Sarah and I had just ordered fish tacos at a stand in Barra de Navidad. Using words and gestures, the Spanish speaking lady taking our order asked which toppings we’d like. The three choices were laid out in front of us: a pico de gallo salsa, a hot sauce, and a bowl of finely chopped cabbage. “Pico de gallo y col, por favor”, says Sarah.

“Col?” The lady serving us is confused.

“Si, col” Sarah confirms. Did we use the wrong word for cabbage?

“Col??” Repeats the other lady who worked there, also confused.

Sarah points to the bowl of cabbage. “Col?”

“Si… col.”, one lady admits reluctantly. I guess we got the word right, but she’s looking at us like we’re nuts. She mimes the act of picking up some cabbage and placing it on our tacos, then looks at us with raised eyebrows. “Col?” she repeats, skeptically.

“Si. Col… por favor”, confirms Sarah. We’re feeling less confident about our choice in fixins by this point.

The ladies glance at each other and one of them slowly puts cabbage on our taco as the other stares with amazement.

“No es normal?” asks Sarah.

Both ladies erupt in laughter, shaking their heads emphatically and assuring us that, “No! No es normal!”

That was weeks ago and I still have no idea what the heck happened there, but it nicely sums up our time in Mexico: The food is amazing, people seem kind, and we often have no idea what is going on.

Barra de Navidad was a place I had heard of when daydreaming over YouTube videos before we ever left home. There’s a French baker, operating out of panga, who comes around to all the boats to offer delicious pastries each morning. There’s a cool little town with a big secure anchorage behind it, and there’s a resort and marina with a pool that the kids could use as we knew some of the guests.

Up to this point in our travels, most of the boats around us were on generally similar itineraries, but around Barra this started to change. All the boats in Mexico need to decide how they’ll spend hurricane season. Some go north into the Gulf of California or back to the USA. Some head south to Panama and beyond, and some start to prepare to head west into the Pacific.

We’re in the camp that is heading out into the Pacific. From Barra we enjoyed a nauseating 24 hour passage against the weather back north to La Cruz, where we’d work on preparations and provisioning. The passage to French Polynesia is around 3000 miles, which will take almost a month at sea if all goes well.

Provisioning for this type of journey is interesting. We’re packing enough supplies for 2 months. How many rolls of toilet paper is that? How much emotional eating might be needed to get us across the Pacific? We are told that the Mexican brand “Bimbo Bread” can keep unrefrigerated for over a month. How is this possible?

Storing the fresh produce for the long term is like planning the seating arrangements for a hostile family reunion. You can’t sit the onions next to the potatoes, they’ll fight. The tomatoes are sensitive, they require a special chair. Seat the avocados near the door, because they’ll definitely be leaving early, and keep in mind that whoever is sitting next to a banana will immediately get old and die.

The hardest part of this preparation is the need to say more goodbyes. We’ve made great friends who aren’t going in the same direction as us. As I sit on this laptop on Mandolyn I can see wifi networks from nearby boats. Just look at this one…

I’m choking up. That is by far the nicest network name anybody has ever named for me.

Another boat neighbour houses 2 members of my new band, The Tres Ukes. But they’re heading north, not west. The band is breaking up before audiences ever really got our music.

The kids have been spending a lot of time with friends here who also won’t be going in our direction, it’ll be a tough break for them too.

Our friend Angie said: “I will take the hardest goodbyes in the world if it means hanging out with some friends for a while.” Seems like the right approach.

We’ll try to post updates to this satellite tracking map along the way if you’d like to follow along.

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Mandolyn/

Adios Mexico… next stop, South Pacific!