Plans for where to head next….?
Discussions are under way between captain and crew. In one of the pockets of my suitcase,
arriving from San Diego to Panama was a rather weighty tome. Two pounds worth, to be exact - $140.09 on the
visa card. It is THE definitive cruising
guide to Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia, Chile.
Actually, there were two of them there, the other copy for another boat
that is also heading south to Chile.
Ron really doesn’t want to put on foulies. I think his time spent in BC has cured him of
seeing any sort of weather that might cause him to shiver. The icy blood tho that courses through my
veins….another matter entirely. I figure
the frigid temps we experienced while in Bolivia were simply a precursor, and
we should embrace our renewed acquaintance of all things brrrrrrrr.
From what I can gather, it might be a bit more challenging
to head further south by boat. 000
degrees, 35 minutes south is the furthest in that direction this boat has taken
us. But per a few blog posts ago, why be
normal? Why not just do the coconut run
and call it good, heading to the Galapagos and then onwards towards the
Marquesas, like everyone else? Well
mostly because we aren’t like everyone else, or at least we don’t think we are.
Although I haven’t gotten Ron to sign off on the plan yet
(my feminine wiles are still hard at work) he asked me again yesterday what
“the plan” was going to be. Here are my
thoughts….
- I reckon we’ll never get this way again with a sailboat. No sense in not seeing everything there is to see. (Ron – yup, okay, I agree)
- We have a boat, with its fully enclosed pilothouse, that is PERFECT for inclement weather – we should put her through the paces. (Ron – true enough, we’ve been sweating in 100 degree heat for 4 years now, it would be nice to just be cozy in there, for once)
- I REALLY want to see Patagonia while I’m still ambulatory, and I really don’t fancy the costs and time it would take to fly or bus that far away from our home base of Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador. (Ron – yes, because SAILING for 2000 extra miles doesn’t take any time!?!?!)
- Because it’s there. (Ron – well, yesssssss.)
- We don’t have a schedule, and as such, we shouldn’t be in such a hurry to leave the western hemisphere. “Hurry” of course in our world, has a different definition than what you see in a dictionary. (Ron – but I’m in a hurry to see Easter Island)
- Wouldn’t it be nice, for a change, to not sweat so much? (Ron – you got me, there)
- I miss the mountains, and can just picture us in the canals and islands around Puerto Montt. (Ron – my mental picture is a bit fuzzier than yours!)
And so the discussion goes. The one thing I AM clear on…..there will be times that it will
absolutely be shitty. The sailing will
be tougher, the weather will be crappier, and the anchorages will be
dicier. I’ve told Ron tho, that if we DO
decide to head south, that he MUST BE 100% ON BOARD, as I don’t want to ever
hear the words ”I told you so.”
Me, I like to plan a lot.
I get tremendous satisfaction from putting together a traveling
itinerary that works out. I lie in bed
at night, dreaming of future improvements to the boat. The quantities of lists I’ve created in my
lifetime are staggering. Ron is happy to
wake up in the morning, have a cup of coffee and figure out what he wants to
have for breakfast, while I’ve got dinner planned, tomorrow’s activities
sorted, and a grocery list for next month sketched out. With my desire to head further south, not
only do I need to come up with the plan for the next 6 months, but I also need
to figure out when we’re headed to the Galapagos, when Ron will get to anchor
next to the Moai heads on Easter Island, and when we have to apply for our
long-term French Polynesia visa.
Mmmm, maybe we should just head back north to Mexico……
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