A South-of-the-Border Sojourn
Just 24 hours before our scheduled charter in the Bahamas, the government clamped down again on visitors from the United States. Having endured two Covid-19 brain swabs in preparation, I looked at my packed bag on the floor and reached for the rum. I could, at least, pretend I was in the islands.
The next morning, realizing rum alone had solved exactly nothing, I decided to pivot. “Where do I want to go that’s open?” Why Mexico, of course. One of my favorite land destinations, it was now calling with enticing sailing, good food and vibrant culture, and I wasn’t about to let it go to voicemail.
Dream Yacht Charter (DYC—dreamyachtcharter.com), which offers a combination of power and sailboats for hire in Mexico, is ideally situated in La Paz at the bottom of the Sea of Cortez, which Jacques Cousteau once called the “Aquarium of the World.” Having previously sailed there in winter, I remember watching whales breaching for hours and pods of dolphins playing off the bow. Now, it was summertime, the temps were pushing triple digits, and the whales were up in Alaska getting fat. On the plus side, the place wasn’t going to be crowded, the sometimes brutal northerlies were turned 180 degrees, and there was plenty aquamarine water to jump into any time I wanted. I wouldn’t have to unpack after all.
The flight to Cabo was full, but everyone behaved except for the woman next to me who pulled down her mask and then picked her nose before swiping through the movie
