Our Life

The Adventures of Mike and Kelly At Sea

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Fun, Family, and Fortune

DSC07304The sun sets behind the rust colored striated rock mountain range coloring the opposing cliff faces a deep magenta. The rock faces juxtaposed next to the clear, turquoise sea make me feel as if I am in a live water color painting. The hues darken and meld together as the sun dips deeper behind the jagged mountain tops as if nature is being put to bed after a long, hard day. Instantly, as the dimness just begins to settle in, a bright flicker illuminates the landscape like a spotlight shining on an artist’s canvas. The full moon slowly DSC07583creeps up over our shoulders exposing the glittering, glass sea and creating a new picture for us to relish as wee sit in our cockpit enjoying a hibiscus margarita. At last, we have made it out into the Sea of Cortez.

Although, it seemed as if we would never leave La Paz after all the major boat construction, we pushed hard to make it happen. While we had a few job prospects lined up, we decided to postpone the possibility of going back to work so we could at least get a chance to relax and see a bit of the Sea of Cortez now that the weather was much more faDSC07227vorable. We headed out to explore the near by islands, which we had heard so much about during our stay in La Paz. Every single anchorage was picture perfect and the water was crystal clear and warm enough to swim in (finally). We spent two weeks exploring the area alongside our fellow friends (one couple in particular owns the exact same boat as us, which is rare since only 35 were ever made).DSC07320

As to be expected, Mike was able to delight in his passion for fishing activities, while I enjoyed hiking on shore and swimming off the beach. The fruits of Mike’s labor were greatly enjoyed each night as we had a different kind of reef fish to throw onto our BBQ. We spent many evenings dining with friends and swapping sea stories either on someone's boat or over a lovely beach BBQ. It was a brilliant holiday for us and it was really great to enjoy our boat and sail around. And most fortunately, all of our leak problems were fixed!!

DSC07599Although we were just settling into the fun part of the cruising lifestyle, we knew that we had to come up with a plan for the summer. Come May, the Sea of Cortez is scorching hot, which isn’t a terrible thing for me, but Mike was not looking forward to it so much (we’re talking 120 degrees plus). We also knew that we would need to find work at some stage and we had a few prospects in the works. In the end a company called Tradewinds was seeking us out to be Captain and First Mate/Chef of a catamaran in the Caribbean. We held a few interviews over Skype and decided that this would be a great fit for us and a brilliant opportunity.

The following weeks were a whirlwind, but never dull as to be expected. We IMG_0124scouted out a place to keep our boat stored on the hard and mournfully hauled her out of the water. It was sad to say farewell to Maluhia, but we know it is for the best. We did our best to store everything properly with the hopes that we don’t have any issues with bugs, pests, or hurricanes. After all was settled up, we said goodbye to Mexico and made a trip back to the states to see our families briefly before embarking on our next journey.

IMG_1007Now, as I write this recap of the last month, I am currently sitting in Sint Maarten waiting for the next part of our training to commence, but we are at a stand still due to Carnival going on here. Last week, we got to go on our first training charter through the British Virgin Islands, which was an incredible experience. We were fortunate enough to have a great group of guests and a really great Captain and First Mate to show us the ropes of the business. It was pretty much a free holiday for us since we weren’t allowed to do anything except observe.DSC02860 Rough life!! I think I’m going to like it here! Today, Mike is out diving trying to get another one of his certifications accomplished before we end up chartering ourselves. I am jealous that he gets to go explore the waters around here right now! It is hot, hot, hot today and a swim would be so lovely! I am currently helping out all the First Mate’s as they prepared for the next week of chartering. After all the work is done, we will get a chance to go over to a beach bar. As you can probably tell,  it DSC07664is a very busy time for us, but we are really liking it all so far. I will try to update as much as I can, especially once we are a bit more settled in. As far as we know, we could be shipped out to a different island any day, so they are certainly keeping us on our toes! I apologize for the terrible writing and rushed post…I wanted to get it out there before it was too late. Well, I better get back to work now which in this Caribbean world is no problem mon!DSC07655

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