Dear Luke (June 2022)

Dear former self,

You will learn shortly that you will be going on a yearlong journey, sailing down the West Coast to Mexico. You will see lots of amazing stuff. You will be full of questions and concerns. You should know that you have no reason to be concerned. Here are ten things that you will learn:

1. It is totally worth taking a year away from normal activities. At first one of my main concerns was, “are we not going to learn as much during boat school?” You do not need to be worried about it. It’s true that you will have amazing experiences and you will learn from them, on top of boat school. Once when we were in Bahia Concepcion, we went, with the crew from Ohana, to a group of rock paintings. We took our boat down to the south side of Bahia Concepcion and anchored in a small bay, that the charts said we would have to run aground to get to. We took the dink ashore and hiked in. When we got there it was so crazy to be in the presence of history, there were ancient rock paintings everywhere, you could just walk right up to them. I learned a lot about the ancient people of Baja by seeing the paintings. Did you know that when the ancient people arrived the Baja was a temperate rainforest? This is just one example of the amazing experiences that you will learn from. You will also learn a lot in boat school even if it is shorter than normal. Don’t worry if you try your hardest in boat school you will not fall too far behind.

2. Another reason that it is worth taking a year away from normal activities is that you will live every day to the fullest. That may sound corny, but it’s true. My favorite memories are from boat trips, and this year you will make so many new ones. Image a normal day in which you did school, went to the beach, snorkeled, and went ashore at night to photograph the moon, all on a weekday. Two days later we went to the top of a mountain on the island we were on. Last time we went up we saw a rattlesnake that was clearly angry at us. This time, since we were hiking with other people and therefore at a snail’s pace, we came down after the sun had set. We saw a tarantula and a scorpion. These memories will stick with me forever.

3. You may be worried that you won’t see any other kids. I can assure you that it is not true. It is true that you will see very few of them on the coast of California and the ones that you will see, you will see once then you will be gone, or they will. There are plenty of other cruisers without kids though. I remember thinking that because we met more people without kids than with them, I would be more mature. But fear not you won’t be more mature because once you make it off the Baja peninsula there will be kids galore. You will see the kids you have already met and new ones in La Cruz, then again in Tenacatita, which was like one big kid party. You will continue to see the same kids and more, all over.

4. You will become more experienced than the most experienced sailors you know, but not the ones you will meet. You will get to do long ocean passages and even take a watch by yourself. Also, you will become more experienced than Aidan was at the start of the trip. You will meet a lot of “salty” sailors (Aidan hates that word) who are super experienced and have done the Pacific many times. On one boat you will meet, the dad had sailed across the Pacific on the same boat as a kid. He and his wife sailed it again on a small catamaran. This was their third time crossing. By the end of the trip you will be a very experienced ocean sailor.

5. You will do a lot of new things. You may think that you will just be sailing on the open ocean the whole time, but that is not true. You will spend a lot of time in places. In addition to sailing, you will get to try so many different activities: surfing, fishing, snorkeling, tubing, hiking, rowing, swimming, and paddle boarding! You will have a whole year to practice these things. For example, at the start of the trip you will barely fish, but later on you will learn to reef fish and troll. By the end you will quite enjoy it and catch lots of fish.

6. You will get to meet a lot of new people. There are a surprisingly large amount of people in the cruiser community. In many places there are radio nets where people talk on the radio in the morning in categories like: lost and found, swap and trade, and bay watch. You will meet and spend time with these cruisers. Unlike in Seattle where you have known the same people for years. You will meet lots of unique individuals who come from different backgrounds. Some you only see once, but you will quickly have a group of boats that go to the same places and you see regularly.

7. You will get to experience a new culture. Part of your journey will be in Mexico. While you are there you will learn Spanish and about Mexican culture. One cultural experience is going to the grocery store. There are a lot of different foods and some similar ones. Another cultural experience is Carnival. Carnival is the Mexican version of Mardi Gras. We were in Barre de Navidad for the festivities. There were carnival games and a parade in which all the local schools participated. After that there was a fashion show which was mostly two presenters rapidly speaking Spanish. Even if you don’t catch every word, it is important to have such cultural experiences.

8. You will get to see a lot of new places from San Francisco to Manzanillo and up to Bahia Concepcion. Each spot is different, from the biggest cities to the most desolate coves. You will see different environments from evergreen forests to deserts to tropical landscapes. In each of these places, you will learn something new whether it is about eagle rays in Ramada or the start of ranching in Loreto. Our boat will stop in 60+ places on the trip.

9. You will learn to be calm in unexpected situations. “A cruiser’s plan is written in sand at low tide.” That is the expression, and it is true. When we came down, we thought maybe we would make it down to Ecuador. You never know what will happen, such as your prop blade falling off. Yes, that is right, one of the blades of your propeller will fall off. But the most important thing is that you remain calm. Many other things will break, and you will find yourself in unexpected circumstances, but you will start to learn how to stay calm and that is an invaluable life skill.

10. You will see lots of diverse wildlife. There will be plenty of wildlife to be seen, even though you worry there won’t be. You will see whales breaching, octopuses swimming, rays mating, and dolphins leaping in the bow wake. You will learn about a lot of the animals you see. Holden, Cora, and I learned about humpbacks after we saw them breaching. Did you know that humpback calves are 15 feet long? You will observe them in their native habitats and will get to see them in action.

11. Bonus! You will learn that pink covered chocolate marshmallows are better than white ones. In Mexico there are not just white marshmallows. Any bag you get will have white and pink ones. Then Costco came along and covered them in chocolate and voila, heaven was born. Every time you reach a city with a Costco (they are only available there) you will celebrate. But that is not what I am here to tell you about. What I’m going to tell you is this: pink ones are better than white ones. The pink ones are flavored like strawberry and are heaven. I hope you remember this; it will serve you well.

Now that you have learned this, I hope you don’t worry so much and enjoy the journey. You will have good times ahead. I hope that when this is all over, you will be inspired and do it again.

Good luck,

Luke Marcuss (June 2023)

P.S. If I broke the space-time continuum in sending you this, I apologize for any inconveniences.

Dear Luke (June 2022)

Isla Coronado