Still I remain tied to the mast
13 February 2017
Today marks four months living aboard Song Line. Wow. She has become my comfort space and my happy place, as well as home. I thought I'd post a link to my travel map and do some updating.
I've been in Nuevo Vallarta in the Paradise Village Marina since just before Christmas. I was originally planning on a few months, but Mexico has a powerful attraction for boaters and romantics. I'm flying back to California next month to visit and start the application process for a temporary resident visa. Looks like I'll be here for a while.
Settling in comfortably. I joined the yacht club, which felt a bit strange for me, but it's a home base and a social center. Good folks, activities, tasty food, and cheap beer. It's been since I was playing darts out of The Lord Nelson San Francisco in 1981 that I've had a local where they call me by name. It's easy to like. Hearing lots of good stories and comparing experiences with a real mixed bag of sailors.
The deciding factor with me was watching people's faces when you say "Sea of Cortez." You see eyes light up and smiles blossom. So, April and May I head north to Mazatlan, La Paz, and the Sea of Cortez. Always looking for crew, if anyone has a week or two and a desire for some salt air.
I'm planning on the summer back her at Puerto Vallarta. I understand it's hot and rainy, and many folks split their year between here and stateside, but it's hurricane season and this is a recognized hurricane hole. They tell me they built the Yacht Club so the boaters could have an air conditioned place to hang out. Works for me. I go to activities there two or three times a week, and sometimes just for a meal and to take advantage of the wireless. They are quite happy to have you just hang out. Things could be a lot worse.
So, after that...Lots of places south of here to explore. That could be months by itself. Likely plans are either head south and go through the Panama Canal in the fall, or wait until next March and head to the South Pacific. Still undecided, but going through the Canal would set me up to harbor hop up the coast. Costa Rica, Roatan, Belize, back to Mexico (Yucatan), and back stateside. Lots of waiting on weather windows and likely a boule of rough patches, but it sets me up to cruise the East Coast and the Caribbean. It's also a long way to Tahiti, and I would wind up in either New Zealand or Australia. All good, just very different. I still have the itch to cruise.
I just put in my application for Social Security, and that was a wake up call. I go off my insurance at the end of the year, and move to Medicare, which is not available outside of the US and its affiliated areas, like American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgins. Those are a long way from French Polynesia. It's hell getting older. I will say that I could get coverage here as a Mexican resident, and the health care seems good and incredibly inexpensive compared to the US. I just paid full local price for one of my medications, and it was about the same as my copay, and literally a tenth of US retail.
Well, all is good for now. I have a cruising seminar at the Club tomorrow, a fundraiser next Saturday for a new ice maker, and it's sunny and 80 degrees during the day. I can see palm trees out of my companionway, and see gulls, frigate birds, pelicans, and a variety of other species I don't know every day. Iguanas and lizards are common, and there is a parade of boats ever day. I'm playing lots of mandolin and flute. Life is good.