This is a guest post by Forrest Brodsky. Forrest and his wife, Lyssa, are staying aboard Rua Hatu in April 2022.
If you were to ask me what I would be doing to celebrate my thirty third rotation around the sun a month or two ago, I would have replied with a vague “Oh, probably riding my bike with friends in the woods and enjoying the usual libations….” What actually transpired was beyond my imagination.
Last Saturday, April 16th, began as a usual day aboard the Rua Hatu… anchored in Yelapa, Mexico when the creatures began to stir long after the sun woke. We had spent two days exploring the tiny coastal town with its murals abound, hiking up the river to gaze upon a waterfall or else stopping by our favorite “jugo” stand to get our freshly made juices from whatever vegetables and fruits the kind woman had on display at her “roadside” business.
And yes, that is the road in Yelapa- where horses, donkeys, foot traffic, motorbikes and ATVs (no automobiles) miraculously allow for fluid travel through the hilly town. We left Yelapa in the afternoon for a full moon overnight sail to Perula. The seas put Lyssa and I to the test with the rocking of the boat all night long, but we felt safe in the capable hands of Nic and Janine as they navigated the not-so-ideal winds and sea.
Let’s just say the flow of any given day aboard the Rua Hatu is regularly irregular – just how I like it.
As it were, my wife, Lyssa, and I decided to briefly set aside our life in the US and board a plane for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where our dear friends Nic and Janine and their pets: Kiwi, Coco and Milka were graciously waiting. All of us were anticipating a month of something very new. For Lyssa and I, it was living aboard a 36 foot sailboat, making its way south on the Pacific coast of Mexico. For the rest of the crew on Rua Hatu, it was the excitement of having their first long term passengers onboard. The energy was palpable at our greeting in Puerto Vallarta.
Fast forward a week and a half to the time of this writing and I can confidently say that the experience has been exactly what we expected and nothing like we expected at the same time. Another brilliant duality of life. Personally, my body is taking its sweet time adapting to life at sea (with lots of Dramamine to help) with my body feeling great one minute, and not so great the next. Our gracious hosts prepared for this and they accommodate both Lyssa and I as our bodies make the slow adjustment.
We still have a few more weeks of travel aboard and I can’t wait to see how our “itinerary” continues to be adjusted, just like tuning the sails, as we navigate the ups and downs of life at sea. Dinghy motor stops working? No problem, Nic will swim the small vessel back to the boat and bring aboard the motor to disassemble and reassemble. No winds to blow us to our next anchorage? Again, no need to worry, the sea will take us to our destination on its own time, even if it was not what we had in mind.
And so it goes. I look forward to more learning, exploring, conversations both deep and inconsequential, laughing and shared meals. Here’s to celebrating life as you may never have imagined it – with an open mind, open heart and open seas!
