Down is up, Right is Left, and North is South

As I write this, we are enjoying a near-perfect sail to Acapulco. The wind is a steady 9 knots just behind our beam, there is hardly a wave in the water, and the sails are full pushing us along at a comfortable speed of 6.3 kn. A fishing boat (panga) came flying our way from who-knows-where to casually cut their fishing line that we had no idea we were headed for. They waved at us, likely grateful that we weren't dragging their line on our prop. We waved to them, grateful that we weren't dragging their line on our prop! My sourdough bread went from decent to exactly what I was hoping for. The kids are all in good moods. Riley asked for help to better understand the ins and outs of sailing. Lochlan told us as we were leaving this morning that he gets excited everytime we pull up the anchor. There's been almost no bickering all day. Turtles and dolphins can be spotted on both sides of the boat as we glide through the turquois water. What an idyllic life! This is a rare moment in time where everything goes according to plan. These are the moments that remind us that our life of sailing makes sense.

There are many days when this life doesn't make sense. We've had our fair share of the not-so-perfect days in the last 3 months as we've settle back into Arena. The unclear plans, the hurrying up to wait for weather windows, the unmet expectations, the frustrations and disappointments and everything in between. There are days when we wonder why we are out here as borders are still closed, covid continues to exist, and it feels as though the world is on the precipice of never-ending disaster.

I tried to write a blog post many times, but I didn't know what to say. Our life is less like a classic novel and more of a "choose your own adventure" novel. What if we make THIS choice? How will our story change? Oh...maybe that wasn't the right choice. Ok, let's go back and choose THAT option. Unexpected outcomes galore and everybody that's read a "choose your own adventure" novel knows that it is stressful and nobody wants to die!

Christmas eve, we received approval from French Polynesia (FP) to sail to their beautiful islands, arrival scheduled for April/22. Without special application, we were granted permission to stay the 90 days alotted to Canadian citizens before continuing on our way elsewhere. It felt really good to make that decision. We would go to FP, then head to Hawaii, then back to Canada as Omicron had just emerged on the scene. Vancouver Island has nursing opportunities for me that would seem foolish to pass up and the kids would like to go to public school. We were excited to finally have an answer to the questions of where, when, how, how long....

But then we met SV Falkor 4.2 :) a German/Canadian family that just makes sense to us. They had plans of their own, but after a few evenings of sundowners in the cockpit, we all changed our minds and skipped to the page where our adventure shifts together to plan# 49872. Plan #49872 includes sailing south to Central America, applying for a longstay visa in FP from Panama with a leave date of September, then....I don't know how the story ends yet.

We are getting used to plans being written in sand, but it does take a toll when the details are fuzzy. I'd like to meet a real-life person that actually has it all figured out and ask for the guidebook!

So for now, we head south (or rather east at the moment).

San Carlos - December 13-18, 2021

In the anchorage of San Carlos, we took a breath, swam in the cool water, and relished in our freedom from the boatyard.

After a few days of tweaking systems, finding our footing back in the belly of Arena, and some food provisioning, we were

ready to get on the move. We didn't have a plan, but that felt good too! We had but one goal as we coasted out of view of San Carlos on the morning of December 13th - South. We'd spent enough time in the Sea of Cortes and it was time for some fresh, green views. It felt magical to pull up those sails for the first time in over a year and it maybe even gave me joy to cook below deck at a 10-15 degree lean. We set our course for Isla Carmen and let time slip away.

Isla Carmen - December 14, 2021

Our first time anchoring here in Bahia La Salinas on Isla Carmen! After all those spring and summer months up in the Sea of 2020, we'd never explored this island. Maybe the south winds made it difficult in south anchorage, but more likely, it just wasn't a priority. Those were strange, confusing days.

While only here for less than 24 hours, this place made us fall right back in love with our sailing life. A lazy morning with coffee in the cockpit and the afternoon spent exploring, it brought us back to WHY we are doing this. A forced slow down to connect with each other. We walked the 1.5 mile white sand beach with crystal clear waters. We forced the sand cockroaches (not scientifically classified!) into hiding among the rocks and gathered handfuls of shells and rocks as we stretched our legs and reconnected as just the 6 of us again.

It was hot and cloudless and our pasty Canadian skin attracted more UV rays than the suncreen could handle.

San Jose - December 15, 2021

Due to a wild NW fetch and an uncomfortable sail on our way to Bahia San Carlos (different than the town of San Carlos), we chose to redirect to Isla San Jose, riding out the conflicting wind and waves. After a series of unfortunate events, including a galley food explosion followed by a frustrating diesel cleansing in one of our food storage compartments under the day tank (I'm not explaining...but one might deduce an event of distracted overfilling of a daytank while fileting a mahi!), we decided to tuck in at the south end of Isla San Jose to let the weather system die out before continuing. It was a surprisingly cool 20-22 celcius , but we had a great time exploring the abandoned salt farm. On our final day, the kids had their last cold ocean bath at the beach while I prepped food - bread, pizza, curried lentils, and a big pot of rice to cross the Sea over to Mazatlan.

Mazatlan - December 19-21, 2021

Best crossing to Mazatlan! It was fast and just wild enough to keep us awake and reigning Arena in when necessary.

We love love love anchoring in the old harbour of Mazatlan. I honestly cannot explain why as it is actually quite disgusting! The Port Captain does not answer our hails, the water is murky, the party boats are loud, and the dinghy dock is tied on top of an old panga (small fishing boat). Club Nautico is full of feral cats and gross washroom facilities. BUT WE LOVE IT HERE! It is so easy to catch an Uber for $30 pesos (<$2 CDN). After sailing for a few days, Mazatlan is a place to rest.

Bahia Matanchen December 22, 2021

We had plans to meet Mom and Dad for Christmas 2020 after they bought their sailboat SV FreeBird 1, but we ended up heading back to Canada for a hiatus and didn't get the opportunity to float with them in Mexico. Now that we were back and ready to go, we made plans to meet Mom and Dad for Christmas 2021 in Bahia Matanchen. We'd been here twice before, but had never stepped foot on land. What a great reunion in the bay, Arena arriving from the north and FreeBird from the south. We celebrated a simple Christmas and invited all the jejenes (noseeums) to join us. A fish-fry on the beach left us COVERED in jejene bites and teetering on insanity with the itching. We collectively decided to seek sanity elsewhere, without the jejenes, pulling up anchor on Boxing Day morning.

Jamie lost his phone in Manzanillo, so these are the only surviving pictures of our Christmas 😢

Punta de Mita December 26-28, 2021

Quick stop to grab some produce and decide where to head next.

First time I've ever been in this town - very touristy but quaint, the rest of the family stayed on the boat while Mom and I went in. I then spent a whole day here doing copious amounts of laundry, my least favourite boat job. We topped off the busy day with a refreshing swim near shore with humpback whales displaying their size on the horizon.

La Cruz December 28-30, 2021

Just a quick stop here - the new marine store in La Cruz had EVERYTHING we needed, so we did a quick shop then headed due south again.

Tenacatita/La Vena/La Manzanilla December 31, 2021 -January 23, 2022

What a place! This was a goal of ours to come back here, but it was a different experience anchoring in this bay this time. We had some soul searching to do and it took a while for family life to become cohesive again. The kids asked if we could just slow down for a while (we'd pushed pretty hard and covered many miles in the previous few weeks since leaving Guaymas), so we settled in to boat life, creating schedules and starting school full time. The kids would kayak over to Mom and Dad and we spent afternoons on the beach or having snacks that Mom would bring over from her ever-baking galley on FreeBird. We enjoyed some FABULOUS dinner meals that Mom and Dad would bring over to share and we'd all get stomach aches on Arena from the reintroduction of meat and delicious rich foods that are no longer a part of our diet. Every day that Mom asked if they could bring supper was worth the stomach ache! That woman can cook! Dad made us jealous with his Jackery inverter and all his handy gadgets that he'd brought down from Canada. Mom sewed new hatch covers for us to stave off the heat and always had a cold drink to offer when we'd pop over. We had some seriously crazy dinghy landings on the beach at La Manzanilla but nobody bailed ...even if there were the occasional soaked shorts and dripping backpacks :). We took Dad and Mom on a hike, in the blazing sun, to the waterfall up the riverbed for Riley's 14th birthday. We revelled in the opportunity to have the place to ourselves, letting the little fish peck at our feet and immersing our flipping hot bodies in fresh, cold water without feeling guilty about water usage! Yeah, this is still a favourite spot for me.

Backtracking a bit to our time in Guaymas, we met Patrick on SV Falkor 4.2. We thought he was pretty great, and hoped to stay in touch, but knew that we had different plans. Fast forward to our time in Tenacatita, we reconnected with Patrick and his family Sherrie, Emjay (9) and Kai (7) who agreed to meet us in the bay to let the kids play in the hopes that some friendships could be made, even if only temporarily. Oh my gosh! Lochlan's "empty friend heart" has been filled to overflowing! Kai has quickly become the friend that Loch has always hoped for (he's stopped asking Jamie and I to give him a brother!) and the 2 boys couldn't handle the thought of separating. Bronwyn and Emjay get along well and their whole family just felt like a good fit for the Arena crew. We didn't know it at the time, but this short visit in Tenacatita was the beginning of a completely new adventure for us all. SV Falkor 4.2 headed back north to say goodbye to friends with the promise to come back and spend a bit more time with us. We would look forward to their return!

The jack fish have gotten a little too close and too curious for me. The girls and I have developed a dumb little fear of these curious pack hunters that swim at us when we are washing our hair in the water. I actually googled to find out if they are of the biting variety because I don't like the way they look at me. Mom and I even had one circling our paddleboards one morning...not cool, Jack.

The markets were packed and we would stuff our bags with inexpensive, beautiful looking fruits and veg. This is the last place we visited a carniceria (butcher) as we have become mostly meat-free on the boat. We still eat meat occasionally, but have found healthy alternatives that keep us healthy and happy. I would not say no to a Mahi if he wanted to join us for supper, but we rarely put the hook out as it is neither necessary nor exciting to kill a fish when we have a fridge full.

Malaque January 23-29, 2022

We've never had a need to stern anchor Arena...until Melaque. It is VERY rolly in this anchorage! The beach landings were epic and sometimes not worth a trip into town! Lochlan had a tooth that had been bothering him and Mom had broken a tooth, so we headed in one evening for dental appointments. Turns out Loch had a rather LARGE cavity in one of his teeth, so the lovely dentist took the drill and started drilling Lochlan's tooth WITHOUT ANAESTHETIC! I was mortified! I was sweating in the back corner, praying that my child would not grow up to believe he'd been tortured at 7 years old. To my surprise, Loch didn't complain once. He said it was uncomfortable, but "it's fine, Mom". Appointment was over in 20 minutes and he was as good as new, I think? There were no xrays, just a little magnifying camera. No special concoctions, no special instructions, just a quick drill and fill for 600 pesos (+/- $40 CAD).

SV Falkor joined us in the anchorage and all was right in the kids' world.

Here is where we met a special soul, Ruby, on sv Mekani, who encouraged us to consider other options for FP because of her passion for the island groups. She definitely gave us something to think about. We sat and chatted with Patrick and Sherrie (Falkor), talking through the possibilites of a complete shift in direction until the current plan #49872 was born. Falkor and Arena are headed for Panama before crossing the Pacific to French Polynesia. Our plan of West became South.

Tenacatita January 29-February 2, 2022

Now that our plans had changed, we had no need to go back to La Cruz to prepare for the crossing to FP. We motored back to Tenacatita to say goodbye to Mom and Dad. After an amazing few days of the beach and cockpit visits, "See you later" was in order yet again. We are so excited for them in their upcoming adventures, but will miss them very much as they head north and we head south.

Manzanillo February 2-9, 2022

Las Hadas - A beautiful, comfortable anchorage with WAY too many jetskis during the day. The shocking 250 pesos fee (>$15 Canadian dollars) for the dinghy dock gives us a place to keep the dinghy, garbage disposal, use of the PUBLIC showers, use of the PUBLIC beaches, and well...that's all. We certainly don't have to use the marina's dock, but the alternative is beach landings that I will NEVER participate in. The waves are mountains that this dinghy cannot conquer.

It is remarkably picturesque here. The cliffside is lined with white condos and hotels, the fuschia bougamvilla a stark contrast against the white as it climbs between patios and windows. Taxi rides are inexpensive and there are some big-store conveniences that we can appreciate after all the small tienda shopping along the way.

Santiago & Ensenada Carrizal February 9-19

We just couldn't handle the jetskis in Las Hadas, so we backtracked into Santiago bay. It was beautiful here, although the dinghy landings were still a bit rowdy. Sherrie (SV Falkor) and I took the kids to the beach one day to have drinks in the shade while the kids played. Bronwyn decided that she wanted to have her hair braided like Emjay, so agreed to scrub the topside of the hull as repayment for the braids.

Ruby (SV Mekani) had let us know that Ensenada Carrizal, which was just around the corner, was gorgeous and worth another backtrack, so off we went to explore this magical spot. Anchored in a small bay surrounded by green and purple coral, we spent our days snorkelling and floating in the waves of the rocky beach. We retreated into chill mode as our solar panels behaved and gave Jamie a chance to relax! Bronwyn and Lochlan explored the waters in the kayak while Ada and Riley spent time doing swim laps from the boat to the beach and back.

Zihuatanejo February 21 - March 1, 2022

After a fabulous, fast 2 day sail from Carruzel to Zihuatanejo, we arrived just in time to celebrate birthdays for both kids aboard SV Falkor 4.2. Our younger kids attempted to sleep over which ended in a drop off at midnight and again at 330am! I wouldn't call any part of it a "sleep"over, but I'm pretty sure the kids had fun when things made sense before midnight!!!! What's a party without a lot of fun and a little drama!

We can officially say that we have survived 20 years of marriage (Feb 23), and chose to celebrate with Patrick and Sherrie at a quiet restaurant in Zihuat sans children. It's so fabulous to own some big kids who don't mind babysitting so that we can have a night out every now and then without having to worry. 20 years is a long time to keep choosing each other, and I am still certain that my 19-year old self chose well!! Here's to many more adventures in life!!

Sometimes this adventure feels backwards and upside down, but it seems to end up making sense as long as we're doing it together. Cheers to going south...or east...or wherever the latest plan takes us!