Season Three

To be honest, when we left Guaymas in June I wasn't sure when we'd be back in Mexico.  To say our first two seasons did not go as planned would be an enormous understatement.  The long months in Barra and then Mazatlan dealing with engine problems took it's toll on captain and crew.  I promised Millie when we left Alameda way back in October 2011 that if she wasn't enjoying the cruising life after two years, we'd give it up and try something else.  Living, stationary, on a boat for months on end in the sweltering heat of a Mexican marina is not much fun.  And, so, when we put the boat away in that hot dusty yard back in June I was, therefore, a little uncertain of our return.

Spending the winter here in central Oregon, I have to admit, is appealing.  I haven't been skiing in three years now and Mt. Bachelor is only a half-hour drive away.  We both found jobs near our house that we enjoyed and were discovering new restaurants every week.  Colin was getting excited about going to school (the morning sob-sessions had finally ceased).  And, all the work on the house was done.  We played in the leaves as the big maple turned with the season.  We watched movies by the fireplace as the first snow fell over the yard.  Our house was beginning to feel like our home.  Did I really want to hand the keys over to renters again?

But, for me anyway, Mexico was unfinished business.  I felt we had started down the road less traveled and needed to see where it took us.  The work was done, the money was spent, the time was lost, there's nothing we can do about that now.  We have a great boat with a strong, if yet untested, engine.  We have to see this through.  I wasn't deterred just yet.

And, fortunately, neither was my wife.  Millie agreed give it all up again for one more season in Mexico and, if all goes well, a Pacific crossing in March.  Months of emailing white-sand postcard photos of French Polynesian anchorages had finally paid off.  Perhaps I'm a better salesman than I thought I was.  The truth is (and I know this) Millie has a gypsy soul and an adventurers heart, which is one of the reasons I fell in love with her.  Even though the idea of spending three-weeks at sea to get there is terrifying, the allure of the islands and the people and the culture is powerful.

So, once again, it's time to say goodbye to our beloved Bend.  The past six months went by in a blur, and we depart with mixed emotions as we were both beginning to feel very much at home here.  Tomorrow we'll spend the day packing the car and saying our goodbyes, and Thursday morning we'll begin the long journey south.  The plan is to drive down to the Bay Area, rent an SUV, drive it to Tucson, and then catch the Executivo bus for a five-hour ride to Guaymas.  This seemed like the least painful way to get us and our many duffel bags to the boat.  We'll be visiting a lot of our friends and family along the way, but I'm hoping to be in Mexico two weeks from now.

And, at some point in the unforeseeable future we'll be back here in Bend.  We've moved out of the house and have a new renter moving in this week.  I hired a property management company to handle all the messy details this time.  We considered that a prudent decision.  There's nothing else to do now...except go.