S/V Sirocco: Made it to Mexico, Manta Rays

A recap since I left Costa Rica:

I left Costa Rica with no wind and had to motor for over a day until I got to the Papagayos winds off Nicaragua. These pushed me for another 200 miles until they failed and I had to start the motor again, finally motoring a total of 80 hours on the way to Chiapas, Mexico.

Marina Chiapas is a really wonderful place. They have great facilities, a good restaurant and a very helpful marina staff. Not to mention a good haul out yard with a large travel lift. The only two complaints is it doesn't have a pool and it is miles away from any actual city, so re-provisioning is difficult and there isn't much to see except the beach. If you like surfing though the beach has decent waves when the Tehuantepec winds blow out of the north. It is still a beach break, but there's also no one there so you have it all to yourself.

Once I checked into Mexico in Chiapas though, I decided that even though I was flying out of Chiapas, I'd take the weather window opportunity to get across the Gulf of Tehuantepec now instead of after I get back from the states. So last Tuesday I left Marina Chiapas at 4:00 pm and pretty much had to motor all the way across to Huatulco where I docked at Marina Chahue by noon on Thursday, successfully avoiding any winds in the Tehuantepec, which are known for sometimes blowing up to 60 knots sustained. Indeed, the boat that left just behind me, an Island Packet 485, saw sustained winds of 36 knots with gusts in the 40's and ripped their bimini. With the Tehauntepec, timing is everything I guess.

Marina Chahue is a nice marina, though the marina staff can be frustrating because they are not very helpful but very good at getting angry at you for not following every rule on their long list. There seems to be quite the rift between the staff and long term cruisers who stay there, so it sometimes causes the vibe to be less than tranquil.

However, the city of La Crucecita as well as Santa Maria in Huatulco are both really cool. Definitely the cleanest cities I've been in since leaving the Virgin Islands. Because of the huge National Park

nearby, the state of Oaxaca takes great pride in keeping the cities clean and it shows. In addition, there are a lot of really cool little stores to shop in and great restaurants for any taste.

Also, the diving and snorkeling around Huatulco is pretty good. The visibility is not as consistent as the Caribbean, but the sea life is incredible. On a dive I did Saturday I saw more starfish than ever before, a big sea horse and to top it all off, a huge manta ray! It had a wing span of 16 feet and cruised within a foot of my face! I've wanted to see one of these since I heard about them three years ago being seen near the islands off of Cabo, the Islas Revillgigedos. Pictures definitely don't do it justice, which is just as well because I didn't have my GoPro with me...

It's too bad I only got to spend three days here, it's definitely worth more. However I'm now back in Chiapas for my flight that leaves for California at 6 am tomorrow morning. Here are some of the pictures from the crossing to Mexico, Chiapas and Huatulco. Enjoy! I'll have more photos from Huatulco once they load up from my phone.

Bye bye Golfito!

Some fresh cantaloupe to start the trip off right!

Aimee and Jed had found a banana tree in Bahia de la Muertos where they harvested a bushel of bananas and brought them on board. They just ripened right before they left. This is the first banana I've ever eaten in my life. The sad part is shortly after they fell off the back of the boat so I only got to enjoy two...

A beautiful sunset on the way to Chiapas

This was a very frustrating part of the trip. There was a solid 2 knot current against me for almost two days. But before that there was a knot with me so I guess I can't be too upset. But at the time it was incredibly frustrating.

The ridiculous calm coming into Chiapas. The ocean literally looked like a pool and being below deck was like being at the dock except for the rumble of the engine.

The new set up for motoring with the tiller pilot attached directly to the wheel instead of to the windvane. Makes for much more accurate course holding, less total miles run.