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hotspur · 04-04-2010, 19:13

Greetings from the Faulkner family currently located in Mazatlan, Mexico. We are 40-something, middle class, US citizens and we have been cruising the Baja and Sea of Cortez for a year and a half with our two children, now 14 and 10, and our dog. We love cruising so much that we sold our 35' Cal Cruising sloop (Windfall) and bought a 41' Tartan TOCK ketch here in Mazatlan. She needs a lot of work and this has cut into our cruising time by three months, but we appreciate the space and can't wait to get her out of the slip and actually sail her! We call her Hotspur.

Our plans are to sail her back into the Sea of Cortez to wait out hurricane season... we LOVE it so much there! Multiple anchorages, deserted islands, plentiful fish, and delightful cruisers to share a potluck meal with and sometimes even a beachside hootenanny if there are musicians about. We would like to head to El Salvador in December, taking our time down the Riviera. Possibly the Marquesas. Not sure yet.

This has been the brightest time in my life. I get to spend time with my kids and see how capable they are. I've discovered how to live with less and yet have so much more. We are constantly discovering new ways of conserving energy, water, trash, etc... and recycling or finding new uses for things I might have thrown away in the past. The wildlife is surreal! I am very grateful to share this experience with my family.

clausont · 04-04-2010, 19:43

Greetings!

That is so wonderful to be able to spend time with your family! Sorry we missed you in the short time that we were down there with our family. We spent a day in San Blas and a week in La Cruz with s/v Totem and met many others that you likely know such as s/v Capaz and Ceilydh.
We would so love to be able to cruise the Sea of Cortez for a year or so ourselves, but at this current time we are not in the position to do so. We have our Ingrid for sale so we can try to find something that fits our family a bit better.
Enjoy your stay down there! It is such a fantastic area!

Seven C's

Bash · 04-04-2010, 19:56

Hotspur. Great name. Nothing like a bit of Shakespeare....

Welcome to the forum.

hotspur · 04-04-2010, 20:02

Thanks, Seven C's... love the boat name! Yes, we are very sad we didn't get to see Totem before they sailed away... great family! And yes, many of our friends went south while we stayed in Maz and did boat work. We can't wait to hook up with many of the cruising families, cruising couples and single handers that plan to head back into the Sea of Cortez this summer. Good luck with selling the Ingrid. We found that boat sales have decreased by about 35%. We sold Windfall for less than we paid and put into her... which was a bummer, but she sold fast. And, we got this bigger boat for very cheap. Hotspur had problems (leaking fuel tank and seized engine), but we felt we were up to the task of bringing her out of her misery.
Best of luck to you and your beautiful family! Hope to see you catching air in your sails in the future!