Where has the season gone?

The ‘cruising season’ is known to be that part of the year when cruisers freely go wherever they want to go, exploring new anchorages or returning to familiar ones.  The season runs from approximately November to March.  I know that it’s coming to end, not just because we’ve hit the latter part of March, but because the conversation among everyone includes, “So what are your plans for the summer?”  It’s kind of like what goes on back home in February, when everyone is scrambling to get their kids into camp before the spaces fill – in February!!  Cruisers do this because in order to be settled somewhere for hurricane season (June to October), you need to know where you’ll be.  And then you’ll need a couple of months to get there. 

Many boaters spend the summer in the Sea of Cortez, which is what we did last year.  Others will keep their boats in a hurricane ‘hole’.  This is generally a spot in the middle of where hurricanes can and have hit, but it’s usually a spot that is a natural marina or  harbor set inland from the coast (i.e. not a marina created by land fill but rather one that is usually up an estuary).  This is important because when the boat is in the water during a hurricane, it’s not so much the wind (although that is a concern), it is very much the ocean surge and swell that causes damage to your boat.  A marina that is set far back from the coastline will get less swell.

Still others choose to haul their boats for the summer (called “keeping it on the hard”), often in Guaymas or San Carlos or elsewhere, which means keeping your boat out of the water.  These people will go elsewhere to sit out the heat of the Mexican summers, often returning home for several months.

And then there are those like us who are leaving Mexico, heading either South into Central America or West to the South Pacific.  This is a busy time for all of us, preparing for the next leg of our voyages.

But where did the time go?  It feels like we spent the entire fall getting to Huatulco for our visitors, followed by getting to Puerto Vallarta/La Cruz for our trip to CA for the bat and bar mitzvahs.  And then here we are now, preparing for the South Pacific.  We have had a blast, but it’s gone way too quickly.  We are sad to be leaving Mexico – I feel like I’m not done yet and there’s still so much more to explore.  But I know I’ll be back.

And in a few weeks, we’ll be parting ways with friends as they head north or south or somewhere else for the summer; or we’ll be reuniting with other friends as we and they make landfall in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. 

-Barb in La Cruz