First sights of south

Greetings from Ensenada.  Four days ago Jordan Harder and myself left San Diego with a boat (Hasta Luego) and a dream.  After a month of preparation and itchy feet we finally felt we were ready for an extended sail trip of the Pacific.  So much of the knowledge and gear we acquired was thanks to generous people looking out for us.  After a few weeks we started to see a pattern that everything we needed was being provided for us, sometimes without even searching.   When we were truly in need of something, just the right person would come along.  (I wish I had time to get into those stories...maybe someday.)  So with charts, and GPSs and surfboards, and 200 lbs of legumes to sprout, and the end of hurricane season, we pulled out of our San Diego dock for the last time, waving goodbye to a handful of special family and friends who had come to wave us off.  

That moment was a big one, it was a gateway, a passage into a new life.  And as the burden of preparations and shopping and planning faded, a new life of freedom and exploration unfolded in front of us.  The sun was setting over the familiar Point Loma lighthouse, the moon was waxing, the wind held strong at 7 knots, and our hearts soured.

After a quick one day/one night passage we arrived in Ensenada, anchored out and took a breath.  It had been a large wave, heavy wind passage…fun, but exhausting.  We’ve spent the last few days here checking in with authorities, trying to save a closed out bank account, and exploring the town.  

Last night Jordan went in to Starbucks to use the bathroom before we explored south, and he came out with a red-headed american girl, saying, “hey Mark, this is Cat, she might be staying with us tonight.”  “Hmm.”  Then he said, “She just got dumped by her fiancé, and has been locked out of their apartment with no where to go.”  Ah, my heart broke, and it was then I noticed she had tear stains down her cheeks.  I couldn’t help but reach out and give her a hug, she received it gratefully.  Cat is only 18, and has been working in Mexico circuses for 2 years, she has a pet wolf, just sold her pet puma, and has owned a whole assortment of exotic animals.  She laughed as she showed us pictured on her iPod of her rolling around with the animals, the pain seemed to lift for the moment, and she started talking more openly.  Just minutes before Jordan found her crying in Starbucks she had received the text that her fiancé was dumping her, she had just asked the question in her head “where am I going to go?  Where will I stay tonight?,” when Jordan asked her what was wrong, and proceeded to offer her our boat for shelter for the night.  When she told me that I said, “It’s pretty cool how things come just when you need them most huh?”  She nodded and smiled, “everything’s going to work out.”  We paddled out under the night sky with the sounds of the city and a drum circle.  It was her first time on a boat, and we treated her to a Spanish rice dish as we sat listening to Old Crow Medicine Show, enjoying the moment.

Tonight her friends get back in town, so she has a place to go.

It’s amazing to be on both sides of the synchronicity.  And it seems to open up the more you follow it.

And now we are within half-an-hour of pulling anchor and heading south.  This next cruise will take a few days. From here on out we’ll be stopping in bays with no cities, or just a small village.  The cruising community has already taken us in and we are good friends with people on 5 boats heading south here in these few days, so we will have allies in the waters.

Freedom to you friends,

Mark