The Philosophical Basis for All Good Adventures
"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-- Mark Twain, thanks to sailwhisper.com
"Don't let yourself be 80 something and kicking yourself in the rear for not following your dreams when you were still young enough to do it"
--Frank Turpie
Conquering My Fears
I was leery of relying so heavily on Steve's sailing expertise for our journeys (who knows, he might run off with some other salty wench), so I have been taking Basic Keelboat and Basic Cruising classes from Club Nautique in Alameda and San Mateo. Luckily in my first class I met a nice woman named Fran who was even more scared of severely heeling than I was (and have been since I was a teen and my brother got his kicks by turtling the Hobie each time we went out.) Fran and I screamed simultaneously during our first lesson, but our coaches said to "suck it up" so we did and we both got over it! Anyway, I am not a chicken anymore and if I had to sail the boat all by myself I could do it. I would be less than brave if I had to dock the Wabi Sabi in a slip at a crowded Marina, but I could set the anchor just fine.
Are There Pirates in the Caribbean?
If so they had better look like Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom. I'm not giving up my boat to just anyone.
Sea Life
Ok, this is true, I promise. We were sailing into Turtle Bay Wednesday afternoon (10/30/03) and we heard Nick's fishing line start reeling out. Steve started to reel it in, and when he did that an extra large dolphin that really looked like a whale started surfacing right behind the boat. He dove up and down several times as the line kept going out, and then he disappeared and the line was released. I was hoping we weren't going to reel him in, because I have no recipes for dolphin or whale. We did see two pilot whales on our second day out but we didn't try to hook them. Total whale count for us since July 26th is 15. We had some baby squid thingies all over the deck a couple days ago. (They looked like volunteer bait to me.) At Bahia Santa Maria (Nov. 4th), we found a shark skeleton which kind of put things in perspective, since the spinal column was much longer than mine.
12/1 - Sea life update - there is a lot of variety out here! We have hooked a couple of Marlin but didn't get them on board, thank goodness. (We catch a couple Skipjack every day, big guys but not good to eat.) We've seen many sea turtles which look like round floating logs. One turtle was working as a taxi for a large bird. Katie saw several yellow and black sea snakes. One monkey in a mangrove jungle.. A bazillion dolphins. Several crocodiles, one of them munching on a turtle. Beautiful reef fish of every possible size and color, and sometimes huge walls of fast swimming fish when we are snorkeling. One bigeye Tuna, currently waiting to become dinner tonight.
1/2/04 - Sea life update - we went through quite a long time of seeing nothing but frigates, little swallows, and pelicans. The seas were looking a little empty. Nick caught a big tuna in Nicaragua and we did see lots of small fish in the marina there, along with a puffed-up puffer that Nick caught in a bucket. Those guys are sincerely ugly. However, on our way into Costa Rica, the dolphins returned. I have really missed them! The Costa Rican dolphins are the biggest ones I have seen yet. They are very slow and friendly. The bird life here in Golfito is intense, with a constant symphony on land, the swallow brigade on our lifelines and sheets, and the frigates dancing above. Quite nice. On a hike yesterday we saw huge fluorescent-blue butterflies and also big, dark ones with glowing red circles on their outer wings. There was also a little poison-dart frog. Steve has bonded with an overly friendly cat named Abu, and the kids are mugged daily by LandSea's boxer named Riley. We dined last night with the world's lamest and ugliest dog, who despite those attributes is thoroughly lovable. His name is Scupper and he lives at Banana Bay Marina. The menu warns you that he will be dining with you! American restaurants just can't offer that kind of ambiance. Our health departments take the fun out of the dining experience.
Tropical vacation?
Hace calor aqui. Hace muy calor. I didn't know it could be this hot and muggy. I will never complain about it being hot in Fresno again. The wonderful local people we have been meeting tell us this is their hottest November ever, special for us. Actually, the people here are extremely nice to us so that mitigates the heat at times. My Spanish is definitely passable, and I have been able to talk to a lot of people and learn things that I wouldn't have otherwise. Yesterday a couple kids got locked in a bank in Bucerias, and tons of people came out to stare inside, along with a lot of rescue and police vehicles. I would have thought it was a robbery gone bad if I hadn't been able to talk to the spectators. Those kids were stuck there for at least 2 hours and I never did see them get out. I also talked with a wonderful elderly man in Sayulita yesterday about a huge religious procession we were watching. He really wanted me to join in. The best one so far was a triangular conversation with a local scuba diver and a taxi driver. They would exchange colorful dialogue (to put it mildly) between the two of them every once in a while, and I would giggle, which in turn would make them blush. That was fun.
12/1 - weather update: its beautiful here! We are in Puerto Escondido On the night sail here I wore a sweatshirt and wrapped up in a blanket. Last night we had covers on. The water temperature is about 87 degrees and the daytime temperature is warm but not oppressively hot. Strolling the village at night is a very comfortable experience. This is what a paradise should look like and feel like. There are several mentions in all four of the books we have about the beaches here not being safe to walk at night. Since the lights on the beach are so bright that we don't need to use lights on our boat, maybe they have already corrected that problem!
Puerto Escondido
Recommendations for other yateros
1. Skip Cabo San Lucas.
2. Philo's in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle: musicians (Gringos and locals) play great music Wednesday through Sunday. Casa Lori provides great food at good prices. Good place to get information about the area, and...showers! Philo let the kids do their school work there every day under the fan and next to the pool. Philo has two websites: groups.yahoo.com/groups/philos_music_studio/ and philohayward.com.
3. Sayulita: beautiful drive through the jungle from La Cruz if you can get the cows off the road. (We take buses or taxis.) Very nice town with great surfing waves, although probably not big enough for serious surfers who should go to Tepic. We saw a guy here named Chuey who surfed on his head and backwards. Not too touristy, but you can get a drink on the beach under a palm frond umbrella. Looks like Hanalei Bay in Kaui.
4. Zihuatanejo: They are just plain nice. On Sunday they had a fiesta. The whole town was there, as far as I could tell. Food was cheap, and the entertainers were children from local schools, a local ballet folklórico, and a vaquero (cowboy) dance group. One nine-year-old boy enthusiastically presented a famous speech about the Mexican Revolution, kind of like Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech. We really enjoyed this town.
5. Learn some Spanish: Many of my best experiences so far have been conversations I have had with local people. I learned a lot of my Spanish with a set of CDs called Learn In Your Car by Penton Overseas, Inc. We haven't been to a place yet where you absolutely have to have it, but it has greatly enhanced the experience for all of us. Also we are probably ordering something closer to the food we actually want when we go out to eat.
6. Puerto Escondido: Guide books don't do this place justice. This is a beautiful spot. If you are at all Bohemian or like to surf, come. Stay. Skip Acapulco. Katie says she liked Acapulco, but she is referring to the water slides and the excellent pool at Club de Yates, otherwise know as Club de Very Wealthy People who don't mind paying $70.00 to get their laundry done. Steve liked Acapulco also, and he is referring to the marine parts stores, the Club de Yates facilities, the calm harbor with free mooring balls, the regular and cheap buses, the Wal-Mart, and the Cineopolis where we saw Matrix. So I guess there are reasons to go to Acapulco for people who like the things a large town has to offer. If you grew up with tie-dye (the first time around) and Bob Marley, try Puerto Escondido.
7a. Huatulco: this is where people come to wait for a weather window to cross the Gulf of Tehuantepec. I did not like the idea of waiting here for several days, but now we have our window and I really do not want to leave. This is a beautiful spot with something for everyone. It was developed by the government's tourism agency, Fonatur, so we came with prejudices about what we assumed would be a lack of soul and authenticity. Wrong!! Being fairly new gives it the advantage of being spotlessly clean and ecologically sensitive, but real Mexico is alive and well here.
Let me explain, especially for people who are relying on the same guide books we relied on. Do not anchor in Bahia Santa Cruz...keep going to the east one bay to Bahia Chahué and you will find a super little marina (Marina Chahué), with power, potable water, bathrooms and outside showers, and an excellent English-speaking host named Enrique. (If you come please continue my begging for laundry and ice-this guy can be manipulated.) From the marina, Nick and Katie were able to dinghy or walk to a good boogie-boarding beach. There are other nice beaches one and two bays north and south of here, and we see surfers too. We get the taxi right outside the marina and go to Crucecita, the connected town, where spending the day roaming, eating and talking is a very enjoyable option. Provisioning is fairly good at the Fuente near the Pemex. Try the helado de agua (sorbet) at Palateria Zamora.
7b. Now, here is the exciting part: find Saul and his adventure agency (look for signs saying "informaccion" in Crucecita) and take the Magicas Cascadas Tour. (Cascadas means waterfall.) We (along with our good buddy and soon-to-be licensed captain Doug, crew for Michael and his new bride Judy on Le Gato) spent an hour and a half in a Volkswagen van going up a dirt road to the top of a mountain. We passed several tiny villages, with mud and bamboo houses, children carrying a pole from shoulder to shoulder with buckets hanging in between, men walking beside burros who were loaded with wood for cooking, old women herding baby goats, and chickens everywhere. Their "running" water comes from the waterfall we were visiting, carried by black hoses which are all over the place.
The first waterfall we saw was stunningly beautiful., followed by several others as we walked (in and out of the water) up to the top fall. Then, our guide took off his shirt and shoes and dove into the pool at the base of this fall. We did too, although the young couple with us from Sonora, Mexico, declined. We swung from a rope swing over the bottom of the waterfall and plunged into the water. Then we walked over another fall, down the side of it, and then through it to a cave with stalactites growing from the ceiling. The guide kept saying "no peligroso!" but I am sure you could never lead a tour like this in the states! I know that if my kids proposed this adventure on their own I would have prayed for their lives and sanity, but there I was, having a terrific time, not even minding the cold water which is usually an adventure-stopping problem for me. And in my two-piece, which if you have ever been to the beach with me, you know hasn't happened in many years. We also went though the top of a cave into the two fern-enhanced, bright blue water pools within. Then, after a great lunch prepared by a family living by the waterfall, we drove down the hill a bit to see the awe-inspiring gigantic waterfall, with young men diving for crawfish beneath. It was strange, because we all assumed we had already seen the awe-inspiring, gigantic waterfall. This second one is the type to which pictures could never do justice.
Notice the diet pepsi!
Swinging in the falls
Awe-inspiring gigantic waterfall
And then, when we returned, the grand finale: Steve left the camera in the van. We returned to town, now almost 8:00 at night. The entire town is celebrating a holiday we could not quite understand, and the park is full with people everywhere. We started asking around for Saul, and of course were told he might be in the park, but also of course we could not find him there. Eventually Katie and Steve decided we would just pick up our laundry and leave, but on the way to the laundry, one of the women we had asked about Saul told them to come with her. She had discovered that Saul was home and she took them to his house. Saul in turn took them to the house of the guy who drove our van, and they found the camera right where it had been left. I love Mexico!
Mis amigas: Perla, Rosa Maria, and Vorinda of San Miguel del Puerto (where the falls are.) I am going to have our friend Doug make sure that these beautiful girls get a copy of this picture. They were so excited to see their image come up on my digital camera. They would have posed all day!
Water
I never imagined that I would be wet for most of this trip. We get wet when we take the dinghy on shore (either waves on board as we hit the beach, spray over the sides when the waters are choppy, or just plain getting out in the surf,) we get wet when we take walks, go shopping, etc. (that would be sweat,) and we get wet because we spend the day snorkeling, boogie boarding and swimming Nothing ever really gets dry. Just something I hadn't thought about!
Babies are born!
I guess that would be hatched...today we got to see 100 baby turtles come out of their shells. When a sea turtle comes on shore here to lay her eggs, the local turtle conservation society is called. They dig up the whole bunch and re-bury them in a safe area with a fence around it and a marker on it with the date they were laid. 41 days later, they dig them up and the little guys are squirming around, coming out of their shells. Mis amigos Luis, Martín and Rudy were digging them up this morning. They will keep them for three days, until they are bigger and stronger, and then release them on the beach. They let us hold them...they fit easily in the palm of your hand! The shell and the turtle are both very dark, and the shell is surprisingly hard. The eggs are soft and leathery. They say that no matter how far the turtles go, they come back to the same beach where they were born to lay their eggs. While we were getting our science lesson on turtles for the day, Rudy was asking me how to say a whole bunch of nice things to the beautiful American tourist ladies he hopes to meet. Glad to be of service, Rudy! I knew those Spanish lessons would come in handy.
Baby Turtle, just born!
Mi amigo, Luis, and his turtle maternity ward.
Midnight Ramblings
If you want to read more about our trip, skip this section. I was just lying awake downstairs thinking about home, actually thinking about my bed at home which does not move about as this one does. I was missing my king-sized bed with my king-sized dog and my little dog, too. Going to bed is a signal to my dogs to come up and have a party where they trap me under the sheets and mercilessly cavort over my helpless body. I miss their nightly bed parties. In my bed here my companions often have wings; some look like stuff George Lucas could have created. In Acapulco, a c-shaped bay, there was a dog who would bark at 10:00 each night and at 5:00 each morning. He was barking to hear himself, because his barks would echo off the hills all the way around us. Funny to be woken up by a dog when you're in the middle of a beautiful bay. Anyway, there are several things I miss about home right now, but I will probably miss the boat even more when we leave it. Boat life takes more patience and planning than land life, but the special things are even more special. Like just now, late on a very dark night, we just about hit a completely unlit panga (a local fishing boat about eighteen feet long, like a row boat made out of wood but with a big motor) that was anchored ten miles offshore with no one around. Not something you get to do on a Saturday night in Fresno.
Anchors away, my boys...far, far away
I have a few words to say about the Mexican Navy, but with all due respect since my dad is a navy man himself. He was the original peacenik, managing to squeeze his service smack dab in between two rather awful wars in such a way as to completely avoid ever being in a location where a shot might actually be fired. His uniform was certainly cool, though, not at all like the ones worn by the fellows who have been harassing us around Puerto Madero. I understand that there is increased concern about drug trafficking here due to the proximity of the border with Central America, although judging by the scent of many of the places we have visited in Mexico, closer inspection within the borders might be more profitable. The all-black uniform with bullet-proof vests, steel-toed boots ad hefty rifles that these guys wear makes them look like a S.W.A.T. unit, only not as intimidating as Rich Hill since none of them are as tall as I am. (Hi Chloë!) As I am writing this I am hearing them on the radio grilling a livestock carrier taking a load of cattle to Ensenada, with 16 people on board from Denmark, Germany, Russia and the Philippines. An international bovine drug smuggling team! The questions they ask are certain to make serious drug smugglers turn over their loot, like "What is the make of your radio?" Now remember that the Wabi Sabi looks like a floating Winnebago or small condominium, not exactly the high-speed vehicle a serious drug-smuggling family of four might consider. The cows must look to be a more serious criminal element, though, because the navy boat stayed with them for at least 1 and a half hours, coming so close that Captain Skov kept saying, "Your are too close! Leave some distance! This is dangerous, I can't navigate!" Probably trying to persuade those poor cows to give up the goods. Don't get me wrong, I strongly support their efforts to eliminate the drug trade. I just have to seriously wonder if they have ever caught a single bad guy with the tactics they are using.
Ignorance is bliss
If I had taken better notes on everything that has happened in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua during my lifetime, I would probably have suggested that we go straight from Mexico to Costa Rica. We have several guide books that strongly suggest staying away from this area. Luckily, I did not do my homework, and I am now in love with Central America. There are some things that are not so great, like the very poor little shacks that people are used to seeing in Mexico, the lack of exhaust controls on any of the vehicles, and the condition of some of the roads. There is evidence of the violent past, and this note from the Central America and Mexico Handbook 2003 describes one of the routes we took in Northern El Salvador: "There used to be much guerrilla and counter-insurgency activity in the northern areas; but now there is freedom of movement...Most if not all the land mines laid during the civil war have been cleared...however, if you are visiting the remoter areas, seek local advice." But how beautiful this land is, and how wonderful the people are! First, there is the relief that we are not the target of vendors and beggars as we were throughout Mexico. We are still a curiosity, but a very welcome curiosity. (Nick seems to be engaged to an El Salvadorian teen, hope he mentions that on his page.) They welcomed us not for our money (as in Mexico) but just because they are very hospitable people. They are also very hopeful people, and I hope along with them that the relative peace they have found will last. We had a great conversation with a highly educated catamaran-builder here who ran for vice-president of El Salvador. His platform was very much like our new governor's, with a little more emphasis on the cohesiveness of the family as the solution to the decades of poverty.
And how could anyone not be impressed with the beauty of this country! I have seen landscape here that Hawaii cannot rival. I would describe it as lush vegetation, but it is beyond that. And the landscape is more than just the vegetation, for interspersed with the banana trees, coconut trees, flowering trees, vines, mangroves and all those other green things that I don't know the name of, there are Brahma cattle, horses, oxen, yaks, and little piggies everywhere. The livestock roam at will, and very conveniently use the bike lane when they choose to leave the fields. (Seriously, even the piggies.) Does it matter that you don't have television (or even electricity, for that matter, especially in Honduras) when the view all around you is beyond Hollywood's capacity to create? There is the absence of those things that make it hard to connect with God...here there is nothing between you and God!
It's all Wabi Sabi in central America
As many of my devoted readers (!) know, the name of our boat came about as a bit of a fluke. It has cool meanings, like "the beauty found in not being dependent on material possessions" and "the person who is content with the simple things in life, which are the sources of their everyday inspiration." After our recent travels, I have come to see how incredibly significant "wabi sabi" is to the people and places in Central America.
Many years ago, I went to Acapulco with my family. We had a great time at our resort, but after a local youngster on a school holiday took us on a tour of the residential areas and what he called the "blue light" district, I felt a mixture of repulsion (at the horrendous living conditions) and embarrassment (at our flagrant wealth.) Well, the things that I saw then were positively luxurious compared to what I have seen in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. But I am having none of those negative reactions, because I am not seeing or meeting people who are miserable and unhappy. When I take off my middle-class American lenses, I can really appreciate the beauty of this life. No need for pagers (if some one wants to talk to you, they walk over to your house to talk to you,) no car (a bike or a horse is great and a lot more fun, plus the bus will get you if you go stand beside any road,) and no huge electrical bill to complain about (and taking all day to gather enough wood for cooking and heating is just fine.)
We almost skipped Nicaragua due to an article in Latitude 38 about the depressing poverty here. I understand the writer's feelings, but I think the level of contentment here is probably much higher than it is at home. Yesterday I was sitting in a park gazebo in El Viejo. A little crowd gathered around me, curious about where I was from and wanting lessons in English. ( Also to stare at Nick, who is the largest 13-year-old they have ever seen.) I talked about poverty with a 23-year-old man named Elba who works as a mechanic. He broke out in a wonderful giggle when I asked him if the people were unhappy because they were poor. What a silly American assumption! Which leaves me very glad that we are on the Wabi Sabi, and hopeful that I can take some wabi sabi home with me. However, let me slip in some dangerously-close-to-Republican thinking here...there is another side to this story. Ambition is not a bad thing. Assuming responsibility for the moral training and behavior of one's children is not a bad thing. Planning for the future and providing for your family are not bad things. No one need worry that I have gone overly-romantical here! (Romantical is indeed a word, just ask Darla and Alfalfa.)
Maria Guadalupe, a happy amiga in Grenada
Real Cruisers!
I have heard how impressed some friends and family are at my courage to go on this trip. Well, my undertakings are paltry compared to those of Bill and Jill of the Jill Diane who hail from England. They were our marina mates in Puesta del Sol. They have been cruising for 12 years. They are on a beautiful boat, but it makes Wabi Sabi look like a resort hotel in comparison when you consider the amount of living and storing space. There is almost no water-connected destination in the world that they have not visited. I was going to include a list of the places they have visited, but that would be a whole other website. Just imagine all of the continents and draw lines all the way around each of them and then some lines connecting them. Add some lines for inland waterways and vehicular travel and you've just about got it.
Bill and Jill rarely (very rarely) stay at a marina, which means they rarely have access to power, water, or toilets that actually flush. They sail for months at a time without putting down the anchor. They have no refrigerator, and they have never bought or used ice. They do not make water (they catch the rain.) Even though there are just two of them, they manage 3 meals a day together (including one substantial meal, no matter what the sailing conditions) which, when you consider the need for sleeping between watches, is a significant accomplishment. When they are on watch, they keep their hands on the tiller and actually steer the boat. (When I am on watch, I sit in a large, padded chair and watch the steering wheel as the auto pilot adjusts it to follow our course. Sometimes I can read a book and be on watch at the same time.) I got a week's worth of mothering from Jill, who taught me about boat sewing, boat cooking, boat provisioning, etc. I asked her if she had ever been afraid during her journeys. For me, that answer would have been lengthy and animated as I recounted all of the things that have scared me on our brief trip. Jill responded by seriously thinking for nearly a minute, and then simply stating, "No, I don't think so." I am such a wimp!
My hero, Jill
To sum it up
Well, we are now in Costa Rica, cleaning up and getting ready to leave the Wabi Sabi for our journey home by plane. My feelings are mixed. This has been an incredible journey!
The Good Parts The Not Good Parts
Meeting people Two passages with sea/wind so strong that I
feared for our lives
Beautiful seas, skies, sunsets No exhaust control standards in Central America
Dolphins Skip Jack
Touching history Looters who rob archeological sites to get money
to buy drugs
Family time Way too much school work
Ocean warm enough to play in Uncomfortable heat
Central America Some parts of Mexico (wish we had spent the
majority of our time in Central America.)
Food adventures Food adventures
The challenge Check-in/check-out procedures
Stunning scenery I'm running out on this side of the list
Experiencing other cultures
The feeling of sailing on a beautiful day in
a huge ocean with no one else around
Doing fairly well with my Spanish
Unplanned adventures
Time to read
Going home
Well, I know now what the best part of this journey has been. This is a little mushy for a website, but it would be rather hypocritical not to include it. The best part is to have done it as a family. I know my husband and my children so much better than I ever did before, in an entirely different way. I know my husband can be a phenomenal source of support on my hardest days, in my most fearful moments. I know that Katie has the heart of an adventurer, with a willingness to contribute, cooperate, and compromise.. And, believe it or not, after all of our school struggles, I have found a son who is interesting creative, unique, full of life and absolutely enjoyable...things I had been missing due to the struggles that come with being 13.
My e-mail is piglet111@msn.com