The outcome of our trip has for both of us been a very positive one. Being out there enabled us to see with clarity that sailing to Hawaii this summer is not what we want to be doing, and we wrestled mightily before leaving to try and find some insight about what was the right decision for us.

Being unable to find the decision that sat right with us, we resorted to hashing out the pros and cons in order to find the most “logical” decision about how to get us, and Pisces, up to Seattle this fall. I looked with envy at other cruisers who made decisive decisions about their plans for the summer and moved forward with shipping or trucking, or bashing up the coast or heading offshore, while we walked endlessly around La Cruz, trying to figure out the path that was right for us.

So we headed offshore in order to save money, get offshore experience, and to add a large notch to our sailing experience. It seemed logical, but neither of us were particularly excited about the trip, it just seemed like the rational next step in our cruising experience. Once offshore a few things became starkly obvious; most importantly was that we were keen to do an offshore trip at some point in our lives, but this summer wasn't the right time and our reasons for undertaking the trip weren't the right ones to get us through the passage. Finally having clarity about what we wanted was fantastic! Suddenly we were able to commit to shipping with confidence, with no lingering doubts about making the right decision.

I am sure that an offshore passage will be in our future at some point and when it is, we will both be 100% enthusiastic about making it, and we will both know the time is right for the trip. Until then, sailing will continue to be a large part of who we are and what we like to do, and we will explore and sail together wherever we are.

Back in Banderas Bay it's taken a few days to get everything organized and ready to move towards the new plan, but I am optimistic that as of today we are back in the country legally, have everything lined up for Pisces to be loaded on a freighter via YachtPath in late May/early June from La Paz to Victoria BC, and even have a liveaboard slip waiting for us at Shilshole Marina in Seattle! Completing these administrative tasks has involved many cruising adventures such as frantically catching a water-taxi to the nearest bank to slip in just before closing time, and rowing Pesky through a surf break to find the elusive internet cafe in Punta Minta that has a working fax machine.


















Our new drifter, doing it's job perfectly as we drift along.



Lat 20 46' N, Long 105 31' W