"You won’t know, if you don’t go."
That’s right, all you naysayers. We made it so there! 😛
We actually arrived late last night, and anchored out in the bay here. We spent most of the morning checking in, and finding out just how “honest” the Mexican government is.
As much as we want to kick back and have fun, and don’t worry, WE WILL, we need to first get our fridge up and running again. We’re going to try to get the boat into the marina so we can at least work on it in air conditioned comfort.
One thing that saddens us is that it looks like we will not be cruising Mexican waters very much beyond Isla. We found out today that there is a new “rule” with all the port captains that requires us to pay a “shipping agent” each time we check in and out of a port so the shipping agent can be so kind as to go and get us checked in with the port captain. So, on TOP of the actual port tax that we’re supposed to pay the port captains, we’re supposed to pay as much as $100 (that’s dollars, not pesos!) to a private shipping agent each time we check in AND out of a port. Needless to say, this is extortion and we think we’ll keep the boat in Isla, do our local mexican siteseeing from here, and then head on out to Belize.
Aside from all that, Isla Mujeres is a charming place, a little touristy, but that’s ok.
But anyway, we’re here. Yippee!!
That’s right, all you naysayers. We made it so there!
We actually arrived late last night, and anchored out in the bay here. We spent most of the morning checking in, and finding out just how “honest” the Mexican government is.
As much as we want to kick back and have fun, and don’t worry, WE WILL, we need to first get our fridge up and running again. We’re going to try to get the boat into the marina so we can at least work on it in air conditioned comfort.
One thing that saddens us is that it looks like we will not be cruising Mexican waters very much beyond Isla. We found out today that there is a new “rule” with all the port captains that requires us to pay a “shipping agent” each time we check in and out of a port so the shipping agent can be so kind as to go and get us checked in with the port captain. So, on TOP of the actual port tax that we’re supposed to pay the port captains, we’re supposed to pay as much as $100 (that’s dollars, not pesos!) to a private shipping agent each time we check in AND out of a port. Needless to say, this is extortion and we think we’ll keep the boat in Isla, do our local mexican siteseeing from here, and then head on out to Belize.
Aside from all that, Isla Mujeres is a charming place, a little touristy, but that’s ok.
But anyway, we’re here. Yippee!!
Comment from: Valerie [Visitor]
Fantastic … glad you arrived safely and are enjoying the adventure … hope to meet you along the way … Valerie
Still enroute to Isla Mujeres. Weather has been clear with light winds, so we’ve been mostly motorsailing. Though last night we got some great wind again and shut off the diesel and let Andiamo rip. It was great sailing, mostly 12-15 knots of wind off the port beam, kept us cruising along at around 7 knots. We probably could have gone a knot or two faster, but there was a strong current from Yucatan Channel working against us.
It was also pretty eventful, we got ambushed by a fast-moving thunderstorm that spun off the coast of Cuba and slammed us from behind. It was a bit hectic getting the boat into the wind to get our sails in, but we managed, and soon after, the storm passed over us. There was another HUGE thunderhead coming off Cuba that we had no desire to meet upclose and personal, so we shifted course to avoid it. That one was blazing with lightning activity, with lots of ground level strikes. Yikes!
Then, just when all got nice and quiet, a small finch-like bird headed right into the cabin of the boat. At first, we thought it may have been a bat, but Lucy was on the case, and literally grabbed the bird within minutes. She brought it back up into the cockpit, where we had to pry it out of her mouth so it could get free. It didn’t appear to be hurt, but it flew over to our swim steps and just stayed there. Lucy was ready to grab her again, and probably jump right into the water doing it, so I had to grab her and stick her below pronto. After a little more coaxing, the bird finally took off and headed to Cuba, hope it made it.
So again, here’s our position for anyone who wants to know:
22.08.77 North, by 85.56.55 W, we’re about 70 miles off of Isla Mujeres, with a course of about 220 degrees.
We hope to make landfall around midnight tonight. I’m usually leery of getting to a new port at night, but Mike, our crewmember for this trip, has made landfall at night before and knows the area, so we should be able to get into the anchorage ok at least for the night.
More news as it develops…
Still enroute to Isla Mujeres. Weather has been clear with light winds, so we’ve been mostly motorsailing. Though last night we got some great wind again and shut off the diesel and let Andiamo rip. It was great sailing, mostly 12-15 knots of wind off the port beam, kept us cruising along at around 7 knots. We probably could have gone a knot or two faster, but there was a strong current from Yucatan Channel working against us.
It was also pretty eventful, we got ambushed by a fast-moving thunderstorm that spun off the coast of Cuba and slammed us from behind. It was a bit hectic getting the boat into the wind to get our sails in, but we managed, and soon after, the storm passed over us. There was another HUGE thunderhead coming off Cuba that we had no desire to meet upclose and personal, so we shifted course to avoid it. That one was blazing with lightning activity, with lots of ground level strikes. Yikes!
Then, just when all got nice and quiet, a small finch-like bird headed right into the cabin of the boat. At first, we thought it may have been a bat, but Lucy was on the case, and literally grabbed the bird within minutes. She brought it back up into the cockpit, where we had to pry it out of her mouth so it could get free. It didn’t appear to be hurt, but it flew over to our swim steps and just stayed there. Lucy was ready to grab her again, and probably jump right into the water doing it, so I had to grab her and stick her below pronto. After a little more coaxing, the bird finally took off and headed to Cuba, hope it made it.
So again, here’s our position for anyone who wants to know:
22.08.77 North, by 85.56.55 W, we’re about 70 miles off of Isla Mujeres, with a course of about 220 degrees.
We hope to make landfall around midnight tonight. I’m usually leery of getting to a new port at night, but Mike, our crewmember for this trip, has made landfall at night before and knows the area, so we should be able to get into the anchorage ok at least for the night.
More news as it develops…
We left Key West approx noon on Wednesday 8/18, and right now we’re about 200 miles off Isla Mujeres, passing Cuba. Conditions are great, though we’d like a little more wind. We had great wind pretty much all night though, so we have managed to get some great sailing in so far. Our fridge’s engine-driven compressor sadly decided to spontaneously combust, so that leaves an interesting wrinkle on things. Luckily we have a backup freezer and an ice machine, so the beer will remain cold. Do not panic.
Current position is 23.41.34 North, by 83.58.8 West, our course is about 240 degrees, in case anybody cares.
We’ll give another update within the next 12-24 hours.
Andale!
