mural One of the amazing murals on the streets of Isla Mujeres.

We have been living aboard our new boat for 6 weeks now. Whew! What an adventure it has been. It is so nice to have a home of our own again, and even better that it will go with us on all of our upcoming adventures.

Suffice it to say the sea trial went really well, and the surveyor that we flew in from the other side of Mexico was really impressed with her! He kept saying, “You’re getting a great boat! You should really go for this!” We love the owners too. They were so kind, and helpful and had taken amazing care of the boat. We felt a little guilty taking her, as they clearly really loved her and we liked them so much.

Orion survey On the hard for the survey

orion launch back in the water for the sea trial

Jacob sea trial Jacob back at the helm during the sea trial

John on Orion 1 The Owner, John, before he officially hands her over

Send off dinner Send off dinner with the owners and friends before they return to Jolly ol’ England

We were a bit nervous taking her out alone at first. We hadn’t sailed just the 4 of us since we brought Lark the first back from the Bahamas almost 2 years ago! It went a lot more smoothly than we anticipated though… like riding a bike. We have been working on getting to know the boat, and all of her rigging and systems. We spent two weekends anchored out, sailing by day, and swinging to the breeze by night (a very pleasant change to the still marina life).

Lorelei at anchor I thought she was looking at birds, but learned she was trying to see what the boat anchored next to us was having for dinner.

Jacob jumping off the boat Jumping off the boat in the anchorage

We liked our first marina, but as the days got hotter and HOTTER, and my dad was planning a visit, we moved to a marina with villas to rent and a pool to play in. In a lot of ways it’s great, but I miss the amazing staff at Marina Del Sol, and the neighborhood was better (close to the cheap lavanderias and the grocery store). Our new marina, El Milagro, is really nice though, and it was perfect for my dad’s visit. The villa he rented was huge, and the girls had a week-long sleepover while he was here.

swinging at El Milagro Marina El Milagro

Grampsy Collage Grampsy time

Grampsy with his cake Celebrating my dad’s birthday

After being hit by named storms 2 seasons in a row, we are just done with hurricane season and will be taking Orion to Rio Dulce in the next couple weeks. We’re just waiting for the return of normal trades at this point. With the help of Chris Parker and PredictWind’s awesome departure planning tools, we’ve got a weather eye out for the right weather!

punta sur Punta Sur, Isla Mujeres, Mexico