Community with cruisers....

Tania Aibi went around the world in a Contessa 26, as are Carolyn and David.  Well, they are perhaps going south and then back to San Diego.  Tania wrote a book about her travels and is a columnist for a sailing magazine.  David is 6'-4" and we wondered how he and his wife managed on such a small boat.  The story of their trip down was of a slow passage, sometimes going backwards, and/or doing circles.  No wind, yet they only used 1/4 of a tank of gas.  We got all parental when they were leaving as the weather stunk - take a look at the sky.  But they were confident and smiling and felt that sailing slow and small is the way to go.

Community is very important to cruisers, even if we all move on so we take time to get to know each other.  Tonight this group and Robert and I are going to the village next door for what has been billed as the "best food ever".  Emily, on the right, asked if we would die the next morning.  We met Emily and Tom in San Jose Del Cabo, where they had AC on their boat and we sweltered.  Emily was in the harbormaster's office when I staggered in to ask for a slip-the heat was horrendous.  I managed to grab a slip then realized I had taken the harbormaster's attention from her to crabby me.  To make up for my poor behavior, not that it is possiuble, we invited them over to pupus and wine as we ended up side tied in front of them.  They are my new heroes.  They have done the Bash, just the two of them, and had to sail most of the trip down without their autopilot.  And they were still talking to each other.   Emily's statement of ,
"You do what you have to" hit me.  The other couple is Steve and Jonelle, who are here only in the winter season and  have a long, New Zealand boat.  They are from Colorado and do the drive down each year for the past eight years.  At a dinner party the other eve, they mentioned they were Menonnites.  Ok.  Neat people.  A true cruiser's group:  Menonnites,  Catholic and Episcopalian.

Lisa, Tim and Pat, with David behind me - another interesting story. Pat and Lisa bought the boat in Monterey Bay - a Hunter, with an aft cabin.  They lost their transmission and came into the big yacht dock here hoping they could jump off and tie up the boat.  Robert had Pedro take him to various machine shops  to find the proper leeltle thingy, a tool to retool the handle of the transmission.  Ok, I am not a mechanic.  On the radio one of tghe cruisers had it and in minutes, Robert  had repaired their transmission.  They are from Vail, Lisa from England, and seem to be very laid back people.  And their story is a week of learning to sail in the Caribbean, buying the boat and heading up to Seattle.  Ok.  We know that coast and after a week in the Carib., it is not what is normal.  Another set of heroes.  They did say it was pretty rough, but that they met some great people.  That proves that it is all about attitude for cruisers. David, behind me is a single hander who says he is from Las Vegas.  He tells of being caught in a storm, losing some vital boat part, and spending 40 hours to get to port from the middle of the Sea of Cortez.   That trip would normally take about 15 - 20 hours.   Another hero - with a cat who thinks it is a dog.  Dusty the cat eyed Cooper daily when we were alongside David's boat and Cooper pretended that there was no cat anywhere in the neighborhood.