The Next Step - Where will we End Up?

Patrick and I have been having many important, intense discussions in the past few weeks. It's hard to figure out where to take your home next, when you don't HAVE to go anywhere. As the Winter Season on the Gold Coast 2010 is winding down, we face a very big question. We know we are going to spend another hurricane season in the Sea of Cortez, but what then????

As mentioned before, none of us on Just a Minute really enjoyed our time on the Gold Coast of Mexico the way we enjoy the summer in the Sea of Cortez. I am sure that a lot of our initial dislike centered around the terrible weather that first greeted us on the Coast caused by the El Nino this year. We had days of clouds, cold, rain, several squalls and then the Weather Bomb that nearly ended our cruise right then and there (February 4th blog). Then Jack got Dengue Fever and has still not fully recovered. I was also sick for weeks with some lingering bug and now Patrick is down with it, so we have had some troubles this Winter that I am sure play into our dislike of the Gold Coast. But it's more than that.

First, the Gold Coast has relatively few anchorages for an 80 mile stretch of land and many boats cruise the Gold Coast. Those two facts alone mean that most of the anchorages have 20 or more boats in them at any time. We have seen several anchorages with more than 30 boats in them at once - that is a lot of boats and often the anchorages are too crowded for safety if a bad weather system were to strike (like the Weather Bomb.) Also, every anchorage we have been in except Barra Lagoon is severely affected by the swell of the Pacific Ocean. Even on a beautiful calm day, surf is crashing on the beaches, and the boats are rocking in the swell. It can get very tiring after a few months, especially if you aren't feeling well. Sometimes it is just nice to just stop moving. Another reason is the feeling of disconnect from local Mexicans. In the Sea, visiting small towns, it is easy to meet and talk with locals. Here in the big cities, crowded anchorages and ritzy resort settings, it is really hard to meet the "real" people. There is a lot of money on the Gold Coast and the cruisers seem to be more of a nuisance than a needed part of the economy.

All of that leads up to the fact that after the Summer in the Sea, we don't want to come back for the Winter on the Pacific Coast. The ideas are springing up thick and wild with possibility at the oddest times - late at night, over coffee, while doing the dishes. Every chance we get together (which is basically every day, all day long) we end up tossing around the ideas. To Hawaii in November from Mexico, spend the winter and then on to Alaska in the spring. Down to Panama in November, four months there and then on to Hawaii. Bash all the way up the coast to Alaska. Ship the boat home, and start cruising immediately in the Inland Passage to Alaska. All we know for sure are three things - we really, really, really want to spend at least a year cruising the inland passage to Alaska; we aren't going to spend another winter on the Pacific Coast of Mexico; and we aren't done cruising yet. It's a start.