April 19-22, 2013... San Pedro, Belize

The overnight at Caye Caulker was wonderful -- calm anchorage, the boat still. Just right, after the rowdy passage from Mexico. Sorry to leave, but had to go the 12 miles up to Ambergris Cay to check into Belize. And San Pedro, the town on Ambergris, offered a choice of restaurants, provisioning options, wifi and fuel -- all necessary (or wanted) after two weeks off the grid. So motored up some pretty skinny water, seeing the depth sounder go to zero at times to anchor in front of the town.

After checking in we explored the little town. Another place with madcap tourists (and residents) racing around in golf carts. But somehow, much lower key than Isla Mujeres, where touts tried selling you souvenirs or tours at every turn. Here, with an expat population, it was less clear that you were a tourist, so travelers were left alone. We indeed found many restaurants to try, and with no fresh food aboard, seemed like a great thing to do. And we couldn't resist sitting at a table overlooking gorgeous clear seas. But we did seriously stock up, loving the fresh produce available at all the small shops in town. José at the Costa Maya grocery gave us extra special attention and we thoroughly enjoyed doing business with him.

We spent half a day ferrying jerry jugs of diesel to Anhinga. A hot, back-breaking job, but we didn't mind the breezy dinghy rides to the fuel dock. That day, the water was so calm and clear, we saw a nurse shark while underway, and had stingrays under the boat most of the morning.

Finished with our chores, we decided to leave on a day with calm, east winds. The only hurdle was getting through the reef to deep water. The pass once had a buoy marking the doglegged channel, but it broke off a few weeks before. We scouted the channel by dinghy after checking with a dive shop to make sure we understood the geography. And we had a waypoint from the cruising guide. (Unfortunately, our chartplotter only has cartoon blobs for this particular area -- not helpful when you need exact data for critical navigation.) So, clear day, calm seas, John on the bow directing through coral reef with hand signals, Patti at the helm, we motored out like we knew what we were doing! (Always a surprise...) Past the reef, we brought out the sails and turned south for a daysail to English Cay. One of our best sails ever!

San Pedro, Ambergris Cay, Belize: 17d54.877'N 87d57.652'W

April 6-17, 2013... Mexican Coast Southbound

After spending some time in the US visiting family, leaving Anhinga at Marina El Cid, we were anxious to get moving again. Not too many sailors cruise the Mexican coast south of Puerto Morelos. Having done it, we know why. Its not easy. The current runs north, making a south trip slow. If you leave after a frontal passage (like we did) with a N-NE wind, that wind/current combo makes for a very lumpy trip. The primary anchorages are deep into the bays on the coast. So, getting out -- into the prevailing winds -- is an opportunity to bash into the waves. And, though firmly into April, the winds continued to howl at 20-25 knots most days, raising the seas, not the best sailing conditions. All that said, we did it! Though it took 10 days to get where we were going.

From Puerto Morelos we sailed overnight to Bahía de la Ascensión. This is part of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, and we thought it would be nice to be in a natural place after the weeks of hubbub in Isla Mujeres and Puerto Morelos. Into the bay we were met by a dolphin who led us to Cayo Culebra, a large island. According to the cruising guide, we could sit out the high SE winds there. But, the guide was wrong, and we moved twice for protection -- the final time 4 miles closer to the mainland. The only others in the bay were fishermen and one sailboat. We kayaked around Culebra and off Wilson Point (also called Punta Noh-ku and Punta Hualaxtoc) seeing lots of little fish, birds, mangroves, palms and a huge expanse of sky. We went aground by kayak -- this time Patti did the honors of dragging the boat across the sand. Until we saw the rays buried in the sand -- back in the boat!

After about 5 days, we got the go-ahead (sorta) from Chris Parker, the weather guy, for 'the least bad day' to go south. We went. Shoulda waited. We BOTH got seasick, wallowing in the high seas without enough wind to push through. With the heat, the engine, and the rolls, we were both green. Rather than continue, we went into Bahía del Espiritu Santo to get behind Isla Chal and recover. The shallow spots in the bay were a challenge, but soon we had another dolphin guiding us to Chal. There, we found the best anchorage we've had in Mexico -- protected and beautiful. We explored by kayak where the wind didn't whip up the water. We were in search of the elusive roseate spoonbill and even took the dinghy to a lake hoping to see one. Didn't. Sigh.

Finally, a weather window! Off we went (bashing into water east from the bay) but after turning SSW, sailed all day and thru the night with a 'sporty' 20 knots, or higher, getting to Belize too early. We had tried slowing down, first dousing the jib, replacing it with the smaller staysail, then sailing just on the main. Instead of heading to San Pedro as planned, we started to the English Channel (the main ship channel into Belize City). But 10 miles past San Pedro, the sun came up and we saw the wind and water recede a bit, so went in Long Cay Pass and turned north to settle in at Caye Caulker, Belize. Finally.

Cayo Culebra, Bahía de la Ascensión: 19d42.142'N 87d29.098'W
Wilson Point, Bahía de la Ascensión: 19d38.795'N 87d27.632'W
Owen Island, Bahía del Espiritu Santo: 19d22.022'N 87d31.073'W
Caye Caulker, Belize: 17d45.803'N 88d01.991

March 5-18, 2013... Puerto Morelos, Mexico

Fabulous daysail to Puerto Morelos -- about 30 miles from Isla Mujeres.  Rounded the sea buoy and puttered up the coast to pick up one of the four moorings off the town dock.  There is no anchoring anymore, as the reef is part of a national park.  We spent a few days getting our bearings in town, which is no longer primarily a fishing village (as it says in the cruising guide) but exists for the tourists.  However, it is still a lot lower key than Isla, so we are happy we came.  

The port town is centered around a town square, stretching out north and south along the coast.  Much of the area to the north is fancy houses and condos -- seems to be a large Canadian snowbird community here.  The colonia is inland, a couple of miles up the road, where the non-tourist part of town is.  In town, there is a strange little area where the tejones (coatimundis -- relatives of the badger) live.  They all approach when they see you -- must be used to handouts -- and are really interesting looking.  

We are taking our time trying out the restaurants in town -- the Yucatan spices are really good.  New vegetable for us - chaya - adds an interesting flavor too.  But, the real reason for being here is the snorkeling.  This is the ‘Mayan Reef’ -- a northern extension of the barrier reef system in Belize.  There are moorings out at the reef, so we dinghied over a couple of times to try it out.  The water is a little warmer (!!) but we still wore wetsuit tops.  All the regular suspects are out there on the reef.  Best find this time was the stingray, which we couldn’t identify from our reef fish book.  Anyone know?

Puerto Morelos:  20d50.836’N  86d52.361’W

February 21 - March 5, 2013... Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Left the Dry Tortugas in dead calm winds, which eventually picked up during the 2.5 day trip to Isla.  The last day we rollicked along with major water over the bow and were happy to be coming in to harbor.  But the trip along the Cuba coast (which we never saw) was beautiful and lots of little dolphins swam along with us for at  least an hour, jumping, spinning, and splashing as if to show off for us.  Our own private SeaWorld.

Anchored in the Bahia along Isla’s northwest coast, we settled in and waited to start the administrivia of checking in till our first full day there.  It went smoothly (until John lost his credit card at the ATM machine...recovered an hour later...oy) but it took three tries to find the Customs official and have him stamp us in.  Kay and Sonny on Valentina welcomed us to town and introduced us to the delights of eating in Isla where we eventually OD’ed on fantastic ceviche and black bean soup.  The town itself is not exactly what we expected -- much more crowded with daytrippers ferried in from Cancun and all the touts renting golf carts and selling souvenirs.  Very hectic.  Most of the cruisers stay in marinas and spend weeks if not months there.  We stayed anchored in the Bahia through a couple of northers, one with winds in the upper 30s, and the anchor paid for itself again.  We moved not an inch.  Hail Rocna!

We walked all over the island, with one long trip to the Mayan ruins at the southern tip.  Most of the ruins were knocked over in a hurricane and looked pretty ruined, so there is an outdoor art park there to encourage more people to come visit.  It was pretty nice, and the water crashing into the rocks extremely dramatic.  But there wasn’t enough in Isla to keep us there, so we left when the winds let us and headed to Puerto Morelos.

Isla Mujeres:  21d14.778’N  86d44.772’W