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On the evening of November 13, 2020 while anchored in Punta Chivato, Mexico, we made the decision to bring Arena to dry storage in Guaymas and fly back to Canada. Covid was everywhere and borders were closed. The decision to leave our home was hard. So very hard.

Our last stop before heading back to Canada, November 2020

Life back in Canada was incredibly busy with both Jamie and I working full time jobs while the kids continued their homeschooling journey. We were not present during many of the daytime hours, but all 4 of our awesome kids excelled in their studies and grew closer together as brother and sisters. Our family grew and struggled in ways that we could never have expected, but we absolutely appreciated our fabulous career opportunities, washing machines and hot showers, English grocery stores, internet access and great tasting wines and cheeses and butter. As winter turned to spring, spring to summer, then summer to fall, we started to feel the draw get back to Arena. We didn’t know what this might mean in terms of the future for our family, but we just couldn’t just leave Arena to sit in Mexico.

We crossed over the border from Arizona into Mexico November 11, 2021 on a Tufesa bus. We love this bus! No one speaks English and our Spanish is quite rudimentary, so it’s an adventure trying to figure out what we are supposed to do and when we are supposed to be doing it. The driver gives us our directions in Spanish and we nod, pretending we have the slightest clue. Maybe with some S-L-O-W, loud directions, we would catch more of what he was saying, but at any rate, we just go with the flow. Through bus terminals waiting for refueling and picking up other Mexican passengers, we navigate our way across the border.

During this trip, we needed to obtain new FMMs (visitor visas) at a roadside government building referred to as “K21” (21 km passed the Nogales border). We’re the only foreigners riding the bus, so this is an inconvenience for both the passengers and the driver, but a necessity for us entering the country. Jamie was able to convince the bus driver to stop and wait 15 minutes at K21 for him to run in and get our pre-paid FMMs stamped for approval. After about 10 minutes of being gone, the driver started honking for Jamie to get back to the bus. 15 minutes went by, and Jamie was still in the building with the officials. A few minutes more and Jamie finally emerged from the building in a sprint, climbed on the bus and plunked down on the seat beside me. No FMMs. They refused to stamp the forms because he hadn’t printed off a receipt. No negotiating. No option to just pay again. He would have had to fill out the forms for all 6 of us in a matter of a minute or 2 (impossible), so he had to leave K21 without visas. Such a disappointment. This would mean that we would have to travel back up the Sonoran state to try again at a later date. By the time we had arrived in Hermosillo, a city a few hours away, we’d made the decision to stay on the bus and go all the way to Guaymas then figure out a way back to K21 from there. Our neighbours on the bus must have heard and understood what had happened because as he and his wife got ready to exit the bus, the man informed us that he had called ahead to Hermosillo and ordered a hot meal for our whole family! Just because! After climbing back aboard the bus to deliver the food, he extended the most heart felt “Adios - Dios te bendiga”. We felt the love that evening and embraced these strangers’ kindness towards us!

To end our journey into Guaymas, our dear friend Howard picked us up from the depot with ANOTHER hot meal and a ride to our house rental, Casa de la Marie, where we would stay for the next 2 weeks. Marie, the French owner of the home with a heart of gold, provided a fabulous, peaceful space for us while we found our footing. Her unique property included 5 dogs and ton of rescued tortoises for the kids to play with in a safe yard in the heart of Guaymas. We have met some amazing people in our lives and have immense appreciation for all of the love and support as we weave our way through the lives of others.

During these past 4 weeks, we have been very busy. I set the kids up with their new school programs, and organized their school year. There hasn’t been much of any schoolwork happening in the last while with packing up and moving, travelling, and settling back onto Arena. Mom and Dad Leland stopped over the day after we arrived as they were passing by on their way to Puerto Vallarta. Mom generously lent her fancy industrial sewing machine for all things sailing related. It was a short visit as they were anxious to get off the highways and back to their own floating home in La Cruz. We rented a vehicle with some difficulty and successfully obtained FMMs at K21. All we had to do was pay….gah!

Before leaving Canada, Lochlan told me that his ‘friend heart’ was really empty ☹ . Day 2 in Mexico and he’d found a “best friend” in Louis, a Mexican boy that lived next door. Louis spoke only a few words of English and Lochlan only a few in Spanish, but the communication barrier nearly didn’t exist between them. One day Loch and Louise were playing Lego upstairs when I heard Loch giving his friend some very specific instructions on how he wanted something done. I yelled up the stairs “Maybe use some hand gestures! He doesn’t speak English”. Lochlan poked his head over the railing, super confused and yelled down “Uh…yes he does!” HA! Kids have such a unique way of overcoming barriers - I wish adulting was that easy, especially in another country!

Jamie spent most of his days at the boatyard setting up supplies and sorting out all of the jobs that needed to be done on Arena. It was too much to try and take the kids to the boatyard without a vehicle, so they didn’t step foot into the boat for almost a week. Seeing Arena for the first time in almost a year brought back all of the feelings of excitement that I could have almost forgotten back in Canada. I LOVE my home. It’s hard to go back to a boat in stands, but what a relief to see that all was well! Or so we thought….

As it turned out, the way that Arena was stored in the boatyard was not ideal and resulted in the keel pushing up into the hull and crushing the aft section of our hull where it meets the keel. After consultation with a marine surveyor, we made a plan to repair Arena’s hull before all of the other repairs and upgrades could be considered. It was a bit of a blow to come back to, but Arena is now restored to a level that is better-than-before, so our minds are at ease. This repair took almost 2 weeks to complete, so by the time we were planning to move into Arena, very little had been accomplished on the interior of the boat. We moved the sails up and out from below decks and got to work. It was hot and dirty, both inside and outside from the year of storage in a desert boatyard. The mosquitos plagued the kids and their legs look diseased from the copious inflictions from these pesky creatures.

We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, removed clothes that don’t fit anymore, possessions that are no longer prized, and items that have been sun-damaged THROUGH THE HULL over the year. This made a small amount of space for new clothes and prized possessions brought from Canada.

The kids spent their days cleaning, procrastinating with school, reading copious amounts of books, keeping below deck manageable for Jamie and I, sweeping the dirt and sand that continuously came up the ladder, washing the deck, talking with friends via internet, and walking to the OXXO for treats and drinks. The ladder up to the deck of the boat was approximately 15-20 feet off of the ground and very sketchy! The first ladder we had broke twice due to rusting through, the second ladder was barely long enough to reach the toe rail so it had to be set up at almost no angle. The third ladder that we were provided with was a proper ladder that the yard workers used during the day, so quite often we’d be ready to get off the boat to go to the bathroom and the ladder was just not even there. The kids carted 5 gallon buckets of water up and down all of the aforementioned ladders to do dishes and scrub the boat. Our refrigeration is water cooled, so since we weren’t living in the water, we had no way of storing refrigerated food safely for more than a few hours. I’m pretty sure the kids NEVER want to see a peanut butter and jam sandwich again! I think that the boatyard dogs were fed almost as many of these sandwiches and, although they are always hungry, are likely tired of peanut butter and jam too!

Bronwyn and Lochlan found sticks that entertained them for hours and hours every day. They spent time visiting with the others in the boatyard community and enjoying whoever would stop to visit with them. They are all the BEST kids ever!

In the 4 weeks at the yard, we accomplished most of our needs including:

- Engine raw water pump rebuild

- Fibreglass repair to hull

- Electronics reinstalled and upgrades connected

- teak sanded/cleaned/oiled

- sails on

- hull sanded, primed, and new bottom paint applied

- waterline raised

- running rigging up

- Solar problems solved

- Boat interior cleaned/somewhat organized/purged

- Topside of hull sanded and repainted, new colour stripe

- New decals designed and applied

- New nav lights, anchor shackle and other miscellaneous upgrades

Gabriel’s boatyard in Guaymas was good to us. Gabriel was reasonable and understanding when he learned our boat was damaged, the yard workers were skilled and friendly, and the boatyard community of sailors was extremely warm and welcoming to us. We met some really great people from all walks of life and made some connections that will likely outlast those days in the boatyard.

I would never recommend living in a boatyard with children…but I’m glad we did!

We missed our original splash day because of delays in supplies and labour. “Manana” becomes a bit frustrating sometimes. We made arrangements for the yard next door to bring Arena over to their industrial dock to splash us there as we wouldn’t be done in time to catch the highest tide for the month that would get us safely out of the shallow channel at Gabriel’s. We ended up paying quadruple the cost of Gabriel’s yard, but peace of mind and sanity dictated our decision. Once in the water, we found that the fridge was not working, the heads were both in need of repair to function, and the alternator was still acting up…but we were floating! Kind of! The tide dropped that evening enough that Arena was very still in the water. I’m pretty sure we were resting on the ground, but Jamie insists that we were, in fact, floating.

December 8th, we slid out of our lovely tire and rebar laden dockside space and followed the channel as directed by the yard master to deeper water. Up until yesterday, the idea of sailing Arena was still just a hope - same feeling that we had before we sailed away from Canada in 2019. That feeling of “what If it never actually happens” started to slip off of my shoulders. It felt as though this past year of ups and downs, moving, working, planning, questioning, and struggling was just a memory and I was transported back to my place in the cockpit, writing in the ship’s log as if I never left.

I am HOME. We are home. Wherever she takes us, Arena is home.