Random Tom Thoughts...

If you have been following our BLOG site for awhile you know we have now been in Mexico for 6 months and I wanted to make one last entry to our BLOG before we leave Mexico for good. There are so many great things that we love about Mexico and there is know way I can print everything here, so maybe a couple random thoughts;
The people of Mexico are GREAT!!, there is so much hype about traveling in Mexico that keeps visitors away and all you have to do is come here for any length of time and you would be ready to move here as we have seen with a lot of Canadians & Americans. We have not had one negative experience in 6 months with anyone anywhere and there is no way I can say that about being anywhere in the U.S. All you need is a smile and people will go out of their way to help you get anything you need.
Z-town is our last Mexican stop and “Team Sandpiper” is planning on leaving on Thursday morning if possible to try to get some favorable winds that are predicted. This and Puerta Vallarta are the 2 biggest departure points for the South Pacific as the farther South you get the less wind you get. We are anticipating having to motor sail for 400 miles to get far enough offshore to catch the trade winds, then get as far west as we can staying above 7’ latitude till about 130’ longitude. This is where the doldrums are at their narrowest point and we will motor due south till we get across the equator and turn west again once we get into the southerly trades hoping to make landfall at Nuka Hiva, French Polynesia/Marquesas within 30 days for a total of 2800 nautical miles. There are about 10 other boats that have left within the last week and we have been listening on our SSB radio tracking their progress. There are several different radio nets that we tune into that the “Puddle Jumpers” check into and we have our own frequency that everyone checks into every day so everyone knows where their friends are and if someone is having problems they can get a message out. All these boats are heavily loaded with provisions, water and fuel and have fuel & water jugs tied all along their safety rails hoping they made the right calculations in how much they are going to consume in their crossings. Most all the boats have water makers, but you cannot depend on these so water must be carried “just in case”
So for our own safety we will be checking in with the Amigo, Picante, and Puddle Jump SSB Nets daily. We also will attempt to send daily noon position reports that will be posted on this BLOG, but I am not sure if we will have email coverage the whole route. We have had electrical problems during the last 6 months, so if you do not see anything don’t freak as we probably broke something that cannot be fixed until we make landfall.
So here we go and hope to make as fast a passage as this heavy boat will go, see you on the other side!! Tom and Amy