Take to the sea

The (mis)adventures of two dreamers that do

Newly Salted: an interview with the crew of SV Serenity

Before we left on our trip, one of our main sources for armchair sailing was the Newly Salted project (developed by Livia on SV Estrellita 5.10b). For us it was an indispensable source of information from the trenches, and it gave us plenty of conversation fodder as to what challenges we would soon be coping with and what gear we should be unsurprised to see break down.

Now that we’re all broken in, we offer our own humble submission to a) try to pay back in some small measure the advice and encouragement we gleaned back when we were still dreaming and fretting; and b) talk about ourselves at length under the guise of an interview.  

Welcome back to Mexico

My Mexican tourist visa was set to expire in three days. All I needed was an additional month and though I’ve heard that the consequences of not renewing your tourist visa aren’t all that extreme, I didn’t want to be on the wrong side of Mexican legal system. When I inquired about the most efficient route to renewing it, the marina manager suggested I visit the border town of Talisman.

 

“You just walk across the border into Guatemala, then walk back.” He explained. “Easy, no problem.” If only it had been that easy.

Shallow anchorages

Sometimes we put a lot of thought into how we choose our anchorages. We research, we agonize, we ask for recommendations. Sometimes we just close our eyes and point our finger. Sometimes the elements force us towards the nearest anchorage. And sometimes, our choices are based on more shallow considerations…

Contested space at Bahia Tenacatita

Cruiser’s rave  about Bahia Tenacatita, at least those that visited this anchorage prior to 2010. I had read all about the super friendly and active cruiser’s who frequent both of the anchorages, throwing spontaneous soirees on the beach, taking the “jungle tour” up the estuary to enjoy the “colorful beach scene” at Tenacatita where a popular snorkeling site dubbed the aquarium lured them into the warm water. I imagined beach goers washing down their full day with an ice cold beer at one of the many palapa restaurants lining the surf. This is the scene I painted for Jeff when I lobbied for this anchorage. I didn’t have to lobby that hard, but it was on my top 10 list of places to stop along the mainland coast and I made a pretty solid case. My expectations were maybe just a little bit high.

Neglected

Unlike a neglected boat, when you leave blogs alone they don’t accumulate unsightly things like mold, spider webs, rats, bird poop, and stale, algae-ridden puddles. Our neglected blog won’t burn down or sink (at least, in a literal sense). This is a very fortunate thing. The worst thing you’ll see is longer spans of time elapsing between posts. 

June 2013: cruising budget

Total spending for June: $1800. I had a feeling June would be more expensive. Though the budget actually looks a little better than I expected, considering… 

The art of decision-making

After traveling over 1000 miles in the past month you reach Puerto Chiapas, Mexico right before the first hurricane of the season. Do you…

A)    Stay in Chiapas, Mexico?

B)    Sail on to Bahia del Sol, El Salvador?

C)    Ship your boat across Guatemala to the Caribbean?

D)    Sell your boat and buy a farm?

We live in a choose your own adventure world, which is generally pretty great, except for the fact that sometimes we are terrible at making decisions. It’s hard enough for us to choose where to eat dinner let alone where to keep our boat for hurricane season.

 

Passage Notes: Bahias de Huatulco (Marina Chahue) to Puerto Chiapas (Marina Chiapas)

Ooooweee! What a ride! We weren’t expecting the winds to be as strong as they were and the seas to be as boisterous, but they were both working in our favor. During the first day and night we had winds up to 20 knots and were making swift progress towards our destination, oftentimes exceeding 6 knots. At times the wind and waves overpowered the doctor, but for the most part he was able to withstand the combination.

Bird kingdom

On our second day at Isla Isabel we overheard (read: eavesdropped on) two boats talking about what they had discovered onshore. “It’s a small, smelly island with lots of birds…and bird poop. Lots of bird poop.” Not exactly a glowing recommendation. Jeff and I just stared at each other, completely bewildered. Did this guy explore the same island that we did? We were absolutely enchanted by Isla Isabel – so much so that we decided to stay far longer than expected. Just goes to show that everyone is looking for something a little different out here. As a result, take all recommendations from fellow cruisers with a grain of salt.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…