Mexico...esp. Baja...Places to Scout? Transitioning to Cruising As Fast As Possible?

[uneven_sailor]

Hey All,

I posted recently on the Multihulls Forum about whether it would make sense to try to go cruising on a smaller catamaran rather than a larger one...resounding "yes" from the forum. Here's that thread if you want to check it out.

So now I'm trying to solve more problems in the quest to begin cruising before we all die of old age.

Since my family and I live in LA, it seems like Mexico is the logical place to start...right?

After reading over all of the responses on my original thread, one of the other big pieces of advice was to start as soon as possible, while my son is still really young and will be able to enjoy it--he's two-and-a-half now.

And there is just no way that we can go with the original plan from the thread above, which was to buy a $400k catamaran, anytime sooner than 7-9 years from now.

So I'm much more just thinking now in terms of "step 1: move to a geographical location where it would be way easier and less expensive to buy + live on a boat + go on short cruises while working toward 'setting sail for real' whatever that means" and "step 2: buy the smallest, least expensive boat possible that would work for that purpose and just start sailing as much as possible ASAP."

For folks who did not read that first thread, I should mention here as well that my wife and I *do* also sail on a regular basis right now with our local sailing club, and are building experience steadily...I'm just much more thinking in terms of the "start cruising/live aboard" step of the process. Living in LA and working where we do (about an hour from where we sail) it's not convenient, easy, or cheap to go daysailing, much less to contemplate living aboard in the way I am imagining above. More importantly though: neither of us likes living in LA because of the more fundamental reason that it's LA.

SO...a way to get going hopefully much much sooner would be for my wife to change jobs to a remote job (I already work remotely) and then for the family to move to Mexico and buy a boat and start right away...at least with smaller trips.

And in the meantime...we would be in Mexico which would be awesome!

The first place that comes to mind for us to check out is La Paz. It seems like a sailing mecca...that gets to be 1000 degrees in the summer.

Is there anywhere else, either in Baja, or mainland Mexico, or even places not in Mexico, that we should have on our list?

[messy run-on-sentences coming]: Things that matter to us: proximity to family in LA...i.e. not moving half-way around the world, access to schools for when our kiddo is old enough (before we start cruising, it would be nice to have him in a local school and meeting other kids!), a good place to buy and then also keep the boat--whether at anchor, on a mooring, or in a marina--and also live on it as well...that is also an *enjoyable* spot to live on a boat...that is then also a cool place to sail and also learn to cruise the boat. Cheap apartments...I would imagine us probably renting an apartment to start -- i.e. arriving someplace with a U-Haul, renting a place for a space of time while we find + buy a boat, and then becoming comfortable with living on it, and then making the transition to living aboard.

SO -- with all of those variables in mind...any recommendations???

Thank you all for taking time to read this over and I will welcome any thoughts, suggestions, and advice for how we can transition from working 40+ hour weeks in LA to living in a better place and spending a lot more time sailing, and (hopefully!) cruising!