I suppose we’ve got some explaining to do
after last time’s cliffhanger. It was at the end of this pier we met Captain
Demando and started to exchange stories.
He gave us some crazy nuggets about his
life and come the evening we were happy to sit with him and our new Canadian
friend, drinking and having a little sing song at a gem of a campsite - Magic Bacalar.
The next day after we knew each other a bit
better he dropped it on us. I’ll simplify the conversation for the purposes of
this blog.
“I have a 66ft yacht in Florida that I want
to bring to Mexico before circumnavigating through the Caribbean, around South
America and across the South Pacific. I’m looking for two more crewmembers for
the team and think you two would work well on board. I’ll give you a day to
decide, everything will be paid for by me. You just have to learn how to sail
and crew the yacht.”
Hmmm. What do you say to that?
We had a few deliberations whist trying to
hold our excitement. Captain Demando was
slightly crazy (which we liked) and we wouldn’t be able to meet the rest of the
crew until we got closer to setting sail. It would mean selling Trisha in
Mexico rather than the States as planned. We had zero sailing experience, other
than the rowing boats at Heaton Park. It was also a big commitment. Our time,
our sanity and potentially our lives could be on the line. We’d also go from
just the two of us to being part of a bigger team.
Then there’s the danger. Sailing is
dangerous, storms can be fatal and the route was going to take us around Cape
Horn, a notorious graveyard for sailors.
For every positive there were some serious
considerations to make. Yet life doesn’t always throw opportunities like this
your way. Since starting this trip we have developed a fixed policy of saying
yes to any adventure.
After weighing the decision we realized
there was only ever one answer.
So back we turned towards Cancun, from here
we had some decisions to make about where to bring the yacht in. There was also
mountain of planning, logistics and scouting to get through. We were officially
under Demando’s command and after the drive to Cancun he made the decision to
make me first mate. A big responsibility that meant I needed to starting
stepping up to challenges and decisions.
We booked in at the Ibis for a few days. It
was weird to be in a hotel after so much time camping and staying in hostels
but there was work to be done. Our lifestyle changed significantly.
 |
| No more street tacos for us |
Every morning we met at 8am and got Captain
Demando his morning beer and ciggy before heading for a breakfast meeting. We’d
then scout Cancun for supplies and start organizing the many logistics involved
with getting this project off the ground. By lunch we’d usually be sat in a big
American restaurant eating steak and getting pissed. Demando was teaching us a lot and fast. Not
just about sailing but about Mexico, business, politics and life in general.
He’d lived in Oaxaca for 15 years after becoming disillusioned with the states.
A middle of the road Democrat, Demando has had many successful business ventures
and was once put forward for Congress.
The more we learnt about Demando, the more
this seemed like some crazy dream. Or a prank someone was trying to pull. It
all just seemed a bit unbelievable, his life, the fact we were crew on his
yacht. He was also going to teach us to
sing, play guitar, sail, trade futures and commodities on the markets as part
of the deal. It felt surreal, weird but great at the same time.
Then things got really weird. We were in
Walmart in Cancun, shopping for supplies for the boat in 30-degree heat,
walking through the Christmas section listening to Slade sing, ‘So here it is
Merry Christmas’, with a rock star, drunk. It was too much for our little
heads. Especially when Demando started doing his loudmouthed Billy bob red neck impression on full blast. It's funny he hates loud 'Mericans but is in complete denial about the fact that he's one at least 50% of the time.
(FK) I wasn’t overjoyed to be back in
Cancun but shopping with someone else’s money helped ease the pain. Especially
shopping for a new pair of boat shoes. A girl needs to have the right cruising
attire. So whilst I looked for practical stuff, including some pretty amazing
leopard print stuff in Bershka, Neil and
Demando became drunk with happiness in one particular shop, the sword
shop. All I could hear from across the
mall was, “I want that one, I want this one, let’s get five of those.”
Inside were replica swords from various
fictional characters. Excalibur, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones,
pirate swords. They were both lost in excitement by the time I arrived. The
upshot is we’re all having swords and skull and crossbone pendants that have
tiny daggers that pull out from the crossbones.
They really do think they’re pirates!
(NK) We finished our stay in Cancun with a
trip to the Casino and a game of Mexican Bingo where all the numbers were
obviously in Spanish, because how could it get any weirder? Well, in a room
full of about a hundred Mexicans, Fiona could win. That’s how it could get
weirder. So off we went into the night to spank the winnings.
The next day we were going back to Holbox
Island to find a place to bring the boat in.
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