Traveling the Song Line

I just lost a lengthy post. Still learning the technology. Perhaps the second time around will be more coherent.

It’s very nice here in Ensenada, and I have been tempted just to stay. The folks are lovely, the marina is quite beautiful, the neighbors have been friendly and helpful, and all I could need is within walking distance. Inertia wants to have its way with me. Several of my slip neighbors have spent months or longer here and are quite content.

It’s just too damned cold here. It was below 50 when I got up this morning. That’s too cold for me, even if it’s shirtsleeve weather for some. As I grow older, I find my Arizona desert roots are showing. I like the tropics, and love to be there. T-shirt and shorts. In the 80s during the day, maybe the upper 70s at night, and maybe a little afternoon rain shower to freshen the air. I am content with that. Find a place in the shade with a little breeze, and I am in my happy place.

I have been harbor hopping down the coast, and I have enjoyed it tremendously. A day or two, maybe three under way, then a marina for a bit. Some projects, some exploration, some visiting, and a bit of sleep. Not a bad life, and one to which I aspire. But I am also ready to settle somewhere for a few months and let all of this catch up with me. Song Line is home now. It’s coming up on two months I have been on board full-time, and it is comfortable and cozy. I like it.

When I started on this trip, it felt like a had to make a hard, blind choice. In Zen they talk about stepping from the top of a 100 foot pole. It felt like that. Step off into the unknown, and see what happens. In fact, it’s not been once. It is every day, every new thing, every departure and arrival. I have to keep choosing, keep stepping, keep moving, but it has been challenging. It’s been damned hard a time or two.

I still have a step or two in me for now, though.

Some of my fellow travelers are planning longer runs, one even to mainland Mexico, possibly Mazatlan. It’s a tempting option, and would be good practice for longer downwind sails, for perhaps…Tahiti? The conditions and weather look good. I don’t have to decide today, or tomorrow, or even the day after. It’s always an option of anchor for a day or two. Marinas are pretty much non-existent between here and Cabo, but there are some well-known anchorages. Turtle Bay and Magdalena Bay, especially, and they are some of the main attractions for the Baja run.

I think I will head out and decide along the way. I am set up for a longer run, especially once I crack out the water maker, and I always have options.

In any event, my connections to the outside world are largely wifi or phone, both of which are spotty south of here. You likely will not hear much from me once I leave port for a while. I will post updates at least daily with the DoLorme unit, so you will know if I am OK and can follow along with my progress and location.

I have a wish I make for friends and family when they may have a new job or opportunity coming up, and I will make if for you, as well. May you have choices. One of the keys to an interesting life.

Fair winds and following seas to all. That has been part of my sign off for a while, but it has gained a bit more immediate meaning of late.