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The Holidays 2024—Mexico Cruising style

Kay Hunt

Updated: 3 days ago





As we cruised into the warm temperatures of Mexico, the rhythm of the season was noticeably different.  It was well into November—a time of year typically rich with traditions of holiday preparation, spending time with family, comfort food, changing leaves.  I was missing those things a little bit as I was simultaneously doing my best to embrace our current cruising moment.



After the Baja HaHa, we had a restful stop in La Paz—a resourceful town that allowed us to catch up on multiple fronts: a couple medical appointments, a couple boat repairs, picking up Brett’s cousin, Ed, and girlfriend, Nancy, for a Thanksgiving week in Sea of Cortez visit, and a solid re-provisioning.



Obviously, Mexico doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving and given the warm summerlike weather, it didn’t feel like Thanksgiving either.   The grocery stores down here did have a few skinny turkeys in the freezer for expats to purchase, but they didn’t look amazing, and one would not have fit into our small Force 10 marine oven anyhow.  We grabbed some boneless chicken breasts which would have to suffice.  I did manage to find a can of pumpkin hiding on a low shelf, which I was excited to nab. 



            A strong northerly was predicted to head down the Sea of Cortez in the days around Thanksgiving, so we planned to head to the well protected Isla San Francisco. New Baja HaHa friends on SV Torridon, Jordan and Erika had the same plan and invited us to join them for Thanksgiving dinner.  Aside from being great people, Erika was a professional chef in an earlier life, so we were excited to get this invitation! Thanksgiving Day was sunny and breezy. We took a morning hike to the top of the island and were rewarded with phenomenal views of the sea and surf in all directions. We weren’t admiring changing leaves, but instead marveled at the rainbow of colors of the rock faces, cactus, and bright blue water.  That afternoon, we cooked up glazed carrots, pumpkin pie bars, and marinated our chicken breasts.  Erika’s cornbread stuffing, gravy and green beans were phenomenal, and with our pooled resources, the meal lacked nothing—even without turkey! While we missed our family back in the states, we were very pleased to share Thanksgiving with Ed and Nancy, relatives we don’t get to see often, and new cruising friends. As we enjoyed the brilliant sunset, we shared about the things for which we are grateful, and for us it was the opportunity to gather with friends and family while holding up traditions of Thanksgiving in a new and beautiful way as we cruise Mexico.



            As it happens every year, once Thanksgiving has passed, I am hit with a mild panic—Christmas is coming soon! And now we live on a boat—how are we going to do this!? Last summer we hatched a plan to fly Ellie and Aaron to La Cruz, just north of Puerto Vallarta to join us for Christmas.  We had some ground to cover to get there and another strong northerly was heading down the Sea of Cortez, so we decided to jet across to Mazatlan ahead of the wind event.  We had been warned about the sharp waves created in the Sea of Cortez when northerlies hit and we knew we didn’t want to wrangle with that.  This was a 180-mile trip and the first overnight sail Brett and I did with just the two of us.  It was a tiring 2 days/1 night, but we made good time with steady wind and mild seas.  





We enjoyed the sights of Mazatlan until the seas died down to manageable, visiting the old town square, a parrot sanctuary, whale museum, and a beautiful beach club in the Golden Zone.  Continuing towards La Cruz we stopped at Isla Isabella, a wild and remote island that is a National Park and breeding ground for Magnificent Frigates and Blue Footed Boobies.  Our final stop was the charming beach village of Chapala, where for the first time, we experimented with stern anchoring.  Setting both a bow and stern anchor kept the nose of our boat facing the swell in this rolly cove. It worked great to reduce the motion of the boat while anchored.



            We arrived in the La Cruz anchorage a couple days ahead of the kids and set out to find some decorations. With the help of a friendly local Uber driver, we were able to fine a petite Christmas tree, a few strands of lights, and some Christmas ribbons and balls.  It was a lot simpler than what we would have done with our home in years past, but with the Christmas tunes rolling and the boat decorated up festively, it was really starting to look and feel a lot like Christmas!

            Having Ellie and Aaron arrive for Christmas was the best gift, but we all headed to the amazing La Cruz Sunday market to buy a few gifts for each other.  We declared that this was one of the best outdoor markets we had ever been to! There were at least 100 booths, mostly local artisans selling high quality, unique items and food. It was a really fun way to go Christmas shopping.



On Christmas Eve we attended the local Catholic mass in a small beautiful Catholic church. Our Spanish skills were not up the task of understanding much, but knowing the Christmas story helped!  The church was located alongside the central town square. We visited several old town squares—in La Paz, Mazatlan, and now La Cruz. They were all decorated nicely for Christmas with lights, nativity scenes, Christmas trees and more. All were vibrant gathering areas for locals and tourists, making for a festive scene.  Back on the boat, stockings were hung, Santa found us, and we enjoyed a fun Christmas morning with presents, cinnamon rolls, our usual tradition of watching The Grinch who Stole Christmas while we all woke up.  We had fun family time on the warm, sunny beach Christmas afternoon flying a kite and enjoying the waves. Like Thanksgiving, the holiday was different on our floating home, but the spirit of Christmas was strong.  We enjoyed old and new traditions and celebrating in spirit with loved ones near and far. 

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