FIESTA AFLOAT

Joshua Shankle and Rachel Moore find both bustle and peace as they cruise the west coast of Mexico

- Joshua Shankle

I could smell it in the air; there was a tangible, noticeable difference in the atmosphere and I could not contain the joy that was bubbling up inside me. Night after night I had been trapped in Gore-Tex, confined to the cockpit and the shelter that the dodger provided from sea spray, cold dew, and scattered showers. After over two weeks of living in my foulweather gear, it emanated an odour even I could detect. Rounding this cape was different: instead of making our way through confused seas and accelerated winds only to find more cool Pacific Ocean, my face was met with a new wind. A warm, dare I say tropical breeze now filled our sails and I was finally able to shed my fleece.

Agápe, our Tayana Vancouver 42, was slowly drifting down the Pacific coast of Baja Mexico. This last cape, Cabo Falso, brought us within 10km of our first real introduction to Mexico, Cabo San Lucas.

Mexico offers a wide range of cruising grounds, the nearly 4,970m of west coast shoreline can be split into three distinct areas; Baja, Mainland, and Southern Mexico, with hundreds of anchorages and seaside communities scattered along the coastline. Less than 200 miles south of Agápe’s homeport, Ventura, California, these waters represented the first of many new countries that we would have the opportunity to cruise in.

In hindsight, our time spent sailing the west coast of Mexico was an amazing introduction to cruising. The laidback, slower-paced living was just what I needed to shake off the schedule-filled and deadline-oriented atmosphere I had been living in. A phrase I would love to say and hate to hear was, ‘Si, lo haré Mañana’, or ‘Ya, I’ll do it tomorrow’. It was a four-word phrase my wife, Rachel and I would learn to loathe. Everything took longer than expected and workers never seemed to be in a rush.