Hello and all the best!
I have indeed taken some time off over the last few weeks visiting my friend Nike on her boat Karl, and I loved it 😉
Right now, I am back on my beloved little Italian Island of Elba. I am still a bit jet-lagged and struggling to get into working mode, and I would prefer to still be in Mexico.
Since I could not take Jango, I needed somebody to take care of him, and luckily, my friend Bo kept him during my stay. Unfortunately, that restricted my flexibility, and I had only three weeks of travel time.
It has been quite a ride to make it to Mexico and back, as it is always a bit difficult to travel with public transport to and from Elba, especially when you need to catch a connecting flight or train. Marciana Marina, where I kept Santana over the last months, does not have a direct ferry connection to the mainland, so I have to get to Portoferraio first. Ferries are leaving regularly, but not every ferry offers the direct connection with a train from Piombino to Campiglia, where I can hop on larger (and faster) trains toward the North or South. I flew through Istanbul and Mexico City, where I needed to catch a regional plane to Tapachula and on my way back from Huatulco. Towards Mexico, I had two very short nights, and back towards Elba, I had even three nights on the road. That was a bit unfortunate; nevertheless, the trip was worth it.
What made traveling very uncomplicated, on the other hand, was that I decided to fly with hand luggage only. The Mexican national flights were almost doubling the prices if you wanted to bring anything else than carry-on.
I used to pack light regularly and almost always flew with carry-on only back in my Paris times, and I haven’t done it in ages, especially not for a couple of weeks on an international flight. But guess what, it is kind of liberating. I packed a couple of clothes for warm weather, my sailing gear, toiletries, my drone, my action cam, the phone, and the satellite tracker. Basically, first on the plane, first off the plane. Simple security check and simple hopping on a train or bus. I felt the ease and simplicity from 10 years ago and am not missing a thing. Quite the contrary.
After a beautiful January and February in Elba, a couple of spring storms were coming through, bringing unbelievable amounts of rain. In contrast to that, Mexico was super hot, like Italy in July/August, just with more humidity. Exactly what I needed after the colder winter months. When I arrived, we stayed at a small hostel-style hotel at the beachfront with a private pool, where nobody else stayed and made us feel like living at a private estate. Nike’s boat, Karl, was still on the hard as he also got a new antifouling painting and a couple of minor repairs, new propeller, new rudder bearing, etc.
Earlier this year, when I decided to let go of all my activities in Tanzania, I was super sad as I remembered all the fun that I also had. I decided that I will take all that fun and laughter, the smile on my face, to wherever I go next. I remembered that I always had the most fun when I had no specific expectation and kept a childish curiosity. That was my plan for Mexico as well, and I can tell it did work out. It did not matter to me when and even if we are going sailing but most of all to see the best in every moment.
It showed me once again what I love so much about my lifestyle, why I picked it in the first place, and what I want to have more of and share with you over this summer.
After a couple of days of boat work, we eventually splashed Karl, celebrated Nike’s birthday with a small private party, and got Karl ready to go sailing again.
We started our sailing journey in Tapachula at the Guatemalan border and made it across the Tehuantepec Bay to Huatulco National Park. The Tehuantepec Bay is the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and every time it blows from the Caribbean, the wind is funneled, resulting in really strong winds and crazy waves in the bay. We picked a very calm weather window, sailed and motor-sailed in perfect champagne conditions, and enjoyed our crossing with dolphins visiting every other hour, even a couple of fin whales at the very first morning at sea. After arriving on the other side of the bay, we stayed at anchor for a couple of days where I got a bit overexcited and overconfident about my drone flying capabilities. Unfortunately, I sank it in the Pacific. Now I lost 2 drones in 2 National Parks in the tropics 😬. The only way not to lose them though would have been not to fly them at all. And I know enough people who are too afraid to lose their drone, so they rarely get any shots at all, and the reason why I bought them in the first place was to have some amazing shots, not to have a drone sitting in my cupboard.
Right now I am catching up on a bit of office work and waiting for a couple of strong winds and rains coming through. My plan is to leave for Sardinia whenever the weather allows me to. I want to catch up with some friends that are working on their boat and I’ll write more about that when I know for sure.