27 Oct 2013 – 3 Nov 2013
We spent the week organizing Hilbre and preparing for the trip to Mazatlán while also spending time with friends and fellow sailors. Sunday was a cleaning day.
Monday, 28 Oct 2013 – We installed the solar panel rails and then added the solar panels. We had out first dinner on-board since we launched Hilbre.
Tuesday, 29 Oct 2013 – A quick breakfast at El Embarcadero and then helped Vicki and Lane on Adesso into a new slip. We had met Vickie and Lane last year when we pulled into a slip next to them in the Costa Baja Marina in La Paz. We also had a visit from our local friends Charlie and Tracey in the afternoon to see how we were doing.
Wednesday, 30 October 2013 – We installed a new fan in the aft cabin during the morning followed by doing laundry. The afternoon was taken up installing the GPS and checking the masthead. With everything checked out we had Sundowners on our boat with Lane, Vicki, Greg and Diane. Greg & Diane are Australian and had the boat across from us.
Thursday, 31 October 2013 – We installed the anchor today and checked the engine alignment. The wind picked up in the afternoon as a front passed us. In the evening we had snacks and drinks on our boat with Lane & Vicki.
Friday, 1 November 2013 – We went shopping in the morning into Guaymas visiting, Walmart, Home Depot and Lays. While in Guaymas we took the opportunity to stock up on our supply of Pesos at the Bank. In the evening we had drinks on Hilbre.
Saturday, 2 November 2013 – For the first time in days, we took the day off to relax and wander about the Marina.
Sunday, 3 November 2013 – We met Charlie and Tracey for breakfast at the El Embarcadero before heading back to the boat to tidy up the cables leading from the Solar Panels. Lane and Vicky had headed up the the US to buy some supplies including a new thru-hull for their boat which had developed a small leak. They left a set of keys for me to check their boat daily for them while they are away. I checked Adesso in the morning and again in the afternoon and saw no issues.
I wrote and sent a newsletter article to the Sailing Club in the US to which we belong. It follows:
Unfortunately, it’s a truth; it’s the “Grey-Hairs” that usually go cruising. When you are at a Marina in the prime cruising ground and you look around, it is older boats (circa 70’s & 80’s) that you see from builders that no longer exist. These boats are populated largely by the mature generation. Of course, the charter crowd is often a younger bunch, usually weekend sailors who have limited time with commitments. As a youthful Lin Pardey said in one of her books, “Go cheap and go now.” So it is quite refreshing to see some younger folks doing their thing and sometimes they do odd things. But that is the difference between youth with its energy and the older folks with wisdom, patience and experience. Take the young couple in their late 20’s next to us in San Carlos.
We struck up a conversation and while we were chatting he was plunging a rather sharp, pointed knife into a fish he had just caught which was still flopping around in the cockpit. They had recently adopted one of the stray, but now neutered cats from the dock area. After a while, I became curious and asked him what he was doing to which he replied he was killing the fish for the cat to eat. I couldn’t help but offer some words of wisdom.
Another young couple on a double ender had acquired a stainless arch from a generous older cruiser who was rebuilding his. Their youthful spirit drove them to try and fit it on their boat. A quick look at the long boom and the shape of the stern dictated that it would never fit. After almost a day of working hard, the stainless arch was reduced to a pile of sawn-up components on their foredeck.
How do these youngsters manage to go cruising? There are some professions that enable this; both of the above were software engineers. As long as you have a decent Internet connection, you can program anywhere. There are also some 45-55 footers out there, usually newer boats and frequently inhabited by the younger generation, where a cruising kitty seems not to be a problem.
But it is still the older generation that largely cruises, with time, savings and an urge to manage within a tight budget; it is this group that dominates the docks and anchorages. Many have sold everything and the boat is their only home. Some have been doing this for years like the couple across from us who have “done” the Caribbean, the South Pacific, and been around South America, including the “Horn” in their 40’ Baba. They have been living aboard and sailing for 14 years.
Sitting with people like this, listening to their sailing tales and words of wisdom we were surprised recently by the comment from a number of experienced and well traveled cruisers. They agreed the Pacific Mexican coast and the Baja was their favorite cruising ground. I recalled the comment from one of our sailing club member who had cruised in Mexico for seven years and said he never saw a reason to go anywhere else.