March 28, 2024
Getting to Mexico
We found a small weather window a week ago Tuesday and we set sail for Mexico at 4 in the afternoon. We had to cross the Gulf Stream twice, once in the Florida Straits and then again in the Yucatan Channel.
The Gulf Stream can be quite strong 3 – 4 knots (and we only go 8 knots) and you definitely want to TRY and not be going against the current. And, you DO NOT want winds against the current or you have a very rough ride with BIG waves. The winds were behind us the whole way which is very good for our boat, and they were not terribly strong, not more than 20 knots. There were some bigger waves in the 4 foot range, but all in all, it was pretty reasonable. Even the kittens did pretty well.
With 4 of us, it was not a bad trip. We had teams with two on for 3 hours, so we really had 1 ½ hour shifts with the other on call in the pilot house. Total travel time from Key West to Isla Mujeras, 46 hours. One sail boat and about 4 or 5 freighters and that was it. We’d hope to see the Cuba coast but were too far off shore. We needed to be there no later than mid-day before the winds kicked up and we made it!
Checking In
Jim had done the paperwork ready to get Rincon, Rinconsito, 4 humans and 2 cats into Mexico. A bit of a grumble, but all in all, not too bad. We hired an agent to ease the way. Well worth it. We could not check in until the following day, but that did not stop us for checking out the local scene. The boat had a yellow quarantine flag, but we did not. I don’t think anyone really cared. Next day, Jim is off to visit the Port Captain, Immigration and Customs and comes back with Agriculture and Customs to inspect the boat and give the kittens pets. Chicha though it was fine, Nik did not enjoy it! We all passed and because we had a large crew of 4, they “allowed” our liquor stash. They had no worries about the plants in the least.
Isla Mujeras
What a lovely place! Despite having so many tourists, Isla retains it’s Mexican character and sense of self. We rented a golf cart (very popular) and toured the island, making sure to visit many bars and food stops along the way. Isla is the farthest east piece of land in Mexico and we visited it at the tip of the island. Pretty spot.
The water here rivals any we saw in the Bahamas. Very clear, even in the inner harbor, it was pretty nice.
Cancun
George and Frances moved over to Cancun for a few days before they flew back to Virginia. We had so much fun during their visit. A very simpatico group. And to think we’d never traveled together before! We decided to take the ferry across and spend the day with them, visiting the Maya museum and a very small archaeological site right at the museum (or is that vice versa?)
More food was in order and drinks too! The high rises of Cancun are not to my liking but we enjoyed our visit. Our 1st time to Cancun.
We took a late ferry back to Isla Mujeras after a, get this, dinner in a French restaurant! Why not mix it up.
We really miss George and Frances but are meeting folks at the marina we moved to after George and Frances left and we were all checked into Mexico.
Learning
It has not taken us long to understand some of the things we have not really been prepared for.
- We have a watermaker which makes fresh water for us and puts it into our water tank. But, one does not want to make water in dirty water as it is not very good for the membranes which are quite expensive. One NEVER makes water in harbor as the water there can be VERY dirty. Here, the water is pretty darn clean but you don’t want to make water except when the winds are out of the north, blowing clean water in from the ocean as opposed to dirty water from the inner harbor. There is dock water that some folks use somewaht, or run through their watermakers. Jim is modifying our inputs to the watermaker so we can make water from dock water or sea water. We want to KNOW the quality of our water in our tanks. We have plenty of water right now, but this will arise again.
- Remember that dirty water thing? Dirty water mostly comes from poo. There are NO pumpouts here. Not even at the few fancy marinas. Folks hang around for months in the same place so, their tanks get dumped into the harbors, not 3 miles off shore as is desired. At our marina (tiny), folks are (as best we know) good about using the marina toilets. But, there are lots of boats around and we know not all the anchored or docked boats are following such sanitary rules. Luckily we have a big poo tank and combined with their nice clean toilets, we are good for quite a while.
So we work on projects with very hard to find parts and try to figure out the next stops on our trip. It is much harder to find information, as charts are not nearly as good, marinas are few and far between if they exist at all and information on anchorages is a bit harder. One is more on their own down here.
We really want to go to Campeche, a place we have not been in our various Mexico travels. It is not on the typical boat cruising path which adds more challenge. But, we’ll figure it out.
Very windy today which has at least cooled things off. We are here for at least a few more days due to weather and…. no plan.