Latitude 38 - August 2020-2021

Above: Going back into the water in Chiapas. Top (l to r): Historical Panama City; farmer's market at Quepos, Costa Rica; abandoned prison dock at Isla San Lucas; Joan checks the weather. Unfortunately, local officials decided that the marina was a liability and closed it to any entering vessels.

We anchored in the open roadstead outside the marina in rough conditions while the marina manager finessed the situation and finally gained us entry. There we sat under increasingly severe movement restrictions to the point where we were only allowed to venture outside of the marina for two hours per week, and men and women were not even allowed to travel at the same times. Amusingly, the worst part was that alcohol sales were banned and my locker was almost dry! It soon became apparent that this was not going to be a short-term situation. After a few weeks, we made the difficult decision to try to get back home to California and wait out the rest of the pandemic. Luckily, the US Embassy was able to get us two spaces on a US Air Force cargo plane (for anyone who has not been on a C-130, you can’t really call them "seats") that diverted its route from South America to Virginia to pick up evacuees in Panama. As of right now, we are safely home in San Clemente. Like many cruisers, we are unsure when we will be able to return to our boat, but are really looking forward to continuing our adventure whenever that may be!

— Bob 6/28/20

ALL PHOTOS GREEN FLASH Mykonos — Swan 44

Marina and Myron Eisenzimmer

Time to Leave, COVID or Not!

San Francisco

It was time to bring Mykonos home to Marin County as hurricane season for the Pacific was just around the corner in June. If we stayed in Mexico, and our boat was damaged in a named hurricane, our marine insurance carrier would not pay for any damage, and that was the dilemma. Many areas in Mexico and California were under quarantine. Our sailing friends understood why we would leave, but others were surprised. We had a decision to make and we left.

On our flight down to Cabo San Lucas from Los Angeles, there were only seven people on the plane and almost everyone owned a boat! The flight attendant jokingly called it a charter flight and gave the guys free beers. We had a great time talking with two brothers from Newport Beach about boats, fishing, Baja, Cabo, and how crazy the town can be.

When we landed, it was not at the regular airport immigration area, it was the private jet arrivals area with just one immigration officer. The main airport was closed as few flights were arriving or departing. After speeding through the immigration line, the brothers offered us a ride

Lucky guests aboard 'Mykonos' might be treated to Myron's World Famous Tri-Tip.

MYKONOS

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