Hitchin’ a Ride to Paradise

When Nathan and Naomi Beckord headed south with the Baja Ha-Ha last fall aboard their Sausalito-based Islander 36 Hurulu, they had no intention of voyaging beyond Mexican waters. "We’d budgeted for only a seven-month sailing sabbatical," explains Nathan.

But after hanging out at La Cruz with a flock of cruisers who were about to head west to French Polynesia, they found themselves caught up in Pacific Puddle Jump fever. Soon they were itchin’ to get out to those fabled isles, but they did not want to deal with getting their boat back to California. As Nathan explains, "Fate stepped in and provided the answer" to their predicament, when they got to know the crew of the Venice (CA)-based Jeanneau 45 Apple. Owner Mike Lipscombe, a filmmaker, and his girlfriend Veronica Coassolo, an up-and-coming recording artist, offered the Hurulu crew a ride to paradise, and, as Nathan reports, they had a spendid crossing.

"By the 10th night we were in the groove, and spent day after day flying the spinnaker in 8-12 knots of wind, trying to catch fleet leader Bravado," (skippered by former Whitbread Round the World captain Ewout Mante). Other boats in this ‘first wave’ of Puddle Jumpers included Love Song, Carinthia, Avatar, Milonga and Hypnautical. As Apple approach her Marquesan landfall, Nathan recalls, "The smell of land was amazing — a mixture of bougainvillea, citrus and earth.

"Overall it was a fun crossing — much easier than I had imagined — and a nice way to break up our Mexican sabbatical. I just wish there was a way to bring Mexican prices — and street tacos — here to Polynesia." He and Naomi will explore the islands for a few more weeks before jetting back to Banderas Bay to retrieve Hurulu and begin the bash back home.