Feliz Navidad

Someone's Christmas in La Cruz (from the street)

Oddly Christmas. On the one hand, I have been so happy to be away from the comedy of The Holidays in the US. The onslaught. The hammering. The crushing pressure to shop, to bake, to cook, to invite, to visit, to give, to receive, to always be behind and attempting to “do it all” before the deadline. But the pressure is here, too. The kids (Ben and Samey) have been so focused on Christmas and Santa Claus and presents. And Ben on his 9^th birthday (December 26). I had hoped, when imagining this trip, that we could avoid it all but I have since learned that it is not possible. As with so many of my “assumptions” about cruising and what is and is not possible living on a moving boat. It’s been hard to “feel” like Christmas since it feels so much like summer here. Our shopping and cultural integration skills have been weak thus far and our meager holiday decorations amount to a 20 inch plastic tree, bought in La Paz, that was decorated by Ben and then undecorated for the crossing and some cutout snowflakes. We’ve been reduced to shopping at Wal-Mart down here. We did spend some fun time over on Rebel Heart, sweating and making flat felt ornaments for their Christmas tree and that was “festive” (but I would enjoy doing just about anything with Charlotte!).  

Samey and Cora (Rebel Heart) in front of the tree!!

I also bought a fabulous paper mache Santa at the La Cruz artisan market for $150 Pesos (around $11).

Ho Ho Ho

But I had a white night feeling badly, mostly for Ben, about my lack of ability to “bring the magic” for him this year and make Christmas come alive. He is so anchored by the holidays and the decorum and the “traditions” and I fear that I have really let him down. With so much change and so much to adjust to and such a continual flux, the kids cling to what they know is set and “fixed”. Like holiday traditions. “We’re having stockings, aren’t we, Mom?” ACK! I didn’t think to bring them! He is so bright and eager and open and trusting and innocent. He sincerely believes in magic and I am convinced that he still believes in Santa. His letter to Santa reminded him that we would be in Puerto Vallarta… He prays at night. He just trusts. And we get impatient with him sometimes and his seemingly blind questions to us about “the obvious” but we forget and too often ignore the beauty of his age and sweet character. He has not yet “turned the corner” into “knowing”. He is such a fantastic child. I guess he will not be too scarred by this wonky holiday season. I hope. I hope that he’ll remember it as odd but special… Just like he is. Odd but special.

Paid some guy$30 Pesos for this shot on the beach in Yelapa.

As I write this, we are on the “A” dock at Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta (basically Puerto Vallarta). This is the most “resort” we have done thus far. HUGE resort. Multiple pools, crocodile slides, beach, tiger rescue cages, spa, a “Kid’s Club”, drink specials. The stink of the brief, stolen moments of luxury vacationing. You get the picture. It is fun to be at a marina at the base of the huge hotels with people everywhere. We are right in the resort but also apart and that is nice. And since our “vacationing” is extended, we don’t have the same desperation. Being at the Marina and at the Yacht Club here have their advantages. Fishermen in canoe-like boats throw their spiked nets right behind our boat. Luxury yachts pass by, excursion boats pass by, sport fishermen pass by. It is charming. For sure. But we are a long way from “Mexico” and getting food, necessities and the likes is a challenge. The laundry is at the shopping mall. Yes, I said that. At the shopping mall, down from McDonald’s. Around the corner from Starbucks. There is a nativity scene there, at the entrance of the mall, but someone apparently thought that the Baby Jesus deserved better and he was "removed". So much for religion.

Oh where or where has my little Jesus gone? Oh where or where could he be?

I miss La Cruz. It really felt like a good mix between cruiser world and “actual Mexico”. Simpler. Accessible. Less hustle and bustle. We aren’t far away. La Cruz is just a bus ride away and many friends are anchored or at the marina there. We even took the boat over there (one hour motoring) on Sunday to go to the market again since I love it so much and was looking for more Christmas gifts and the food is so good there. I’m sure we’ll be back. Sand Dollar and Winterhawk arrived there yesterday. Moments and Unleashed are there now, too. The holidays bring communities together. I find myself wishing we were there instead of here or rather that we could have BOTH places at once. Today, Christmas Eve, we are awaiting the arrival of Oma and Opa (Ilse and Pete) and Max’s dad, Holm, all three of whom are coming to stay for a week at the resort here with us, staying in the hotels. They will be arriving overladen with suitcases full of gifts from my mom and Amazon.com purchases made over the past month or so with the intention of making Christmas, Christmas. And of some things we have not been able to find here in Mexico (again, our lack of shopping prowess and know-how, possibly). We’ll make tacos for Christmas Eve dinner once everyone has arrived and is settled into their rooms and then, once the kids are asleep, we’ll do the “elfing” and wrapping and staging and get the little tree on our salon table ready for the waking of the kids… Christmas Day we’re joining several other boat friends on the dock for a “potluck”. The marina is supplying tables and chairs. I even forgot to bring the sour cream coffee cake recipe that we make every Christmas morning (my Dad’s favorite), that is how “oddly Christmas” it is going to be. I hope you all out there following us have a wonderful, warm holiday season... I'm sending you some spices, some sunshine and some Mexican color and cheer.

San Blas

Mexican Riviera!

And now we are on the Pacific Coast of Mexico! We left La Paz last Monday and went back to Los Muertos, buddy boating this time with our new friends Julie and Mike and their son Ben on Sea Otter. For the projected 40+ nautical mile trip (around 8 hours), I was feeling a bit brazen and decided to try the ear plug method since it was going to be a day sail. What a mistake! I could not get the foam ear plug to stay in my ear and since I wanted to test that method, I did not take anything else and so I was caught unprepared. I was SO SICK. I vomited 3 times. And I learned that the patch has really been doing a lot for me. Once we arrived, in the evening and set the anchor, I was fine. But YIKES. That was hard. It was lovely to be back there. Such a lovely anchorage! Some great snorkeling for everyone.

This time in that bay, I did not fall and hurt my ankle, we had calm nights for sleeping and it was all around a lot less stressful than the time we were here before. We stayed 2 nights while we watched the weather and waited for the perfect time to make our crossing of the Sea of Cortez. Went to the crazy Gran Sueno resort again. Deserted. A lovely place full of good intentions but falling to ruin.

Since the crossing of the Sea of Cortez would take us 48 hours or so, we decided with Sea Otter to leave late afternoon on Wednesday and do 2 overnights and one full day. I put on a patch, took a Zofran, put in an ear plug, put on the pressure wrist bands, some Advil and had a healthy dosage of chocolate. This seems to be the strange cocktail that works for me! I was not sick for the entire trip to Isla Isabel and even was able to cook and eat food! Amazing. I am still scared to take the Sturgeron (Cinnazarine) so I think, for now, that I will stick with the above noted cocktail and hope for the best! The trip was lovely. And weird, too. We had a bird land on the top of our mast just before dinner on Thursday night and for 14 hours he just sat there. Hitching a ride! I thought it was eery. For my 3-7 watch, I kept looking up at him and wondering what it all meant. I did not feel like I was alone... it was odd. He left us before we got to our destination so we must have helped it along!?!

Just sitting there. Pooping on the deck, of course.

We had so much fun in Isla Isabelle. Thousands of birds, breaking surf and an empty anchorage. We had great sleeping conditions and met up with John and his son Will from Alouette again and we all had a great time there swimming and snorkeling and visiting the birds and iguanas on the island that is a national nature preserve. The boys both came back to the boat with Geckos. I was not in favor of it but they are all so desperate for pets these days…

At the time I am typing this, Ben’s gecko, Rico, just reappeared in our head after we were sure he was lost, and Max’s Cinnamon is nowhere to be found. Apparently, they are good animals to have on a boat as they eat the bugs. We will see. So far, although San Blas is known for being incredibly buggy, we have had nothing! Something about a "quarter moon"? We may force them to release the geckos soon. If we can find them on the boat! We spent a night in Mantanchen bay which was also lovely. We arrived at night from Isla Isabel and so when we awoke this morning, we were treated to an amazing sight of a bay with lush foliage and palm trees. Compared to the dry, hard landscapes of the Baja California, it feels like Hawaii or the Caribbean! We motored into San Blas and arranged to take a ponga tour this afternoon into the jungle to see crocodiles and swim in a fresh water spring called La Tovara with Sea Otter. We had such an amazing day! So exciting. Invigorating. We saw turtles and birds and crocodiles and the most amazing mangroves.

Fresh water spring, La Tovara. A haven.

Perhaps being from Seattle, all this green and lush is doing me good. Perhaps all that dry was wearing me down? Here are some other photos from today in San Blas.

That boat (a wreck!), next to ours, is from Wilmington, Delaware?????

Appa and Sea Otter at La Marina Fornatur San Blas

Sailor Ben

 If my previous postings had you worried about me, thank you. I am fine. I just needed to vent and not just paint pretty pictures of rainbow pixie land. Lest you think all this is easy!

Swimming with Whale Sharks in La Paz

Don't worry about me... I am still earning badges!!!

My Night Watch Badge!!!

Three Months, Hitting Psychological Walls and Giving Thanks

It is almost Thanksgiving. A time to be grateful. To count our blessings. And I am really, really trying. Trying not to be discouraged. Trying to combat the part of me that is NOT in love with this adventure. Trying to find the good in every day. Trying to give in and enjoy the experience. Trying to be grateful for the chance to be living my husband’s dream accompanied by my three amazing children. And since we are therefore also approaching the end of November, it means that we’ve been doing the “cruising thing” now for three whole months. I think that typically this is a time when people like me who are new to cruising hit some kind of “come to Jesus” wall about the whole experience. I find myself incredulous that it has only been three months and not a little freaked out that we have SEVEN more months to go. I have not written for a while. I guess part of me has collapsed into some stage of grief about the whole connectivity issue and its frustrations and part of me is not sure how to write this next entry. I don’t want anyone to think the wrong thing if I were to vent or express out loud some of the emotions I have been going through lately with this “adventure”. I will admit that I did hit some low points lately: the first was when after returning from my first shopping trip to the Mega in San Juan del Cabo, I discovered that my iPhone was no longer in my purse. I have not been using it as a phone but just that day we figured out how to Skype call for cheap and my phone was perfect for that. Also, I was using it as a camera. And now it is gone. No blog photos. My Nikon is not easy to drag around with me. My connectivity to the world FURTHER diminished; I am yet further hobbled. And then, even lower I sank when I slipped in the cockpit while anchored in Ensenada de los Muertos and severely twisted my ankle (yes, I know, I tend to do this) and cried and cried and cried. My family stood there staring at me as they had not seen me cry since the last time I fell with my ankle, in Florida, just before our wedding four years ago. They did NOT know what to do. It hurt, for sure. But it was also some sort of a wall that I hit. The before-the-last straw or something. I just wanted it all to be over. I am seasick or have headaches most of the time. I am sweaty and stinky and salty and dirty and tired. The kids are frustrated and frustrating. I HATE THE HOMESCHOOLING. Bad moods abound. The food thing is way too hard. I feel lonely and DONE. And then, as if I wasn’t feeling badly enough, my ankle was twisted and swollen and painful and getting around or even off the boat became a huge issue. Perhaps it was some sort of a sign. Let’s just take a moment here, Jen, and show you that it CAN get worse so stop your pathetic whining!!! All my life I have loved travel and traveling. I love exploring different cultures and I love languages. But cruising is quite a different way to travel. We are constantly moving. A day or two here and then off again. We kiss the shores and stop briefly at marinas or anchorages. I venture boldly into shopping centers for food and then scuttle back to the boat. We are with other cruisers and ex-pats but rarely get to engage with Mexico or Mexicans. It is quite hard on the kids, really, thus far, and I am not sure how to make things better. Samey is getting pretty wigged out. Exhausted. Talking about home all the time. Wants to see her friend Keegan and her cousin Cora. Wants Fresca. Get me that NOW, she says to me. Constant defiance and melt-downs. Angry, mean talk and she is even physically acting out. She is constantly asking for screen time to escape. She is dirty, stinky and covered in mosquito bites. She is having poop issues. Is scared by the diarrhea we all have. Ben is fairing well as he gets to spend time with a couple of friends he has made with other kid boats but when it comes to his schoolwork, things are dismal. Also covered in bug bites, he has trouble with the basic maths that were never an issue for him, his spelling tests are getting worse not better, his handwriting is abysmal, barely legible, his ability to focus on school is so awful and so incredibly frustrating that it makes us scream and pull our hair out just to get anything done at all with him every day. We’ve adapted our approach to try and lessen the stress it is for us all, with Marcus doing the math with him first and enhancing it with math fact drilling, then we have him write a journal entry (two half pages of writing), and then I attempt to do a few of his other subjects before he lapses completely and can’t focus at all. He is doing a pretty good job with reading, though. Comes easily and he seems to be still enjoying the Charlie Bone series. We have some new friends who finally decided to just STOP schooling on the boat of their 12 year old son, Ben, for their sanity. I find it brave and bold. Their son is a smart and charming young man. It is very tempting… Max is actually doing pretty well. Super helpful with the boat and the kids. Not tidy – his v-berth room is atrocious once again -  or clean – he likes to be salty and sleep outside - and school continues to be a challenge. It is an independent study curriculum and he is not an independent worker. But Marcus sets his daily program and this helps a lot. He fell behind in his Algebra work during the Baha Ha-Ha and was having a hard time understanding it on his own but our friends on Sand Dollar have stepped in to assist and are helping him get past the horribly written math lesson he is on currently. We stopped doing the other subjects for a while to help him get caught up. He is probably doing the best of the kids right now.  I am proud of him. We are currently in La Paz. It is a charming place, a famous stop for cruisers. It is FULL right now as the Ha-Ha fleet has inundated the town and marinas. It seems everywhere we go we are surrounded by others from the fleet and this is both nice and frustrating. I never thought that what we were doing would be “original” or “new” but seriously. We are NOT breaking any new ground here. And everyone seems to be doing the same thing we are. AT THE SAME TIME. But again, we’ve met some great people. Today, I snuck away with my new friend Julie from Sea Otter (Bend, Oregon) and another couple – Rick and Patty - on Fais Do Do (Los Angeles, CA) and we took the free Marina shuttle in to town. We went to some really quirky stores in the center of town. One called La Super even had baby pins with plastic duckies on them for cloth diapers! I had not seen them for ages! Bins and bins of the craziest stuff. Then we hopped on a bus (hilarious!) and went to the Mega grocery store and the bank. Then, a cab ride back. I loved it because I was kid-free, Julie is deep and fun, I got to actually see town and people and stores and a bus. And the grocery store was a little less of a mystery this time, too. Marcus has followed, for a long time, a blog by a couple on a boat called Rebel Heart. They were here in La Paz and have two little girls – one 3 and one 9 months old who has chicken pox! We met them and they were INCREDIBLY helpful to us with tons of tips and ideas and Charlotte even went with me to the Mega, showed me some items she likes and helped me at Telcel to get an USB internet stick for my computer which entailed standing in line and at the counter for over an hour (her one afternoon off from her little ones!) just to purchase the stick and get it running. But now I should have internet when I need it when we can’t find internet cafes and hotspots. I should say I feel relieved and part of me does. Charlotte was inspiring because she is so deep into cruising. They will leave in 2014 to do the “Pacific Puddle Jump” which is a fleet that leaves from Mexico to do the Atlantic crossing over to the French Polynesia. With a toddler and an infant. She is amazing! And she freely admits how incredibly hard this is. To cruise. With children. And all of the rest of it. And she does it with grace and humor. A true inspiration for me. We’ll be here at the marina called Palmira through Thanksgiving. There is a Thanksgiving celebration here on Turkey Day that we’ll take part in. 200 people and 25 turkeys. Should be amusing. Until then we’ll continue to take care of some boat projects. Today, we had the boat cleaned and buffed and waxed. Appa looks great. The steering wheel and the propeller are concerns. We need propane. I will admit, however, since I am spilling my guts, that Marcus is lucky that I am such a newbie at sailing and boats. This is NOT the boat I would have chosen for cruising if I had known then what I know now and had seen the other boats people are on for this kind of a trip. Appa is really a racing boat, not a cruising boat. But, she is a great boat, too. Just not really as comfortable or as cruising friendly as MOST of the other boats I have seen! The marina we are in is decent. Our slip is convenient, our neighbors are interesting, the pool is pathetic but at least the kids can swim. We are going to attempt (I hope!) to go out on the dinghy to see and possibly swim with the whale sharks. Our next move, next weekend, will be to do an overnight passage of the Sea of Cortex to Mazatlan. Great. Seasick again!

MEXICO

Our pirate captain as we left San Diego with the 2013 Baja Haha fleet!

Hard to believe that the last time I was able to post to this blog was October 27, 2013. Sheesh! What a long, hard slog it has been since then. It seems like forever ago. Another lifetime. But the good news is that the Baja Haha is finally over (officially as of two nights ago - but we won first place in our division, "Guacamole Division", smoking squads of "silly Beneteaus", as Marcus says!!) and we happily left the craziness of Cabo San Lucas behind and are now resting comfortably next to several of our new boating friends in a beautiful marina in San Jose del Cabo at the southern tip of Baja California. I hardly know where to start to explain all that has occurred since we left the USA. All I can say is that the rally was NOTHING of what I expected. For me? Almost 800 nautical miles representing days and days of noxiousness and discomfort for me, personally. I somehow thought that once we got around Point Conception, it would be smooth sailing from there on out and warm weather and sunshine and easy livin'. HA! No. We left beautiful San Diego in misty, cold bumpy seas! I was seasick almost immediately! And then was useless again for quite some time. If you are ever considering doing the Baja Haha, talk to me first. There are some things you would need to know... There were 160 plus sailboat signed up, about 120 participated, only a very small handful of kids compared to MANY in previous years (a really sad part of all this for us as we had hoped to connect with tons of cruising kids). Most people who do type of travel are retired or single or kidless or all of the above. We weren't really "like" the others and seemed always to be on the fringe of the excessive middle-aged shenanigans and partying going on. We met some really, really nice people, though. Don't get me wrong. And it was fun, too. My favorite part besides meeting other cruisers and being part of the fleet? The VHF radio! Who knew? It was like a soap opera every day for the net check ins, and listening to the chatter and the tales and the conversations. But I digress. Where should I start... Hhhmmmm. Merit Badge, perhaps. I think I earned several on this trip. First sailing race/rally, my first overnight sailing watches, keeping my cool with 7 people on  board and a broken watermaker which meant running low on water for several days... Let me go back a bit, though. For those of you who are following this blog closely, I am proud to tell you that my Wauquiez Cruising Scout Master Brian did award me the Provisioning Badge while we were out at sea but attached this commentary: "On the subject of the Merit badge... having a Minivan definitely made the task easier.  However shopping and storing food for 7 is definitely a bonus. So on balance I feel that you have earned the award." I am so PROUD!

And I have to tell you... the food part of the trip did actually work out pretty well. We got to the end of our ability to prepare full healthy meals but there was still food here and the kids did not starve. Yesterday, I put my provisioning prowess to the test and went to the "Mega" grocery store here in town to go shopping. Yes, grocery shopping... AGAIN! But as much as I hate grocery shopping and organizing meals, doing it here is a bit more challenging and exciting. For sure. My friend Shauna on Sand Dollar did a much better job at provisioning in San Diego than I did. She had fruit to spare! Gave us her last bottle of white wine for Ilse and Pete! Brought us bread... But I had 7 and one of them was Max! And a beebee... always grazing... The Mexican grocery store was HUGE. Yes, MEGA. And it was full of tourists, not many locals. I wandered the isles amazed at the products, some similar, most not. Wishing I could go shopping and home to cook with a Mexican mother and see what she would do with the meats and the vegetables I saw there. A note on our crew: Ilse and Pete flew home yesterday after two weeks with us on the boat. Max is glad to have his V-berth back! And I would be lying if I didn't say I was glad to get back to being 5 on board. Here are some photos from the Baja Haha:

Shauna and Easton of Sand Dollar

Ben's buddy Easton from Sand Dollar

Leaving San Diego

We caught a Dorado! Yum.

I will write more in the next few days with more details of our journey. Have been attempting now for three days to get this entry done and sent. I know it is missing ALOT. And I will attempt to get caught up. Homeschooling has been largely neglected the last few weeks. I am attempting to make peace with it and figure out how to move forward without going crazy. Sand Dollar kids are doing one hour of reading, one hour of writing and one hour of math. Our school takes HOURS. Calvert. I am SO TIRED of it. Trying to figure out how to carve it down to something more manageable...