The Timeless Pleasures of Cruising

There were undoubtedly many different motivations that led to this year’s San Diego-to-Mexico rally being the biggest ever. But we’d bet many sailors simply wanted to get out from under the cloud of negativity that has been dominating the news, as well as casual conversations lately.

Being constantly assaulted by dire economic realities, bitterly partisan politics and frustratingly slow progress in two foreign wars is enough to make anyone run off to sea in search of a sunnier perspective. Four-time Baja Ha-Ha veterans Myron and Marina Eisenzimmer of the S.F. Bay-based Swan 44 Mykonos summed up that sentiment in a note this morning:

"People say times are changing. Well, we did our first Baja Ha-Ha in 2000 and our latest was this year’s. What is not changing are the great people that we met on the Ha-Ha and on the mainland after the Baja. 

"We are now in Barra de Navidad, and it’s truly amazing year after year that the cruising crowds are the friendliest people, without regard to political world problems. They set an example of what the world could be like if everyone was a cruiser!"

Of course, if everyone went cruising, the waterways of the world would get a bit crowded, but the point is well taken nevertheless: Get people out of their normal, workaday world — and away from prime-time pundits with divisive attitudes — and into an active, outdoor lifestyle, then watch them blossom. If you are lucky enough to have lived the cruising life, you know what we mean. And if you haven’t, perhaps it’s time you made plans to do so.