We do not get a lot of news down here, but we were able to follow the drama of Rebel Heart through the local cruiser nets. Our first reaction, continues to be our reaction after all of the news and first hand accounts: shit happens. When you have a sick child, you do what you have to do to get them the care they require, regardless of how it might upset current plans or completely change the course of your life. And whether you are in Phoenix, at Lake Powell or in the Rockies on a ski vacation, things happen. We are just thankful that they appear to all be doing well.
What we are not exposed to is the controversy this event seems to have generated in the states. We can only imagine that family, friends and former colleagues may be having these thoughts, concerns as they think of our current decision to sail Mexico to South America this year.
We are still thankful to be having this adventure as a family. We do not have any current plans to do a passage like the Rebel Heart was attempting, though many families do. In fact, a study we read showed that about 70% of all successful circumnavigations are carried out by family crews with the children between 9 and 10 on average.
We do believe that this adventure is worth the risks, but we also are pragmatic in our approach to risk and we minimize it within reason. After all, seeking a life void of risk is what leads to the "sacrifice of certain freedoms is worth it if it keeps us safe and secure" mentality that Mike and I are so vehemently opposed to.
This post is dedicated to the kids and to show their family and friends what life is like for them aboard Mangas.
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| Building forts on deck to play and stay cool in the afternoon sun |
The kids are very successful at catching puffer fish - which we cannot eat.
Homeschool is another big part of their day. We have a full curriculum from K12.com that the kids use for Math, Language Arts, History and Science. Some days it comes easy, some days there are copious amounts of spectacular threats in order to get them to open their books. But the easier days are becoming more frequent. I am seeing that the kids are becoming much more self-motivated to open a school book and just start working. Keira and Summer work on 2nd grade math and language arts and I have them do their activities together as a team, but their unit reviews they do as individuals to ensure they have the concept. At first, they wanted to compete on every section to make sure they were seen as the clear "winner". But now they just tackle it together without competing. I have History for 2nd and 3rd, but I lump those together so I can have the 3 kids work together. Every activity gets a 100%, because if they miss a problem, they go back and do it until it is right and then we move on.
The biggest remaining chunk of their time is exploring the world around them. For the past couple of months that has been mainly La Paz and the surrounding islands just to the north. But we have reached Puerto Vallarta and have had the opportunity to visit other towns and wildlife centers along the way.
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| Exploring the Frigatebird and Blue-footed Booby nesting grounds on Isla Isabela |
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| Taking a boat tour with Grandpa through the mangrove bird and crocodile sanctuary south of San Blas |
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| One of the many beach landings around the Sea |
The kids are also becoming much more responsible, not without a great deal of trial and error. But their responsibilities are increasing weekly. Reid can lower and raise the anchor of Mangas, keep course on the helm and all three have great radio etiquette on the VHF. All of the kids do the dishes and have their bright work jobs on the deck when Mike does a wash down.
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| Kids on their first dinghy solo in Agua Verde. Our dinghy has been named Pima, which would appear to be keeping in line with our Native American naming theme, but in fact it is an acronym that Mike came up with for Pain In My Ass. Which tells you how he feels about the dinghy. |
There is also, a great deal of socializing. We have met up with other cruiser families that we will stay in touch with and have had a lot of the older couples, not traveling with kids, become proxy parents and grandparents for the kids. They love to show the kids new things. Everything from what are the best lures and lure knots to card tricks, jokes and games.
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| New friends the day before we departed for our over sea passage to Puerto Vallarta |
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| SV Cerce showing the kids how to play Cat's Cradle |
We also have had a birthday celebration on board. Reid turned 9 on March 6th and the girls decorated the cabin and we made cupcakes and pizza at the request of the birthday boy.
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| Decorating Mangas for the festivities |
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| Do kids like anything more than icing cupcakes? |
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| Pizza turned out great - just wish I had made more than one! |
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| Boogie board homemade cards made for a great birthday |
And, of course, sometimes being a cruiser kid means just hanging out in the tropical breeze on hammock under the palapas. So far, so good.
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