suppose they gave a boat race and nobody came

We will never know the answer to that hypothetical.

At least, not in Barra de Navidad today. Because there was a sailboat race, and a lot of people came.

Every year during the northern tourist season, some diligent souls organize events to answer the question: "What do we do now in Barra?" In The Before Times, opening our local Facebook pages was like reading the day's schedule of events on a Caribbean cruise. Bingo. Specialty Dining. Boat rides.

All of those announcements are in English because that is the target audience. And most of the events are for Good Causes. Like raising funds for the local schools.

But there is another purpose, as well, and it is one that a lot of people seem to think is a bit grubby to discuss. I rack that up to too many hours sitting in front of the television pretending we are part of the Crawley family.

Barra de Navidad makes its living off of tourists. For decades, this little village by the sea has been a destination for Mexican tourists.

Since the 1990s, a large share of tourist revenue comes from winter visitors from Canada and The States -- especially Canada. In January and February, it is easy to imagine you are in a suburb of Toronto. With the exception of the absence of chilling snow drifts, of course.

The cruise-like activities are designed to encourage northern visitors to exchange a few of their hard-earned dollars in exchange for momentary joy that just might transmorph into a lasting memory. And that is exactly what appeared to be happening this afternoon.

I attended men's Bible study this morning at a restaurant that makes its winter living off of the breakfast pleasures of northerners. Ominously, we were the only customers there.

In a way, I was not surprised. When the Canadian government announced it was clamping down on Canadians from leaving the country, a large contingent of Canadian visitors here upped pegs over the past three weeks to avoid getting trapped by new restrictions. The usual dining haunts have been consistently light on customers since then. 

The sailboat race that started today at noon has been thoroughly publicized on Facebook. But if the target audience had flown the coop, I feared it would be lightly attended.

When I arrived at the malecon, I thought that was the case. Other than a construction crew that was busy at work on a project I will write about tomorrow, there were only a handful of spectators even though the bay was abloom with sailboats.

I am quite find of sailboats having picked up the habit while living in Greece and England, and then for a week every summer plying the San Juan and Gulf Islands. Nothing can cause me to smile and chuckle as much as seeing a boat in full sail -- especially when cast against the shifting shades of blue of the bay and its sky.

I needn't have worried that I was selfishly watching the sails gently gliding like a corps de ballet. There were plenty of other spectators.

I found most of the northern tourists in the series of restaurants that line the thin wisp of strand that was once a grand beach. They had sought the shade and company associated with all grand sports.

Best of all, the boats had attracted customers to Mexican businesses where a mutually-beneficial exchange of cash and mementos were under way.

Every time I write about these events, I receive mail and comments that I am abetting the gringofication of Barra. The usual line is that the little Mexican community that is here all year is somehow diminished by providing sport specifically for northerners.

I have never fully understood the argument. Barra has long been a tourist town. Admittedly, it first bent to the will of Mexican tourists. The local businesses did what they could to attract the out-of-towners to Barra and then to their specific businesses. 

Those same businesses are simply doing the same thing to accommodate northern tourists. The commonality is the free market exchange of goods.

Ironically, while some folks are complaining about the loss of Mexican authenticity on this side of the bay, business people on the other side of the bay in San Patricio Melaque are asking what they can do to the same end. Maybe they should talk to the organizers. They seem to have hot on a successful formula.

Those cruise-to-Jamaica ideas would appear to be applicable there as they are here.

And, before I wrap up this essay, let me congratulate all the crews of the boats that participated in the race. You put a smile on my face -- and I am willing to bet you did the same for a lot of other people today.