We made it back in one piece. The trip began a bit late, we left San Diego after spending three weeks locked in the harbor due to huge seas and nasty weather. The trip down the coast of Mexico was our first taste of open ocean sailing accompanied with warm weather. Mexico’s pacific coast was blessed with the presence of whales migrating south. Magdallana Bay, in the middle of the Baja, is like a big singles scene. There was kind of a “Be there or be square” attitude amongst these ten ton mammals. We had a few too-close for comfort near miss situations as they swam under the boat. Whales at that time of the year have one thing in mind and they seemed oblivious to our boat. Needless to say we tried to stay clear. Hundreds of whales find Magdallana Bay yearly and it’s nothing short of amazing.
We spent a few months in Mexico getting used to the sailing or so called “crusiers” lifestyle. The people you meet doing the same sort of thing really were a highlight of being away. Families using the home schooling program and incorporating cultural, language and local geography raising some of the best behaved, mature kids on the planet. Old surf bums out looking for eternal youth and the last mondo wave. Retired folks looking for a better way to spend the golden years of their lives and then people like us, just curious about the mystical ocean and learning just how large the world is without boundaries. Traveling 5000 miles at about 6 miles hour really gives you a new perspective on how large this piece of rock is.
We ventured on down the coast after doing a major provisioning run at the new colossal size Wal-Mart and Price Club in Acapulco. With a devalued peso and a 7 to 1 exchange rate, we couldn’t fit another morsel of food on board the boat. We really should have stocked up on those Ritz crackers and tiny snickers bars, but hind sight......well, you know the rest. Shopping for 2 months at a time can be a real challenge.
Costa Rica was a lush, greener than green paradise, and a good place to retire if your a bug or bird. A little too pricey for us gringos, but then that was in comparison to where we just came from. The high point of this country was a horse-back ride into the interior of the rain forest. The smells, sights andnever came across like this in any jungle movie or PBS special.
Panama was just as lush and beautiful as Costa Rica, but with many more islands to explore and a lot less people. We were approached one morning by a small dug out canoe made from a tree. Inside a grandfather and two grandchildren looking to barter a few pineapples, avocados, and mangos for some rice, pasta, or AA batteries. The tiny island where we had anchored for the night was in the middle of nowhere. This little canoe came a really long way to make a delivery in good faith that we would have what they needed. It makes me stop and think every time I open the refrigerator looking for something to eat... boy do we have it good.
We transited the Panama Canal in May. The transit took two incredible days . Bless the US - they run a tight ship. In the year 2000 they’ll deliver control to the Panamanian Government. They have yet to repair the damage and squalor left by Noriega, so this is a little more than scary. The country is incredibly beautiful, and it’s safe as long as you avoid the major cities.
After the canal we turned right and ventured south to the San Blas Islands where we enjoyed some great scuba diving and the indigenous Kuna Indians. The Kunas make and sell beautiful hand-made embroidered Molas. These beautiful creations were pretty hard to pass up as each island sent canoes full of Mola-selling mama’s (matriarchal society) out to greet the boat along with a cute bunch of Kuna kids. Raisins and Power Bars seemed to be a big hit with the kids. We have some great pictures!
Next stop was beautiful Providencia, an island located at the same latitude as Nicaragua but belonging to Columbia. It was by far our favorite part of the trip due to the wonderful people and pristine scuba diving in turquoise blue water. It was the only place we visited that still had prolific sea life and untouched coral. While there we ate well and met some wonderful local and not so local (Tim and Dr.Cindy Slater from Grand Rapids Michigan) people - geeez it’s a small world.
The next leg of the trip left us with a new respect for the ocean. In a normal year its not a good idea to trapse around the Caribbean during hurricane season. Of course we had to pick the busiest hurricane season in seventy years which made it an even a worse idea. Tropical Storm Allison, later to become Hurricane Allison, offered the first big blow of the season. Unfortunately the weather fax did not pick the system up as it formed over our head. Just goes to show that the latest electronic equipment is no match for mother nature.
Three hellish days later we arrived in the Honduran Bay Islands. Although long fabled for their world class diving most of the islands are fished out. We would swim all day yet encounter only a small portion of the sea life one would expect. A sad commentary for this third world spot. We made friends with a few of the locals and did a cook-out or two with a few of the families. At night the ravenous black flies or no-see-ums would come out and feast on us. We don’t recommend this part of the world for a vacation, but if you do go bring lots of bug spray and lots of American currency as the port officials wouldn’t accept payment in their own currency!
Next we picked up Robert’s mother Caroline and headed south to the Rio Dulce of Guatemala, a fresh water river that winds it’s way through the interior of the country surrounded by dense jungle and sheer cliffs of rock that rise up to the sky. As spectacular as any coffee commercial, the jungle and rain forest are vast and full of wildlife. The Mayan Indians inhabit this area of Guatemala and fish with century old techniques which put our high tech fishing gear to shame. Not one lousy fish did I catch, three weeks on a fresh water river supposedly full of fish - not one. Thank goodness for the restaurants serving locally caught fish.
We enjoyed our stay in Guatemala even more after the addition of Dulce, a.k.a. “Bug”, our new green feathered addition. She was a baby parrot purchased from a vegetable stand and has since become a well adjusted San Franciscan, eating and living the life here in Estadio Unidos. Her vocabulary at this point only consists of Hola! (Spanish for hello) and a pretty loud wolf whistle (Universally obnoxious in all languages.) but we love her to pieces.....
Next we spent three weeks exploring the islands and diving on the reefs and atolls of Belize. Amazing scuba diving and beautiful sailing. After Belize we made a bee line for Isla Mujures Mexico and spent another two and a half weeks waiting for a clear weather window. By this time the storms looked like planes on a tarmac stacked up from the west coast of Africa all the way to the eastern Caribbean. When a window did open we headed straight for Key West skipping our planned Cuba stop for fear of getting stuck there while another storm passed through. From Key West we headed up to Ft. Lauderdale where we spent two weeks cleaning and painting Far Niente in preparation for being sold.
The decision to sell the boat wasn’t an easy one. Robert and I met because of the boat, had our first dates on her, and fell in love. After spending nine months sailing on her we decided to do the only appropriate good bye and show of gratitude. We were married aboard Far Niente by Captain Randy on Saturday September 9th, 1995. Accompanied by my Best friend Lisa from Detroit and Robert’s best-friend Matt from San Francisco. We kept the plans a secret, videotaped the ceremony (black-tie&tennis shoes), and FedExed copies to our family on Monday...Surprise! Surprise!
If you ever get the chance to drop out society for while we highly recommend it. We enjoyed every minute of our trip (except for possibly the storm) and hope to do another one at some point in the future. Experiencing the third world has really made us appreciate how much we have to be thankful for here in the US.