My Peace

My Peace
Under Sail

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Isla Mujeres, Mexico to Caye Calker, Belize



Before I get started a quick Mia note, anyone who knows us and Mia knows that Mia is a south Texas dog, likes beef, chicken and pork.  Fish or any sea food product was never to her liking.  After spending the past several months in the Yucatan and Caribbean she has come to realize that Rose and I are eating mostly sea food products, fish, shrimp, lobster, conch, octopus, squid, and the like and if she is to get table scraps she had better learn to like the same and she has.  The reasonable priced meats are sea food and chicken, beef and pork are premium priced.  In Belize, the Coke for a rum and coke is more expensive than the rum.


Well this one is going to cover a lot of water, literally, from the northern tip of the Yucatan down to Belize.  We departed Isla Mujeres, Mexico at 0715 hours Tuesday, 12 July.  It was hard getting up in time to make the 0630 (as you see we didn’t) departure as the marina employees threw us a going away party.  They cooked a 20 kilo red fish, rice, potatoes, salad, and tortillas, and yes unlimited quantities of cervesa Sol.  Matt and Carla called it a night early around 2000 hrs and returned to their boat.  Just as Rose and I were getting ready to go to the boat some new cruisers we had met earlier showed up and we visited for a few hours more. John and Beth are from Georgia and J & J are from Louisiana.  We kind of let them know a little about Isla Mujeres and what was in store for them further down the coast, their destination  is also Rio Dulce, Guatemala.




Surfer Beef


That Beef dog is one crazy surfer

 
Our first stop was just a short run south to Puerto Morelos, Mexico.  We are making it easy as no one is in a real hurry.  We figured we would be there around 1300 hours and arrived at 1330 hours, a nice easy day sail.  We entered the reef and proceeded to the area on the charts in the cruising guide to drop anchor.  Just as we were ready to drop anchor a boat from the Mexican National Park Service pulled up and informed us that we could not anchor, we must use the mooring buoys furnished by the  National Park Service.  Matt wasn’t too sure about this as we didn’t know how well the buoys were maintained.  We tied off onto the buoy and said a Prayer.  Carla’s speaks beautiful Spanish so she checked us in with the port captain on the radio, he spoke a little English and it was a simple process, just told him we would be there over night.  They held all night, but there again we didn’t have any high wind.

Potty run for Mia & Beef

We launched my dinghy and rowed over to Matt & Carla’s boat and mounted his outboard on my dink, his is easier and lighter than mine, loaded both dogs and headed to shore.  We walked around town let the dogs do their business, found a little store, purchased a few Sols, Rose found ice cream, and then headed back to the boats.

Escondida at anchor

 
13 July – Raised the sails while tied to the mooring buoy and headed out through the reef, planned arrival at Puerto Aventuras 1300 hours, another easy day sail.  Due to there being no form of breakwater at the marina entry we wanted to get there with plenty of daylight and hopefully light seas.  Our route took us between Cozumel and the Yucatan Peninsula with a 2 to 3 knot northerly current, not as good thing when you are trying to go south.

Entrance to Puerto Aventuraa

Arrived  Puerto Aventuras 1340 hours, Carla called the harbor master who by the way spoke perfect English thank God as he walked out to the entry point to the marina and explained to us how to line up on the range finder and time our entry based on the swells as they came in.  I screwed up and instead of coming in on the valley of the swell I surfed this 17 ton 41 foot sailboat in on top of a 4 foot swell almost ending up on the rocks on the south side of the entry.  Later when we went to the office to check in we were showed pictures of various boats that didn’t make it and ended up on the rocks.

Mayan ruins Tulum

The purpose of our stop in Puerto Aventures was for Matt and Carla to visit an old friend who lived not far away.  Rose and I took advantage of the stop to visit the Mayan ruins in Tulum.  The Tulum ruins were more restored then the ones we had seen last year north of Progreso, but they were more commercialized.  Puerto Aventures is an exclusive resort area, with guards at the main entrance on the highway.  In the resort there was a golf course, many shops, restaurants, a museum about ship wrecks in the area, and several 4 star hotels.  There is a fuel dock, but due to its location it was easier to load the Gerry cans on a golf cart and go to the Pemex station outside the gate.   Spent 5 days in Puerto Aventures relaxing, sightseeing, performing minor repair, and catching up on the laundry. 

Baracuda for dinner tonight 

17 July – Departed Puerto Aventures 0600 hours for Punta Allen, encountered 4 squalls on this run, not bad the highest winds were around 25 knots, the boats did well.  Encountered the last squall as we were about to enter the reef at Punta Allen, so we waited for the squall to pass before going through the reef.  Arrived Punta Allen 1530 hours, dropped anchor, launched the dink and took Mia to shore to do her thing.  We walked around the town found the only bar/grill there and had a Sol and went back to the boat.  We grilled the barracuda that I had caught that day for dinner, we had a pitch in dinner with Matt & Carla, Carla is a fantastic chef.  I grilled the fish and she did the rest.


Xcalak pier


18 July - Late start out of Punta Allen as this leg is an over-nighter to Xcalak where we were told we could checkout of Mexico, WRONG!  Arrived Xcalak 0830 19 July, when we checked in with the port captain we were informed that one could no longer checkout of Xcalak, that we had to go to Chetumal, by boat about a 2 day sail, south into Belize waters then into Chetumal Bay, then back north to Chetumal.  The other option was a 1,500 peso taxi ride to Chetumal, 2 hours each way.  We chose the taxi and went to Chetumal to out process.  Xcalak is a nice little village, spent a great deal of time at Toby’s as they had good food, cold Sol, and WIFI.  Spent 5 days snorkeling and exploring Xcalak, when we weren’t in a taxi going to Chetumal.  Matt & Carla had received a response from Belize that they had received the entry form for their dog Beef, bet we hadn’t received any word, so we sent it again with no response. 
Escondida Under sail

I’ll never forget the sight as we entered the reef at Xcalak, there was a 50 foot trawler on the south point of the reef as we entered, talking to the locals, it had been there for about 3 weeks and they were just starting to tear it apart with chainsaws when we arrived.  By the time we left they had cut their way down into the engine room and removed both diesel engines, all by hand except for the chainsaw.

Oops missed the cut


 Chillin'


Mexican Navy Xcalak 

No wonder he missed

The local bakery in Xcalak had fantastic bread and sweetbread, you could make a meal out of it.  Unlike Punta Allen where the lights all went out at 2200 hours when they shut down the generator which produced the town’s electricity, Xcalak had power all night.  Xcalak also has a Mexican navy station, and once had a ferry service which has been closed for a while now.

Xcalak Fishernam

We encountered a storm the 2nd night we were in Xcalak and the boats moved closer to shore, 5 ½ under us so we re-anchored in deeper water and apparently they held better.  The snorkeling was great, Conch were everywhere along with many colorful fish and giant Caribbean starfish.   Even though it wasn’t Conch season there was plenty  of Conch to be eaten prepared any way you wanted.  Our favorite was shrimp and conch ceviche  with chips.

We have been e-mailing the 2 new boats we met in Isla just before we left providing them with information we have learned along the way.  The strongest piece of advice I would give anyone is “DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS RUN WITHOUT CAPT FREYA RAUSCHER’S CRUISING GUIDE”.  

24 July – Left Xcalak heading to Long Caye, Belize, 0545 hours, my son tells me we are on an extended vacation, my reply is if this was a vacation, I wouldn’t be getting up at 0400 hours to get ready to set sail for before 0600!  It would be hard to make it to Belize City in a single day and by stopping at Long Caye, we will be able to make it in to Belize city before 1100 hours and avoid paying overtime rate to the officials.  It was a great sail, making 5 ½  to 6 knots all the way.   We covered 43 miles in 9 hours, not too bad!  We arrived on the west side of Long Caye around 1515 hours,. Dropped anchor, fired up the generator, made ice, fixed dinner, kicked back made Rose a limeade and a margarita for myself.  Ran out of  margarita mix a long time ago, new secret recipe squeeze 15 limes, dissolve ½ pound sugar in 1 liter water, best margarita mix every consumed, just add Tequila.

25 July – Set sail early so as to get to Belize City on time, around 0600 as I remember it.  Shallow water all the way, especially in the cut between Hicks Caye and Montejo Caye, right at 4 ½ feet, the channel is marked with wooden sticks and the GPS reads about 30 feet to the east, DUH?  Arrived at Cucumber Marina at 1130 hours, the officials were there to greet us and the people are very friendly.  As it turns out there was no problem bringing Mia into Belize as we had all our paperwork in order.  The lady from Agriculture looked at her for a minute, looked at her paperwork from our vet in the U.S. looked at the paperwork from the vet in Isla Mujeres, then made a joke that she had finished Mia’s paperwork and Mia ate it.   All the officials were extremely friendly and very helpful.  The total cost of checking into Belize was $340.00 USD, there was no charges for Mia as we had suspected that there would be.  The cost involved was the transportation cost of the officials to drive out to the marina, 5 of them at $30.00 USD each.  Then we had to go to the Port Authority and pay another fee of $190.00 USD for port fees and City of Belize fees.  I guess it would have cost less if we had checked in at San Pedro, but couldn’t as Belize City is the only port of entry to check in with a dog. 

Entrance to Cucumber Marina
Store Cucumber Marina

 
Unfortunately even though we had reservations for 2 boats, there was only 1 slip, so My Peace took the dockside tie up  and Matt & Carla on Escondida tied off on My Peace, yes they got a 50% discount.  Water was $0.05 per gallon USD and electricity was $0.30 per KW, slip rent was $30.00 USD.  The up side was they did have armed guards on duty all night, 2 of them walking around with riot guns, yes in Belize City it is needed.  YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE ON THE STREETS IN BELIZE CITY AFTER DARK!  You do not want to stay in the marina that is in the heart of Belize City!  Cucumber Marina had a coin op laundry, but save your time and money do your laundry at Caye Caulker, Ruby’s Laundry at Caye Caulker will do 3 loads wash, dry, and fold for $30.00 BZD ($15.00 USD).  Rose spent over 4 hours trying to get 2 loads done until 2100 hours being bitten to death by sand fleas and mosquitoes.  (Still suffering from the bites 2 days later)  Be sure to check the electricity and water meter they assign to you and record the numbers, it can be costly if you don’t.

Belize City Belize

 
26 July – Weren’t able to get underway until around 1030 hours because of problems with the meter readings, they had calculated that I had used 134 KW electricity and over 600 gallons of water in less than 24 hours.  Got it straightened out and was underway.  Followed my track on the chart plotter back north as far as Long Caye, then made way to Caye Caulker.  Arrived Caye Caulker 1530 hours and dropped anchor.

South end of caye Caulker

Launched the dink and headed to shore, Mia has been great on waiting to go to shore and if it is a long day she uses the foredeck.  Walked around town, nice little island, you can walk from one end to the other in about 15 minutes, all the way across the middle in 5.  The people are friendly and very helpful, we tied up the dink at the “Fishermen’s Co-Op” and they watched over them while we were away.  Had dinner at the Sand Box Restaurant, I had Jerk Chicken and Rose had Stewed Chicken and we shared an order of Lobster Fritters, a meal to die for and under $20.00 USD.  Seems the further south you go the less expensive the food as long as it is local food.  Other items like Coke, canned goods, and stuff imported, which almost everything in Belize is imported, are expensive.  So eat native food, it is healthier for you anyway and you will save money.

We are Here


Anchor Holding
27 July – Went to shore and had the laundry done, found an internet café, purchased some lobster tails for dinner, around 4 lbs for $20.00 BZD from the Fisherman’s Co-Op, had some fried chicken, took the dink around the island to the only fuel source, came back to the boat and caught up on this e-mail.  Still have to go through 2 weeks of pictures and pick out the ones we want to share with all of you, this will be accomplished in the morning.

My kind of palce
Sand Crab Caye Culker

Lazy Lizard Swiming Hole Caye Culker

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Adventures of My Peace

18 May 2011 - Many of you are new to the “My Peace” travel log so we are sending this out to bring everyone up to speed.  My Peace is a 1984 41 foot Irwin center cockpit cutter rigged ketch with a displacement of 16 tons, so let’s get started with the basic boat design.  Center cockpit, instead of the helm being located in the stern (back) of the boat it is in the center of the boat giving us better visibility and more comfort than a stern cockpit.  The cockpit has the ability of being fully enclosed with “Izon Glass (heavy duty clear plastic) curtains making it comfortable in all weather conditions. (The length of 41 feet is length of deck; add to that 4 feet of bow sprit and 6 feet of solar panels on the stern giving 51 feet overall length)

A ketch is a sailboat with two masts.  The difference between a ketch and a yawl is the mizzen mast,(the one mounted at the stern of the boat) on a ketch is located forward of the rudder post, a yawl the mizzen is located aft or behind the rudder post.

Cutter rigged, there is an extra jib sail, the stay sail, located aft of the main stay on the front of the boat where the Genoa sail is located and traditionally the Genoa is cut higher from the deck.

This design spreads the sail area over 4 sails instead of two, allowing us to carry more sail area than a traditional sloop (a boat with two sails) but provides easier handling as the sail area is spread across four sails.

My Peace has a 62 hp Perkins 4 cylinder diesel engine for auxiliary power used for docking as well as in conditions when it is not particle to sail.  The Perkins has a 110 amp alternator that can be used for charging the “house batteries” when required.

The house batteries are the batteries that stores the electricity for powering the electronics such as the VHF radio, SSB radio, cabin lights, radar, GPS, chart plotter, refrigerator, freezer,  water maker, fresh water pump, bilge pump, 400 watt power inverter for the laptop PC, navigation lights, and the list goes on.
There is a 6KW Northern Lights generator powered by a Lugar 3 cylinder diesel engine, the purpose of which is because we are spoiled.  The generator creates 6KW of electricity at 1,800 rpm using less than ½ gallon of diesel per hour.   The electricity from the generator is used when we need to charge batteries, run the air conditioners, microwave, George Foreman, ice maker, the 32” LCD TV and DVD player in the main salon, or the 22” LCD TV and DVD player in the Capitan’s cabin when away from shore, or any other electrical device that isn’t 12 volt DC. 

Part of our communication system is “SPOT” we run this device all the time when we are away from shore.  About every 20 minutes SPOT transmits our GPS location to a database somewhere in the US and it is stored there and can be accessed by anyone that has the URL and password for access which is at the bottom of this paragraph.  You must be patient with me, there is one wrinkle in SPOT, I must manually reset it every 24 hours, which I forgot to do on our way from Port Aransas to Port Isabel, I promise to do better Danny.  Normally the SPOT website will display our travel on Google Maps, and is fairly accurate, but I noticed on our trip from Port Aransas to  Port Isabel it was pretty screwed up.  Go check it out.

I suggest that you cut and paste this URL into your browser: 


The password is   sailing

To improve the quality of life onboard we have two 1,600 BTU reversible air conditioners, they work at AC, heat, or just dehumidifiers.  I remember a day last year in the Yucatan we actually got the cabin temperature down to 68 degrees when it was 120 degrees outside.

There are 4 solar panels mounted on the stern which have the capability of producing 32 amps or 530 watts of solar energy.

We have a 11.5 foot hard bottom inflatable dinghy with a 9.9hp Mercury outboard motor we use for transportation when at anchor or just for running around looking for a place to SCUBA dive.  We used the dinghy considerably last trip to Isla Mujeres in the Yucatan for going to El Centro and to the reefs around the island.

There is a 6 man off-shore life raft mounted on deck with water and supplies to support life for 7 days, if required.  Packed in the life raft are a hand held VHF radio and an EPIRB (locating beacon).

Communications equipment includes a VHF (short range) radio, a Single Side Band (SSB) radio capable of communicating anywhere in the world.  The SSB is also used to connect to the laptop computer using Weather Fax 2000 software for weather information.  The laptop receives the digital SSB signal through a USB connection and converts it to weather Fax.  We also have SIRIS SR 50 satellite weather system attached to the Ray Marine C80 display unit located at the helm which provides us with real-time weather information.

For navigation we use Coastal Explorer software loaded on the laptop which is attached to a GPS antenna via a USB connection as well as a chart plotter which displays on the Ray Marine C80 display unit mounted at the helm.  Also displaying on the C80 is Ray Marine 24 NM radar.

The 8 gallon per hour water maker using reverse osmosis will produce 8 gal of fresh from sea water every hour.  The down side of the water maker is it uses 18 amps of electricity every hour to produce the water, therefore it is only used during daylight hours or when running the generator or the Perkins.  The water maker was added after our last trip to the Yucatan, and as far as rose is concerned other than the air conditioners the water maker was one of the nicest additions.  The water maker provides the ability to take a “recreational shower” any time she wants anywhere we happen to be, even 300 miles off shore, every few hours if she so desires.  When it is 125 degrees at anchor of the coast of the Yucatan this is very important to Rose.  Another advantage to the water maker is at some of the Caribbean islands water can cost as much as $0.50  per gallon, now we can make our own.  It takes about 100 gallons of sea water to make 1 gallon of fresh water.  The quality of the water it makes is actually better than the water in most cities.  The acceptable measurement for fresh water established by the World Health Organization (WHO) is less than 500 ppm of suspended particulates.  Most city water measures around 350 ppm, the water maker output is between 300 ppm down to 150 ppm.  Ozarka bottled water is around 60 ppm.

In the galley Rose has an ice maker, George Foremen Grill, Mr. Coffee, Micro wave, 3 burner propane stove and oven, refrigerator, freezer, double stainless steel sink,  Both the freezer and refrigerator use 12 volt DC electricity and only around 2 amps each.  The George foremen, ice maker, Mr. Coffee, micro wave run on 110 volt AC current, so to use them either we must be attached to shore power at a marina or have the generator running.

That about covers My Peace except for below deck below deck there two “heads” (restrooms) each with its own shower, a forward “V” berth, main salon, galley, nav station, and aft “Captain’s Cabin”.   There are two 80 gallon fresh water storage tanks, one 60 gal fresh water tank, two 40 gallon diesel tanks for the Perkins, one 21 gallon diesel tank for the generator, and two 30 gallon sewage tanks.  (We also have eight 5 gallon Gerry cans of diesel above deck for reserve).

One could consider that My Peace is almost totally self contained.

While we are out of country we love to receive e-mail, but data transfers can be very expensive, so we request that e-mail sent to us be less than 1 MB in size.  If sending pictures, please use some kind of graphics editor to reduce the size down to 800X600 or less.  Please do not send large video files, we love to see them, but they are very expensive to receive.  We will let you know when we are at a marina that has free WIFI, when we are at one of those we can receive anything.

Attached are a few pictures of the interior of My Peace so you can see for yourself how rough we have it.  Sorry the picture quality is so poor, these were taken with my cell phone.


18 May 2011 -   Looks like we’re stuck in Port Isabel for a while, just checked Passage Weather and we have it dead on the bow for another week.  Link to Passage Weather:  http://www.passageweather.com/ 

When the site opens click in the RED box over the Gulf of Mexico, then click in the TEAL BLUE box on the Gulf of Mexico.  “Surface Winds” is the first display, you can click on “Animate” which will provide a 180 hour forecast.  The long end of the wind flag denotes the wind direction, the short lines denote the wind speed in knots, each short line represents 10 knots, a half line represents 5 knots.


The third display in the page represents the wave height and direction which can also be automated.

This site does provide a 180 hour forecast, but remember only the first 72 hours are “maybe” accurate.

20 May 2011 -   Not my day, I was repositioning My Peace and screwed up resulting in “ramming” a concrete piling in reverse smashing the starboard stern solar rack.  Damage is minor, 1 panel, and straightening the rack.  Guess it isn’t my time to head out, will be delayed another week or so accomplishing repairs and awaiting parts.  Surprising enough the solar power system is still generating power, can’t disconnect it until after dark to start repairs.



27 May 2011 -   It was a pretty good ride from Port Aransas to Port Isabel, took about 27 hours dock to dock.  Our friends here were waiting for our arrival helped us tie up than took us to lunch.  Now I’m ready for a nap.  Mia did well, a little anxious a lot of the way, but all in all she did well.  The last 6 hours were a little dicey there was a major wind shift about 0400 hours and the waves couldn’t make up their minds which way they wanted to go so it was just one big wash machine with 6 foot chop, not fun but have been in worse.

Nappy time for us, more later.  Sorry about not resting “Spot” after 24 hours, been awhile, I promise to do better next time Danny, thanx for the reminder.

1 June  2011 -   Finally we are underway across the gulf to Isla Mujeres, the trip is 714 nautical miles, should take us 6 to 10 days.  During this time our only communication will be via “Spot”  https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=1tnzsXhSMMaxyxQqzX0BGc7osH87cpb1a   password sailing

We love to receive e-mail, but please do not send large files, nothing over 1 MB, e-mail is expansive for us to receive unless we are at a location with wifi.  We will send out another log with pictures of our crossing when we reach Isla Mujeres, Yucatan, Mexico.

God Bless all of you and keep you safe, you are all in our Prayers.


8 June  2011 -   Finally arrived Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico, the wind wasn’t kind to us on this trip, left wrong time of year and had the easterlies dead on the nose most of the way.  Never a day with the wind less than 10 knots which keep us cool, but used a lot of diesel.  The seas were 4 to 6 feet for the most part sometimes 8 to 10  and higher, but seldom less than 4 foot..

It took about 7 ½ days to cross to Progreso, and yes I lived up to my word and no tobacco products made the trip.  After smoking Marlboro “Reds” for over 50 years I quit cold turkey.  What else can you do there are no convenience stores in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.  (Yes I’m still married, Mia is still alive, and Rose is still speaking to me)

Mia took a few days to get used to being at sea, her big problem was accepting the fact she could do her “business” on the deck and not get in trouble.  She also had to learn she could not be on deck without a life jacket and a tether.  Now she goes to the edge of the edge of the cockpit and barks to have her life jacket and a tether put on so she can “go outside”.  When I caught my big fish she just sat in the cockpit and watched as Rose took pictures and I brought in the fish.  This was a catch and release, no place to store that much fresh fish for 4 or 5 days so why kill it.

Processing into Mexico gets easier every time we do it.  We tied up at 2 this morning, put up the “Q” flag.  Met with the marina manager at 8 this morning, filled up with diesel, moved to our slip, by 10 six government agents were at the boat and with our broken Spanish and their broken English we got through the process without an agent.  (saved $100.00)

We are planning to stay in Progreso until Saturday then head to Isla Mujeres for a few days to visit friends then to Rio Dulce.  Promised Rose dinner at El Flamingo on Ocean Drive in great downtown Progreso tonight her favorite restaurant here, she likes the flaming banana desert.

Cell phone calls are $0.99 per minute, to send a text message is $0.50, to receive a text message is $0.05.  Skype is free, almost all marinas have WIFI so we are going to use Skype for our primary form of communication. 

14 June  2011 -   Left Progreso around 0900 hrs Sunday, 12 June heading for Isla Mujeres, to no surprise once again the wind was on our nose, having to motor most of the way.  Every now and then we would get a good storm which would cause the winds to clock in our favor and we did take full advantage of it.

It was about midnight Sunday night and a Ponga, a small Mexican fishing boat pulled up to us in the middle of a storm and wanted to know which way shore was.  Due to the storm they couldn’t see any starts or moon for direction and they say our lights.  They were only about 15 miles off shore, but in that boat and that storm, no way would you catch me out in it.

Roberto is the manager of Marina Yucalpeten and we have become good friends during our past two visits to Progreso.

Mia has begun to sense when we are coming into port, she sees the land and just stands watch waiting for us to get there.  She has turned into a real great sailing dog.  This morning we had to go to anchor before we came into the marina so I could come ashore and make a deal on the slip.  The one I had at El Milagro last year had an 85 foot ketch in it so I had to take the one next to it.  Mia jumped into the dinghy and we motored in to the marina picked our slip went back to the boat and brought her in.

Once tied up we got in the dinghy and motored across the harbor to Los Brizas for some Sopa Limon, ten back to the boat for a quick swim and some much needed rest.

Taking the ferry to Cancun in the morning to go to Wal Mart for a few provisions, Thursday we will snorkel the north reef, and Friday head south to Guatemala.  Time is running short the season has already started and the Caribbean water are getting warmer every day.  We need to get close to protected waters soon.

16 June  2011 -   Yesterday we took the “Jet Ferry” to Cancun to go to Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies, Rose had entered “shopping withdrawal”, (she says not true, not true) so the trip was totally necessary.  I don’t see how the locals can afford it, all the prices were stateside, and in many cases more expansive, a kilo of bananas was $111.00 pesos, around 45 cents a pound, a 6 pack of cans of Coke were $367.00 pesos, we purchased a 12 pack in Port Aransas for $3.00 dollars before we left.  One can shop the market place, but you have to swat the flies off the food to see what it looks like.

This morning we had 4 young ladies at the marina who were from Russia and had never seen the inside of a sailboat so Rose, Mia and I invited them onboard, they couldn’t believe how spacious My Peace was below decks, let alone two TVs.  Very nice ladies and we really enjoyed the culture exchange, Yes Rose was aware, she took the picture.

The dog is Foster, the “marina dog” he has become Mia’s guardian, we were having coffee in the common area this morning and another dog wandered into the marina area and was giving Mia a hard time, all 130 pounds of Foster got up and chased the other dog away because it was giving Mia a hard time, everyone thought it was real funny because Foster very seldom moves, let alone show any kind of aggression toward anything or anyone.  If a stranger comes in, he lets out one woof and that’s it.

Most likely staying in Isla Mujeres another few days, then heading to Cozumel.  We will out process Mexico in Cozumel and head to Guatemala.

17 June  2011 -   Today we went snorkeling with the whale sharks.  The rules are very strict, you must either wear a life jacket or a wetsuit for floatation, you can’t hitch a ride on a shark, and stay away from the tail, other than that anything goes.  It was about an hour ride out to where they were schooling, the seas were about 1 to 2 feet, not bad at all.  There were 8 of us on the boat plus the dive master and the boat captain.  We had a short briefing at the dock got on the boat and off we went.

When we arrived the whale sharks were everywhere, must have been between 50 and 70 of them mostly between 30 and 40 feet, except for one that was easily 55 feet in length.  They were feeding on the surface eating brine shrimp, the water was about 200 feet deep where we were.  They just lazily swam around, not bothered by the 15 or so Pongas, (a ponga is a Mexican fishing boat about 25 feet long with a high bow) that had the snorkelers onboard.

The captain would position the boat near a feeding shark and the dive master and two snorkelers would drop over the side of the ponga and swim up to the shark and swim with him and watch him as he was feeding.  The most dangerous part of the whale shark was the tail and we were warned to stay away from that end of the fish.

The whale shark is a fish unlike a whale which is a mammal, we were told the only predators of the whale shark is the Japanese and Orcas.  Yes like everything else in the sea the Japanese hunt the whale sharks and harpoon them for food.  I did Google the whale shark last night and found that very little is known about them or their migratory habits, if interested it was good reading.

When we got back to Isla Mujeres we stopped at the north reef for some snorkeling for a little while then back to the marina.

18 June  2011 -   Earlier I e-mailed and referred to a Mexican fishing boat as a “Ponga”, the true name is Panga, my bad.  I looked it up and here is what I found.  (Thanx Luis)
“The Panga is a type of modest-sized, open, outboard-powered, fishing boat common throughout much of the developing world, including Central America, the Caribbean, parts of Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia. The original panga design was developed by Yamaha as part of a World Bank project circa 1970. Pangas are commonly operated directly off of beaches. The name derives from a type of fish that many of the fisherman using them caught. In addition to being used by fishermen, pangas are also popular with Somali pirates.
Key features of the panga design are a high bow, narrow waterline beam, and a flotation bulge along the gunwale, or top edge of the hull. The high bow provides buoyancy for retrieving heavy nets, and minimizes spray coming over the bow. The narrow beam allows the hull to be propelled by a modest-sized outboard motor. The flotation bulge along the gunwale provides increased stability at high angles of roll. These features link the panga design to traditional Japanese wasen fishing boats.
The original Yamaha panga design had a length of 22 feet, and a waterline beam of approximately 5 feet 6 inches. The flotation bulge at the gunwale increased the overall beam to approximately 6 feet 6 inches.
Pangas are usually between 19 and 28 feet (5.79 and 8.53 m) in length, with capacities ranging from 1 to 5 short tons (0.89 to 4.46 long tons; 0.91 to 4.54 t) and powered by outboard motors of between
45 and 200 hp (34 and 150 kW). Their planing hulls are capable of speeds in excess of 35 knots (40 mph; 65 km/h).

The hulls are made of Fiberglass or FRP, heavily reinforced by numerous bulkheads and usually have bow and stern enclosed flotation compartments.
In the hands of an experienced operator they are considered extremely seaworthy. Most pangas are expected to have a working life of between 5 to 10 years if properly maintained.”
20 June  2011 -   After a very wet Father’s Day (Feliz dia de Papa) we woke up to nice sunshine this morning.  Spent the day walking around the island today, mostly on the north end.  Stopped by our friends restaurant Sunset Grill in Playa Norte.  They invited us to the celebration of the “summer solstice”.  A special Mayan day with a celebration at the Mayan ruins in Punto Sur, the southernmost tip of the island. 

Punto Sur is also the easternmost point of the island as well as of all Mexico.  It is said that if you are there when the sun rises you are the first person in Mexico to see the sun that day.

To my ex-boss, (thinking of you Scott) this is “Magic Donkey Day” roughly translated “día de burro mágico”.  According to Scott, any boy, girl, or adult that didn’t receive a Christmas gift that is sports related will receive the unwrapped gift the morning of “Magic Donkey Day”.  I tried to convince him while I was working that a six pack of beer and potato chips were sports related when I was sitting in front of the TV watching a sports program.  He didn’t buy off on that one.

We will be leaving the marina around 8 in the morning and will take pictures and forward them tomorrow evening.  This is apparently a serious celebration as all women attending are requested to wear a long white dress and the men a white shirt.  (No my Spanish isn’t getting that much better, I found the Spanish translator on my computer.)

Rose doesn’t have a long white dress on the boat so this gave her an excuse to go shopping with Felipe’s wife Margareta, broke Rose’s heart having to go shopping.  I do have a white shirt, but do I get a new one because mine is dirty, NO, I get to wash it out by hand this evening and dry it over night.  Where’s the equality in this one?

21 June  2011 -   Got up early this morning to go to Punta Sur for the Mayan celebration of the summer solstice.  It was totally awesome.  The chanting was mostly in Spanish but some Mayan dialect was mixed in, as well as it was translated into English.  

The “Charmin” gave thanks to the gods east, west, north and south, the one thing that stood out to me is his statement “we do not own the earth, were are from the earth”.  All in attendance were purified with incense and offerings of fruit and flowers were left for “Mother Earth”, as well as prayers and thoughts.  The Mayans were not into living sacrifices, they were farmers, scientist, and mathematicians.  The Aztecs from central Mexico were into living sacrifices, usually the sacrifices were slaves and captives from raids on other tribes especially the Mayan people. 

That’s it for today, not sure what is in store for tomorrow, but sure we’ll find something.

25 June  2011 -   Since I wrote what is below, the winds have picked up and it is raining buckets.  They really need the rain here, the Yucatan is a desert and it really greens up when it gets wet.  We could do without the wind though, puts a new meaning to “Old time rock and roll”.

We are totally on our own water now, making fresh out of sea water.  100 gallons of sea water to make 1 gallon of fresh using reverse osmosis, sure am glad we have plenty of sea water.  We can make about 7 -8 gallons per hour, but the system draws 18 amps so we only make water in the day time when we have good sunshine on the solar panels.  This will make life nice when we get to the eastern Caribbean where the fresh water cost between $0.05 and $0.25 per gallon.  We have storage capacity for 260 gallons of fresh water, so we have plenty for showers.

There is a 32’ sailboat at anchor across from us and their water maker only produces 2 gallons per hour so they have to be very careful with their water.  They do have the advantage of a wind generator which produces electricity as long as the wind is above 6 knots.  We take so much for granted when we are snug in our homes on the mainland, it’s a whole different world out here you must rely on yourself and your friends.  “Yachties” or cruisers whichever way you want to call us are a very tight community even though we are nomads we continually are dumping into each other in the various ports and anchorages around the Caribbean. 

There are 3 boats that are heading down to Rio Dulce in a week or so and as it stands for now we will be traveling together which will make it nice when we arrive in Guatemala for safety’s sake.  The joke in Rio Dulce is, a “Yachtie” saw another rowing his dinghy to shore in Livingston, Guatemala and hollered at him that it would be easier if he had an outboard.  The man in the dinghy replied “he once had one”.  The highest theft item in the Rio is outboards.  

Geff

We had a tropical depression move in today, the winds haven’t cranked up yet but they are supposed to get up to over 35 knots tomorrow, just rain.  So we all set around up in the commons area at the marina and had dinner.  Went to the Mayan bar-b-que place, Kash-Keken-Chuc, and brought 4 chickens and had dinner with the whole marina staff.  I learned a very important lesson.  Jaime brought out the dice and we all played dice, 3 dice in the cup, 1 peso to play and the high number wins.  When you get 8 or 9 people playing, that is 8 to 9 pesos a throw.  Watch out for Rose, she was the second highest winner of the night.  (After 3 hours, she came out about 20 pesos ahead, about $1.80 USD)  Never saw Rose gamble before, but she got into it.  (Cleaned me out) 

Listening to the radio just now I heard several of the restaurants on the island were closing tomorrow due to the weather.  No tourist business from Cancun.  The weather is supposed to be nasty for the next few days, high winds, high seas, and thunderstorms, but still the worst day in Isla Mujeres beats the best day, anywhere else.  (Actually the storms are dropping the highs to 85 and below a welcome break from the 100+ we have been experiencing.

A normal day is to get the chores done in the cool of the morning then have a little lunch, take the dinghy to Playa Norte, get a bucket of Sol for 60 pesos and kick back and soak in the cool Caribbean until around 7 then head back to the marina, get a shower and eat dinner.  (Tuff life but somebody has to do it.)

Every morning Rose gets up around 7 and takes Mia for a walk to El Centro, visits her friend Tiffany, maybe has a cup of ice coffee at Tiffany’s Bakery Barloito, then walks back to the marina and catches up on “house cleaning”.  I do whatever chores I need to accomplish for the day, like clean the filters in the water maker, polish the diesel fuel, clean the salt off the boat, scrape the barnacles off the bottom of the boat, and watch the world go by.

26 June  2011 -   How do you say tornado in Spanish?  Yes we got hit this morning about 8:30, no damage to our boat, the marina lost some trees, the marina next to us lost a lot of trees and two buildings.  It is quite a shock to be setting on your boat drinking your morning coffee and it heels 40 degrees while tied to the dock.  Surprisingly enough we lost nothing in the rigging.  One fuel can that wasn’t strapped down almost went over the side.  The guys on shore said it picked up just as it went over our boat.  A friend who is on the hook, (at anchor) out in the harbor said it spun his boat is circles.

27 June  2011 -   As promised here are the storm pictures.  During the height of the storm you couldn’t see the boats from the shore due to the rain.  No serious damage to any boats thank God.  When I was bailing out my dinghy I found a child’s toy in it that the tornado left me for a souvenir.

Now that the worst is over we are having a pitch in lunch of Mayan bar-b-que chicken, (my favorite) with the marina employees and some of our friends.  Matt and Carla were out on the hook and Matt radioed me that his boat was spinning so fast when he got hit that he was making 5 knots going in circles, Bill and Anna also on the hook slept through it.   The marina crew spent most of the afternoon cutting up the fallen trees between thunder showers, really made surprising progress considering the weather.  El Milagro has a great bunch of folks working for them, just as soon as the tornado  cleared out Jaime and Julio were at our boat checking to be sure we were alright.   They said they saw it hit our boat and was afraid we would be de-masted.


28 June  2011 -   Yesterday we took the “Jet Ferry” to Cancun to go to Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies, Rose had entered “shopping withdrawal”, (she says not true, not true) so the trip was totally necessary.  I don’t see how the locals can afford it, all the prices were stateside, and in many cases more expansive, a kilo of bananas was $111.00 pesos, around 45 cents a pound, a 6 pack of cans of Coke were $367.00 pesos, we purchased a 12 pack in Port Aransas for $3.00 dollars before we left.  One can shop the market place, but you have to swat the flies off the food to see what it looks like.

This morning we had 4 young ladies at the marina who were from Russia and had never seen the inside of a sailboat so Rose, Mia and I invited them onboard, they couldn’t believe how spacious My Peace was below decks, let alone two TVs.  Very nice ladies and we really enjoyed the culture exchange, Yes Rose was aware, she took the picture.

The dog is Foster, the “marina dog” he has become Mia’s guardian, we were having coffee in the common area this morning and another dog wandered into the marina area and was giving Mia a hard time, all 130 pounds of Foster got up and chased the other dog away because it was giving Mia a hard time, everyone thought it was real funny because Foster very seldom moves, let alone show any kind of aggression toward anything or anyone.  If a stranger comes in, he lets out one woof and that’s it.

Most likely staying in Isla Mujeres another few days, then heading to Cozumel.  We will out process Mexico in Cozumel and head to Guatemala.

29 June  2011 -   Zuemy’s daughter, Mayreli Gissel, came by the marina this morning for a little while, Rose had a ball swinging and playing with her.  It has been almost 2 months since Rose has been with our granddaughter, Sofi and Rose was starting to go into “granddaughter withdrawal”.  Rose really enjoyed the time she had with Mayreli Gissel.

The security guard apparently got bored and made a lasso out of fish line and roped a three foot iguana.  I picked the iguana up and rolled it on its back and stroked it’s stomach and put it to sleep, then laid it in the grass where it laid until I rolled it over and it took off.  Wish I would had the camera for that one, maybe tomorrow.  These people had never seen an iguana put to sleep before, they thought I had killed it until I woke it up.

The east reef is a national park which is protected by the government.  When the snorkel cruises go out to the reef, there is always a federal boat present to insure all the snorkelers have live jackets on.  The idea behind the lifejacket is with one on, the terrorist, I mean tourist, can’t go down and touch or break the coral keeping the reef pristine.

Had dinner at Broaster Chicken had a six piece, two large sides (coleslaw and mashed potatoes) and two biscuits, cost $95.00 pesos, and it was GREAT.  The mashed potatoes were interesting, instead of gravy on top it was bar-b-que sauce, we took them back to the boat with us and scooped the bar-b-que sauce off, warmed them in the microwave and ate them with butter.  Besides the bar-b-que sauce they were served cold.  (Interesting)  BUT THE CHICKEN WAS GOOD!

Tropical storm Arlene 150 miles of the gulf coast of Tuxpan, Mexico is made up of the storm system that kicked our tails last weekend.  The Caribbean is warming up real fast this summer and as soon as we can get a weather window after the 4th of July we’re heading to safer water in Rio Dulce, Guatemala.

1 July   2011 - Comienza la temporada de langosta (lobster season began today)   Hoy comienza la temporada de langosta, (lobster season began today).  The first boats came in and it looks like they will have a good season.  I saw a few they caught today that would go over 12 pounds, not bad for a Caribbean lobster, but kind of small for Texas crawfish.  Being the first day the prices are a little high $200.00 pesos a kilo or about $9.50 USD per pound, head on.  The Caribbean lobster doesn’t have any claws, but you had better have on steel mesh gloves if you try to pick one up, they are also called Spinney Lobster and if you try to pick one up without a glove, the spines on their back will do some real damage to your hand.

Our friends Matt and Carla had to pick up some friends at the airport in Cancun this evening so Mia has an overnight guest, Beef, a 2 year old Schnauzer.  Beef has done well other than missing his mommy and daddy, but Mia and Beef get along well and play nicely together.

I was listening to a Larry Joe Taylor CD this afternoon and one of his songs is about a boat, the melody is “my house doesn’t have a front yard, but has a starboard, and rocks and rolls”, boy does that sound familiar.  Larry Joe will actually be here in Isla Mujeres the 22nd July through 1 August, playing at a club in El Centro called Jax.  We want to stay and see him as we know him from Bahia Marina in Ingleside, Texas and Back Porch in Port Aransas, Texas where he plays regularly.  We are just going to have to wait and see what the weather is going to do.


1 July   2011 - Great Day at Playa Norte Got all our chores done and jumped in the dink and headed to Playa Norte to meet up with Matt & Carla and their friends that just flew in from Houston at Playa Norte.  Shannon and Laura brought Matt and Carla an new dinghy.  Their old one was splitting at the seams and had to be pumped up every few hours.

While at Playa Norte we met Marcos and Maria from Argentina, a very nice couple.  We exchanged e-mail addresses and visited for a while.  Marcos said if we get as far south as Argentina to give them a call and we’ll have a bar-b-que.  We have met the most wonderful people from all over the world this trip and it has been great.

4 July   2011 -  Viva Los Etados Unidos Viva Mexico Libertad Para Todos (Long Live the United States Long Live Mexico Liberty for All) “Viva Los Etados Unidos Viva Mexico Libertad Para Todos.” That was the toast tonight at out 4th of July party this evening. (over and over again)  Jaime and Julio prepared a fantastic bar-b-que for everyone.  Pollo y cerdo, (chicken and pork), salad, rice, garlic toast made from Bollios (sp) (a Mexican roll), cucumber, Jamaica (kind of like a turnip) cerveza, and Carla fixed the best margaritas.  Our local hosts put together the best 4th of July party that I have ever had the pleasure of attending.

No fireworks, they are illegal in Mexico, but all the fun and culture exchange they were never missed.  It appears cerveza Sol was the drink of choice this evening, along with Coke and Coke Light.  Carmen from the little store just outside the marina stopped by for a minute to help us celebrate as well as a few others.  The Soggy Peso, an American owned bar/restaurant next door to the marina had a paid party planed, but I don’t think it ever came to pass.

Our host country, Mexico, accepted our 4th of July with respect and all the emotion as if they had been Americans.  Carla explained in Spanish about the celebration that was going on in Philadelphia and they were able to relate when she said it was the same as Dieciséis de Septiembre, the Mexican Independence Day.

Mexican bar-b-que is very different than what we do in Texas, they don’t kill the taste of the meat with tomato sauce that has brown sugar, honey, onion, garlic, and all the other stuff we put in bar-b-que sauce, they use simple spices that allow you to taste what you are eating.  What really surprised me is that they boil the meat for a short period of time before putting it on the grill, Julio told me by doing this it takes the fat out of the meat so you don’t get the grill flare ups that chars the meat.  The end product is to die for!

During the dinner preparation I was pealing a cucumber with a perfectly safe potato peeler and sliced my finger.  Being I’m on blood thinners it looked like the axe murders took place.  Jaime looked at me and said “tranquil, sentarse” (relax, sit down).  I wasn’t allowed near the kitchen area the rest of the evening.

Even though Mia barks at everyone she doesn’t know she has become the “sweetheart” of the marina.  The security guards love her because she hears things they don’t and they know they need to investigate why she is barking.  Sometimes it is a false alarm; it is just an iguana sunning itself on the wall or sidewalk.  Mia loves her Caribbean life; she is welcome in every restaurant on the island.  This morning at breakfast at the Sunset Grill, they fixed her two scrambled eggs for breakfast while we had our huevos ranchero.  They even make sure her water bowl is always full when we are visiting.  She is living a better life than Rose and I.

The Mayan and local people here in Isla Mujeres are the friendliest people we have ever met, all they expect is that you treat their country and customs with respect, which we have no problem with as they are such a wonderful people.  Where we as Americans give from our leftovers, the Mayan/Mexican people give of their best.  This evening one of the security guards we had invited to our “fiesta” wanted to give Matt his sunglasses, Matt was at a loss on how to respond, but “Carlos/Charlie” didn’t expect anything in return except Matt’s respect and friendship, and it was Carlos’ way of saying “Gracias”.

During the evening we were told many times that we were liked because they feel we treat them with respect, which we do.  They told us many foreigners that visit the island look down on them and talk down at them, which we have witnessed many times.  We have seen many foreign tourists actually insult the locals, thinking that they don’t understand the language.  I would venture to say over 50% of the people on this island do understand and speak other languages.  No wonder foreigners are so hated outside their own countries around the world.  We visit a foreign country we insult the people we disrespect their culture and customs and think spreading money around fixes everything.  We were told over and over all evening that they loved and respected us because we treat them and their culture with respect.  I’ll get off my soapbox and move on to the lighter side.

All in all it was a great party, and everyone is alive this morning.  We are really going to hate to leave Isla Mujeres and El Milagro Marina.  The owner Eric, (who does come by on occasion, lives in San Diego, CA) is a very gracious and if something at the marina isn’t right, let him know and it will be fixed, but Jaime and Julio are so on top of everything, that never happens.  “Med Tie” takes a little getting used to, having to enter either off the bow or stern of the boat, but Rose and Mia adapted to it quickly.

I like to get up in the morning and take my coffee and walk down the dock, the water is anywhere from 10 to 5 feet deep, looking at the bottom and watching a crab chase a sting ray, or a 3 to 4 foot barracuda chase through a school of minnows.  If you are working on your boat you don’t have to worry about the barracuda, they stay a respectable distance and watch you while you work.  When the small fish come in to eat what you are scrapping off the boat bottom, it’s feeding time for the barracuda.

Enough for now, have to start getting ready to head south, a little maintenance to do on the dinghy and check all electronics to insure they are working properly.  I got an e-mail from my friend John in Baltimore telling me that we should rename the boat “Perpetual Vacation” which surprises me coming from John, I think if “My Peace” should be renamed, it should be “Corrección de Perpetua” (Perpetual Fix Up).  It’s not really that bad, but it does take continual looking after.

Thanx to my good friend Roberto Wilkerson, in Progreso, “You must say VIVAN LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, etados means you start the party to early,”.  I knew better but anyone who knows me, my spelling in English is poor at best, so my Spanish is worse.  I forgot the “s” in Estados.


9 July   2011 - What to do on a rainy day in Isla Mujeres Today was a very rainy day in Isla Mujeres, so the crew from Escondida (Matt & Carla), Rose and I decided to go to La Tortugranja (the turtle farm).  This was a fantastic adventure, without a doubt the nicest turtle farm I have ever had the pleasure of visiting as you can see from the pictures.  Also included are some pictures I took yesterday as I walked down the dock.

10 July   2011 – View of Isla Mujeres from the top of the mast (54’)  I had some work to do at the top of the mast this morning so I took a camera with me to give all a better idea of Isla Mujeres.  The island is basically 5 miles long and about an average of ¾ miles wide.  The pictures were taken from 54 feet above the water line.  I was so relaxed up there I didn’t want to come down, the view in all directions was so beautiful.

11 July   2011 – Leaving Isla Mujeres  Well all, a sad time has come for us as we are leaving Isla Mujeres at first light in the morning, heading to Guatemala.  Our first stop on the way will be an overnight at Puerto Morelos, then on to Puerto Aventuras for a 2 day stay while Matt and Carla visit a friend in Playa del Carmen.  We are going to be traveling with our friends Matt and Carla and “shore hopping” the way down to Rio Dulce sailing no more than 12 to 36 hours at a stretch.

Marina El Milagro is throwing a good bye party this evening, we have a 20 kilo red fish, half of which we will bar-b-que Mexican style, the other half will be cut into filets and shared between My Peace, Escondida, and the marina employees.

We have added many new folks to this e-mail log while we were in Isla Mujeres, so I am including the “SPOT tracking” information.  Go to the following link, the password is sailing.  It may ask if you want it to be a secure connection, it doesn’t matter, I usually select NO.  The site loads slow so just be patient.  Nothing will show until we get underway in the morning.


I took a few pictures this morning of a roofing job going on next door making repairs from the tornado we had a few weeks ago.  Mostly I took the pictures for my son David back home as he is doing a roofing job for a contractor he works for so he could see how the Mayans do it.  Also included is a picture of a 3 foot needle fish.

12 July   2011 – S/V Memory Maker overdue  This e-mail is directed to the cruisers that are in our mailing group.  Our friends Bill & Anne Smith sailing S/V Memory Maker, which is a white hull 37 foot ketch, are overdue in Rockport, Texas.  They departed Isla Mujeres, Mexico, Sunday, 3 July 2011.  Our last contact with them was 0900 hrs Sunday, 3 July 2011.  They were on a course of 305 degrees, a straight line course to Port Aransas, Texas from the tip of the Yucatan.

As per my agreement with Bill, we were to report him overdue in port, Sunday, 10 July 2011, if I haven’t heard from them.  I have notified the U.S. Coast Guard in Port Aransas, Texas this afternoon Monday, 11 July 2011 at 1500 hrs,  who in turn checked the marinas in the Port Aransas, Corpus Christi, and Rockport  area.  U.S. Coast Guard in Port Aransas has forwarded the information to District 8 Command Center, U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center New Orleans.  The New Orleans station contacted me this evening and notified me that they have put out an alert on S/V Memory Maker.

If anyone has contact with Bill or Anne Smith of S/V Memory Maker please have them contact:
The District 8 Command Center, U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center New Orleans which has started an active Search and Rescue case on the S/V Memory Maker. They can be reached at 504-589-6225. Thanks in advance.