Now that we are home, safe and sound in Santa Monica, people have asked me questions like “So, what did you learn out there sailing around the seven seas?” and “What was your favorite part of the trip?” and “Weren’t you scared???” I’ve pondered these questions and it’s hard to come up with a succinct answer.
One thing I learned this past year is that I’m braver than I thought – yay me! And Jeff is definitely braver than I realized – just wait to read his blog entry about the Baja Bash. The trip WAS scary sometimes, especially when we were a long way from land, sailing at night, or in really remote locations – which was a lot of the time, especially sailing down Baja and crossing the Sea of Cortez. Being responsible for my kids and sometimes additional crew made things all the more stressful. At the same time, I think Jeff and I handled the stress well and maybe became more responsible people for it.
Another thing I think we learned is that people don’t need as much STUFF – material things – to survive. A cruiser friend of ours noted that there just aren’t as many stores in many places in Mexico to buy STUFF – like more frivolous consumer goods – like a back massager or plastic toys or swishy clothes. Many people just don’t have extra income for all these non-essential things so they just aren’t sold. Of course there are places to buy cheap chotskies at weekly markets, but in remote areas they just aren’t widely accessible. There was far less prepared food available as well, like Trader Joe’s frozen gyoza or oven french fries. I already liked to cook, but I had to do a lot more cooking from scratch than I was used to. And in the process I learned a bunch of new recipes. So I guess the lesson here is can we get by with a lot less stuff than we think. That’s probably a good thing.
After sailing so far and into so many new places, Jeff and I are much better sailors than we were. Catalina used to seem like a big sailing adventure, but now it seems so much more tame. We are now really excited to finally get up to the Channel Islands to go check things out. This used to seem like a huge challenge; now it just seems like a manageable day sail. All of this said, I do think all of our previous sailing experience around Southern California and Catalina was really good preparation for sailing down to Mexico. While we didn’t have much overnight experience, we were able to build up to it as we hopped down to San Diego, Ensenada, and then down the Baja Coast. The one thing we didn’t have as much experience with was anchoring, but we knew enough to get us going.
There were many difficult times on the boat. Times when we felt sea sick, or cramped, or hot(!), or annoyed with each other, or worried, or even just plain bored. But there were many times we witnessed so much beauty, in the sea and in each other. Mega pods of dolphins. Thousands of year old cave paintings. Birds hitching rides on sea turtles’ backs. Soaring mountains. Moonrises over the sea. Crazy phosphorescence. Ukuleles jamming. The good balances the bad, I think.
So now we are home in our cozy little apartment in Santa Monica. Hurricane Hilary is sweeping across Baja and we are thinking of our courageous cruiser friends still in Mexico, weathering the storm. And we also keep thinking of our wonderful friends in the South Pacific and those who are back home for the summer or for good, and hoping they are well. I also think about all the people who helped us on our journey, both leaving to go and returning to our land life: Jeff’s mom, my mom and dad, Kenji, Satchel, Christina, Nathan, Amy, Mike, Behan and Jamie – and I’m sure I’m leaving people out! But many people helped us make this dream a reality and we appreciate all of their support from the bottom of our hearts.
We went surfing yesterday. We are able to walk down five blocks and surf at the foot of Bay St, just south of Santa Monica Pier. If I can surf a few times a week for the rest of my life, I’ll be happy. The girls are settled in our new home and excited for the new school year to begin. Josie is trying out for cross-country and wants to be in the school musical. LouLou is excited for second grade and to play soccer. In some ways it seems like we never left, but in other ways, we are definitely different people. As a family, we are closer. The girls are more confident and mature. We are by far more confident mariners. A long time ago, someone said to me “Never get too comfortable.” I think that our trip shook us out of our comfort zone and we have returned better for it.
Was it all worth it? Heck yeah it was.