Time goes too fast, life’s too short, this past year flew by. These are NOT terms I would use for us the past 12 months.
A year ago today we did not have a boat, we weren’t even really planning to get one. We barely knew how to sail, and didn’t really know how to fix and operate one mechanically. We lived in a nice house, both had jobs, and the kids went to school. Current temperature in Victoria B.C -10 Celsius.
The amount of work we put in to the first half of the year to find a boat and then fix it up ready to go involves a whole post in itself. Not to mention the massive effort involved moving and downsizing from land to sea.
Fast forward to now and I’m writing this after travelling well over 2,000 miles on our floating home as it gently rocks back and forwards in beautiful Bahia Banderas Mexico. Temperature 28 Celsius.
The trip south from San Francisco was nothing short of spectacular. We stopped at many different anchorage’s and marinas along the way. Southern California will always hold a special place in our hearts. We spent many days at the endless surf beaches and skateboarding along the paths lining the waterfront in front of all the textbook looking Malibu Beach homes.
With such a big shift in our lives the past few months, things haven’t always been peachy. Sometimes tempers flare with the four of us living in such a small space. It’s hard when many of the things enjoyed on land aren’t easily accessible or affordable when you commit to life at sea. Still, the good times have far outweighed the tough ones.
Entering Mexico brought a whole new vibe aboard Meraki. Gone were all the big box stores and fancy restaurants, replaced by palmed shacks on the beach selling basic grocery supplies, and the locals turning their front porch into a taco restaurant with $1.80 Corona’s. The town roads have changed from black scars to pretty river pebbles covered in sand. Mexico has been good for us. We’ve embraced the lifestyle and have enjoyed for the first time living in a country with a different language. The simplicity of how locals live here blows me away. The families seem to have nothing compared to how we grew up, yet I’ve never been to a place where the people are so happy and welcoming. Most of the homes have four concrete walls and no windows.
Our days are always full with a mixture of schoolwork, exploring, meeting new people, swimming, relaxing, and keeping up on the constant maintenance a sailboat requires. Our footprint on the earth is small. We eat local fresh foods and fish caught from our back deck, our power needs come from solar, and we make our own water with an onboard desalination system.
We plan to stay in this area the next little while. It feels good to slow right down after the constant movement south to escape the cold weather. We have about four months to explore the area before having to travel north again to escape the upcoming hurricane season.
If you want to see what we are doing feel free to follow along with us, https://youtube.com/c/CruisingMeraki
Until next time, stay happy and healthy.
Captain Mick
