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| The Island of Women |
We had a decent sail from Havana to Mexico. We sailed from Havana down the west coast to
about 30 miles south of Cabo San Antonio and then crossed over to Mexico. We were trying to put the Gulf Stream on our
beam, but we think we turned just a bit too early. As we got about 10 miles from the western edge
of the stream, we had to point into it and the 4 knot current slowed us down. In the stream it was a bit like a washing
machine as the seas were confused, but as soon as we got out of it, our speed
picked up by 2 knots and the seas smoothed out. We got into Isla in the early afternoon and
had no problem getting our anchor to stick.
We had decided on the passage over that we were going to treat ourselves
to a good meal when we got there, so we got JoJo re-stowed after the passage
(there is always stuff that flies around, sail covers to be put back on, etc), showered,
and went off to find some steak! We were
all craving red meat!!
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| Colorful Souvenirs |
Isla Mujeres is a really cute little town. It is a bit touristy, with what we called “restaurant
row” and has lots of souvenir shops
selling hammocks and colorful pottery.
I think their biggest business, however, is renting golf carts to the
tourists!
We scoped out a great place to eat and started with a
monster salad, complete with goat cheese.
Josh settled on a cheeseburger, Maria had a steak and mashed potatoes,
and I had a steak fajita with lots of peppers and onions. It was so good! And, of course, we had to try a
margarita!
The next day we started our clearing in process (took a
total of 4 days!). We also saw our
friends Scott and Jada on Seadition that we had met in Cuba. They were at the El Milagro Marina. We hung out there and got caught up with them. Over the next few days, Maria helped them out
with their hydraulic steering and windlass issues. They in turn cooked us a great dinner and
hosted a big pot luck in which about 30 people showed up.
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| Cruising on our golf cart |
While we were there, Maria got an email from her friend
Julie who just happened to be over in Cancun. We talked her and her friend, Kristen, into coming over
to Isla Mujures. We met them for some margaritas,
took them out to JoJo, went for a dingy ride and then came back to JoJo where
we cooked them up the last of our Cuban lobsters we had frozen. It was a great day! The following day, it was our turn to venture
over to Cancun and hung out with them at their hotel…the RITZ CARLTON! It was amazing! We lounged in the pool all day and then went into the
locker rooms at the spa / gym and took 45 minute hot showers! There are no words to describe how good that
feels after you have been taking 2 minute showers for a year!
Josh, Maria, Niko and
I decided to be tacky tourists and rented a golf cart for the day to drive
around the island. Josh really wanted to
drive, so we made him the designated driver.
He drove us out to the eastern point of the island, which was
beautiful. It was supposed to have a Mayan
ruin on the tip, but all we could see where a couple of boulders! We found a great private beach and let Niko
run loose as we swam and enjoyed the sun.
We found a great cantina, which
is a bar that gives you free appetizers
with your drinks. This cantina,
El Viejo y el Mar (The Old Man and the Sea) was bright yellow and had a 2 story high
thatched roof. There was Mexican music
blaring and the women waitresses were all scantily dressed. There were only locals in there and it was
awesome! We stayed there for a bit and then drove
around the small island a bit more before returning the cart. It is good to be a tourist every once in a
while.
We had so much fun being tourists that we decided we’d do it
again. This time, we rented a car in
Cancun (almost as crazy as driving in New York City, but all signs in Spanish)
and drove two hours to Chichen-Itza to see the famed Mayan ruins. It was very impressive.
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| Castillo Pyramid at Chichen-Itza |
The focal point is the towering Castillo pyramid, which is
loaded with cosmological symbolism. Its
four sides contain 365 steps (depicting the solar year), 52 panels (for each
year in the Mayan century as well as each week in the solar year) and 18
terraces (for the 18 months in the religious year). Sculptures of serpents run
down the northern side. During the
spring and autumn equinoxes, the late afternoon sun strikes off the northwest
corner of the pyramid and casts a series of triangular shadows against the
northwest side, which some believe creates the illusion of a feathered serpent
"crawling" down the pyramid.
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| Playing Field at Chichen-Itza |
There is a huge playing field where the Mayans played a game
with a soccer-sized ball that had its own intricate rules and provided exciting
competition for huge crowds of spectators. The enormous court where this game
was played is the largest ever found and is lined with carvings that display
the rules and details of the sacred game. One carving even shows the captain of
the losing game being beheaded!
We walked around and saw many other impressive
buildings. Chichen-Itza is a massive
site and takes a few hours to see everything.
They stopped people from climbing up the ruins a few years ago, so you
have to see everything from the ground level.
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| Maria with Sr. Frog |
We tried to drive to another site of Mayan ruins on the way
back home, but got there too late. We
managed not to get too lost in Cancun and returned the car back to Hertz with
no problem. Then we just hopped on the
ferry between Cancun and Isla Mujeres and made our way back to the boat.
During all of this, our other friends, Vicky and Ed on Boto
showed up in the anchorage as they were headed back to Florida. We had a great time hearing about their
adventures, as they left Grenada in September and had already sailed to many of
the places we will be going to this year, so we picked their brains quite a
bit. They decided to check out Cuba, by
flying rather than taking their boat, so we volunteered to dog sit for Chula,
their cocker spaniel. Niko was happy to have
a friend on board for a week.
Sadly, it was time for Josh to get back to “real life”. So, after 6 months and countless ocean miles
(he had joined us in Grenada), he flew back to the States. It was great to have him on board and was a
great help!
I also went home for
two weeks to surprise my Dad for his 70th birthday party and to
spend time with my mom, sister and my favorite (and only) niece and nephew. It was great to be home and I was also able
to get a lot of spare parts and other knick knacks for the boat that we
needed. I’m not sure what Maria did back
on the boat, other than hang out with her new found Aussie friends at the
Marina Paraiso bar! Pete, Keith and Troy
did a great job entertaining her!
About a week after I returned to the boat, Maria’s parents, Harold and Nancy flew into Cancun to help take on our next adventure! We were planning on sailing to Honduras and then to the Rio Dulce in Guatemala to hang out for hurricane season. But, with all the extra hands, we decided that after Honduras, we would just keep heading south and go to Providencia and then Colombia and Panama. It is always easier to do the longer passages with more people!
We hung out for another week in Isla Mujures so they could explore a bit and to finish the odds and ends that needed to get done before we left. We fueled up (diesel in Isla Mujures is some of the cheapest around at $2.95/gallon, compared to $4-5/gallon in other places) and were ready to get on our way. The winds were light and on the nose. That, coupled with a strong current also against us, we knew were going to be motor sailing. But, we were only going to Cozumel, about 50 miles away, so it wouldn’t be too bad. We got up early the next day and got on our way.
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