Stuck on Banderas Bay — And Lovin’ it!

The Zen Sailing Federation T-shirts are ready! You can’t buy one, you have to get one the old-fashioned way, by earning it! At which point we give it to you for free. While supplies last.

You earn your Zen Sailing shirt by sailing the four Zen course circuits around the Bay. The first is from the Encinal YC in Alameda to the mouth of the Estuary and back. We featured it in the July issue of Latitude 38. You really need to sail the course at least three times for enlightenment, but we’ll let you get away with just once to qualify for a shirt.

The second Zen course you must sail is along the Richmond Riviera, the third is from Sam’s in Tiburon around Angel Island and back, and the fourth is along the San Francisco waterfront, around Treasure Island, and back. The details of the Richmond Riviera Zen course were to have been presented in the August issue. Unfortunately, we’ve been "trapped" in Mexico, so that Richmond Zen course won’t be revealed until the September issue, the Tiburon-Angel Island course until the October issue, and the San Francisco-Treasure Island course until November. So yeah, the earliest you might be able to get a distinctive Zen Sailing Federation shirt — and instill jealously in all your friends — is about Thanksgiving. If this makes you angry, just remember the Zen patience thing. Stop, close your eyes, and concentrate on your breathing.

We’ve been trapped in Mexico by heavy rain through June and July, which postponed our bottom painting schedule for Profligate, which caused us to miss the gigantic weather window along Baja that’s about to close. To tell you the truth, we weren’t that crazy about coming down to mainland Mexico in June and July, as we always heard it is hot, humid, and rains a lot. And it’s all of those things.

For example, it was 95 while we worked inside Profligate‘s salon yesterday, and sweat poured down our face like it was coming out of a faucet. And there have been times when we jumped in the unheated pool and found it to be so warm that we got no relief. As for the lightning, thunder and torrential rain, it’s mind-boggling. Two nights ago, all the cars on the main road by Bucerias had to pull off to the side because the rain made it impossible to see. And the run-off was so heavy that the plastic tables at Tacos on the Street were in danger of being washed into the marina along with trucks, horses, houses, babies and busses.

On the other hand, cloudy days mean the pools cool down enough to provide relief, and you get used to the humidity after awhile — and there’s no damn fog or marine layer. And, there has been epic surf. Yesterday it was breaking 10 feet at La Lancha, and the whole north shore of Banderas was going off bigger than we’d ever seen it. Thousands of waves went unridden. Plus it’s Mexico, so the people are very sweet and the quality of life is most agreeable.

As you know from reading the July issue of Latitude, it’s easy to live inexpensively in Mexico. The other night we went to Sayulita and had a sit-down dinner facing the plaza where a big plate of two fish tacos, rice, salad and all the rest was just $5. We and de Mallorca often spend no more than $4 to stuff ourselves with delicious street tacos for dinner. The biggest bang for the buck food bargain, however, has been at El Colejito — we’re guessing at the spelling — on the road out of La Cruz. For $10 we got a cup of fish soup, a bit of salad, rice and beans, bananas flambe, all the tequila we could drink, plus a whopper of a corbina covered with a subtle red sauce and nine shrimp. While the rest of the dinner was simply good, the corbina was among the best fish we’ve ever tasted. Oddly enough, the place closes at 8 p.m.

So when faced with the decision of having to either Bash north right away in less-than-ideal conditions, only to end up in foggy San Diego, Catalina and Santa Barbara, or stay warm in Mexico where the living is sweet and easy, we chose the latter. Yes, it probably means missing the Santa Barbara to King Harbor race and definitely means postponing the presentation of the last three Zen courses by a month, we know that Buddha would understand. We hope you do, too. So if you’ll excuse us, not only are the skies blue today, but the surf is still up, so we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.