Bakersfield, Huntington Beach, San Diego and Tucson, AZ. The last two were off loaded in Amado, AZ (just north of the Mexican border). 

I’m not exactly sure how they get inside the coach but “Adios Amigos” is what they hear as they are unceremoniously deposited out-side in their new home. Hopefully some hungry bird or lizard will find them to be delicious!