The Hitchhikers

Just as we thought we were ready to depart Grand Cayman, 3 youngsters 2 Welsh girls and a Spanish guy of similar age categories to our kids approached us, they are looking for a ride to Mexico. We had been out all day, and our dinghy was tied up on the dock. They patiently waited for us for about 5 hours, knowing that we would return at some point, simply to request a lift to Mexico, in the hope that we would agree.

They were in luck as we were going to Mexico, a very likely possibility if you are in the Caymans. They had arrived the evening before on a boat from Cuba. Their aim is to travel the world without ever stepping on a plane, so boat hopping and hitchhiking it is. It was hard not to be intrigued by this idea, quite an interesting little crowd they are. They have managed to get themselves all the way from Wales and Spain to the Caymans in various ways, let it be noted they are travelling on less than a shoestring budget, and in their own words, rely often on the kindness of strangers. This did strike a chord with us as I do know that our son was given some opportunities in the sailing community before he had experience and now, I guess, it is our duty to play it forward.

Before making any decisions, we did spend a couple of hours getting to know them, chatting about where they have been, why they are doing this and why they had chosen this crazy way of travelling somewhat gypsy like. We did need to find out about their families and as much scoop as we can, before we let total strangers hop on our boat for a passage, even though it is a short passage we did need to feel comfortable, as we have never had strangers on our boat.

With that thought in mind, we agreed to give them a ride, so they will take the short 2 day and 2 night sail to the beautiful Isla Mujeres, where they will hop off and take a ferry boat to the mainland and onward from there.

They stayed on board with us for the night before departure as we had to clear customs and immigration in the morning, to get them officially boarded on Intle Breeze as crew.

First thing in the morning we headed off to do all the official paper work and quick lunch and beach photo stop. Then it was time to get ready for a morning departure.