“Do you think they see us?” I ask Josh. It’s past twilight, and a panga with no lights veers from its course and heads straight for our dinghy. It kicks up a wake that reflects the wisps of pink lingering in the sky. At first I change my course and start to row away, then […]
What do you do to prepare for a hurricane if your house is ten feet from the sea? This is the question on my mind as Josh and I row our dinghy to the shores of Isla Pardito, the smallest inhabited island I have ever seen. It is less than two hundred meters wide, and […]
News coverage of Mexico in the US usually revolves around two topics: drugs and violence. For people who have never visited Mexico, I imagine it sounds like a terrifying place, with corruption and human rights abuses ever encroaching on innocent people. I have been visiting Mexico since I first drove across the border with my […]
Our hull grew a fur coat for summer. Here’s a short video I made for ICWA, the Institute of Current World Affairs, to explain what we do when this happens. Combine not enough sailing with lots of warm, stagnant marina water, and you get not only a restless boat couple, but a truly furry hull. […]
“No no, I’m okay,” Lindsay says, nearly mustering a smile. For her first sail, we have carted Lindsay in bad weather to a remote island in Mexico. I’m searching her face for signs that she might kill me. It’s 6am and we just spent the night in a beautiful cove on Isla Espiritu Santo—bobbing and […]
We made it to La Paz. Three months ago. I’m a little behind on the blog. So I shall catch you up with the most painful/glorious moments. As soon as darkness fell on our sail out of San Juanico, the autopilot broke. The autopilot allows us to steer the boat electronically by setting a heading, […]
Overlooking sets of waves, surfers seem to slip from an expectant watching into a quiet meditation. The rhythmic swell washes over their faces as if the tide cleans their minds. Perhaps they are transported to the belly of the sea, to the barrel of a wave, and the gaze gets to be still amid the […]
Despite my relaxed pleasure in conversation with Eduardo at the north end of Cedros Island, when Chris and I stepped out of the dinghy onto Cedros Island’s only town, I felt distinctly and awkwardly…female. We scrambled up the slimy, barnacled rocks under shacks on the short cliffs at shore and made our way into the […]
“We’re not in any trouble. We’re just uncomfortable.” Josh utters these words at 12am. We are anchored at Abreojos, a name meaning “Open Your Eyes!” and just now striking me as, perhaps, a warning unrelated to the underwater hazards. It’s a clear night, and the little bit of shelter that this low, dusty corner of […]
With dolphin escorts off the bow, we departed midday from San Quintín for an overnight sail to Cedros Island. Once in open water we were able to turn off the engine and sail into the blissful quiet. Off the starboard beam, a whale breached. (I obviously did not take this magnificent photo below. I will […]
