Time to reconsider

Another rainy night in Puntarenas, Matt was still recovering, but in pain, the boat is still out of the water and we are letting another 30 dollars go for a room with one and a half bed, bad lighting, cold, grey. The moods are fragile, the air is heavy, its hard to breath, it is hard to think, I feel my brain spinning, my heart sinking, my spirit breaking! We are at a point of change, we have to change the plans, the route, the diet, the attitude or something must change. We are going south! Literally and figuratively speaking… Matt walked out of the room, he returns and as if lighting strikes he announces “We are shipping the boat back to Mexico”… I feel a blow of fresh air! A decision has been made, we are committing with something already known, we will go back to La Paz and sail what is left to see of the Sea of Cortez. My heart aches with feelings of disappointment, I was really looking forward to crossing the Panama Canal, explore the San Blas Islands and Bocas del Toro in Panama, but at the same time I don’t want to push against reality and reason.

Reality

• I have to be back in the US no later then December 15th to retain my residence status.

• The best time to sail back to the US is in November, no earlier due to hurricane season. We will need more than a month to take it back to Texas. (Where we had planned to take it)

• Bringing the boat to San Carlos in the Sea of Cortez is the closest point to our house in the US.

• The Sea of Cortez has so much to offer, It is a sailors paradise!

• The rolly anchorages and rain make the water muddy and un swimmable, because you never know where the crocodiles are, not to mention the unstoppable mildew.

• The money… is not growing on trees? Although I am still searching and Matt continues to looks under our saloon cushions for coins.

Reason

• Sailing across Panama will put us in a completely new adventure… I am adventured out… well… not really.. Its just a consolation!

• We don’t have the time to sail at the right time comfortably and peacefully up the Caribbean.

• It will be easier to take care and manage the boat affairs if it is in San Carlos. In Texas we will expose her to hurricanes and oil spills. In Texas we will probably see her very little.

• I do want to see the Sea and sell sea shells…with Sally sailing.. haha. I want to explore it and maybe run into our friends who found refuge there this season.

• I want to be in a drier climate, I want my hair to be straight… (did I say that loud? How vain!) and I want to stop this acne that I am experiencing in this weather… or is it a late manifestation of adolescence? I want my clothes to stop smelling like my great aunt’s closet. I want the books, the wood, the clothing, the bags, the food and who knows what else to STOP GROWING MILDEW!!

 Sooo, YachtPath is scheduled to take our boat to La Paz, Mexico on September 15th, we will sail to Golfito where the boat must be loaded, we will try to get an extension from Customs officials to wait until then (our visas and permits expire on August the 19th). We will fly to Cabo San Lucas, take a bus to La Paz and just wait there until November to sail up the sea, in the mean time we will stuff ourselves with, La Paz’s bacon wrapped hotdogs, ice creams at La Fuente, Tostilocos, tostielotes… etc, etc, etc.