Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Update.We made it to Isla off of Cancun yesterday afternoon around 4pm. We are currently tied up at a marina and have WIFI access and most importantly unlimited hot showers.

For those of you that read my last post and were concerned about an outbreak of cannibalism on the boat, the good news is that we are all still intact, the bad news is that Jaime was wishing at one point that we would kill her… more details below in my log.

Log entries

6/28/08

We finally left Caye Caulker and headed back up to Ambergris Caye. AC wasn’t so bad this time. No jet skis bombing by and we had a great linner (lunch/dinner) of cheese burgers in paradise at the Tackle Box Bar over the water. At around midnight we woke up to the sounds of fireworks. The island was celebrating a holiday for St. Peter the patron saint.

The next morning we prepared to leave the comfort of sailing behind Belize’s 185 mile barrier reef and head North but the cut through the reef was raging with large waves. Time for plan B. We headed back South past Caye Caulker to St. George’s Caye and it’s much larger pass and anchored for the night. Below is a quick video I took of dolphins on our way down

6/30/08

We had a few squalls last night. One ripped through at 43 knots (about 50mph) and ripped up our anchor from the grass it was in. Thankfully it reset after we drug back a little.

We left St. George’s Caye at 11:45am and headed for the pass. The weather was grey but looked better to the North where we needed to go. Once we left the nice confines of the reef a closely packed six foot choppy swell greeted us. The wind was coming E-NE which it diffcult to sail our course.

We motored sailed back and forth accross our course line and by 6pm had barely made it back accross from Ambergris Caye where we started the day before. Our plan to arrive the next morning and anchor at Chinchorro Bank Atoll Mexico was not looking good.

That night was no fun. The waves and wind increased and we started to see large clouds of pink on the radar indicating squalls were coming from the East in our direction. A sail boat can’t really out run the weather but you can sometimes repostion so the weather passes you by.

We were probably hit by at least three 30+ knot squalls with blinding rains. I think the waves were pretty big but you can’t see them at night until they crash into the boat. You could see the bow and running lights go underwater as the waves exploded across the boat. Jaime was very sea sick and stayed up on deck the entire night. I went below at midnight after my 9p-12a watch and ended up getting sea sick for the first time after being pinballed around while trying to use the head and get my bunk ready. After emptying my stomache I felt better and was able to get some rest.

The next morning conditions were still pretty bumpy but the rain stopped and the sun came out making us all feel a little better. Jaime was able to go below and get some much needed sleep. By 2pm we made it to Chinchorro Bank anchored in relative calm conditions.

7/02/08
We were boarded by the Mexican Navy. They checked our documentation and did a brief inspection. Thankfully they didn’t question that we had checked out of Belize over a week ago (it’s no fun being an illegal alien).

Finally some good sailing conditions. The swell was still good sized but not choppy and we picked up the current allowing us to make good time. We left around 10am and arrived the following morning at 2:30am in Cozumel. Cozumel looked like Las Vegas at night compared with relatively undeveloped Belize. We anchored for the night and then left for Isla Mujeres. Good conditions again but it looks like Jaime well not be doing anymore offshore sailing as she is still getting dizzy. So I think that is about it for now. Cpt. Jim is out getting our passport stamped and bribing petty bureaucrats to allow us in the country. More updates to come.