Homeward Bound

homemade music, Isla Mujeres

June 7, 2012 949 days, 7,796 nm since we departed Texas. Well, we made our return to Kemah, Texas taking five and a half days to cross the Gulf of Mexico. We might have made better time except for a few days of little to no wind and a run in with an ocean of sea weed. More on that latter, lets wrap up our visit to Mexico first.

 We did not originally plan to stop in Mexico, as the additional expense and one more bureaucracy did not appeal to us. However, we had felt the same about Belize and were pleasantly surprised by our visit, plus a straight shot to Texas from Belize would be 1,000 miles not very appealing.

Happy Birthday to me

Birthday dinner

So off we go on the first leg of our return trip, 200nm to Cozumel. Cozumel being a tourist destination it does not lend itself to welcoming cruisers, so we simply plan to spend an evening at anchor and then head to Isla Mujeres. After 25 hours UNDER SAIL, no motoring at all we anchored off Isla de Pasion on the north of Cozumel. If you stop here get in as close to the beach as you can, this is where the calm waters are. After a calm evening it’s off to Isla Mujeres at 0700. A relatively short 40nm we once again are able to sail the trip, even snagging lunch along the way. We make such a big deal about actually sailing as historically we have spent 80% of our time motoring/motor sailing. Since the beginning of 2012 that statistic has reversed itself and we have sailed the majority of the distance from Panama to Mexico.


Lunch

Isla Mujeres

Arriving in Isla Mujeres we find once again how small the world is as our friends aboard JOANA are anchored in the lagoon. It is easy to make out the profile of this 70 foot steel brig owned and operated by Maria and Cath. Although as we buzz by to say hey on our way to anchor the only one aboard is Josh, Maria’s nephew. It seems the girls are ashore having fun, while Josh paints the boat to pay his way. Oh well it is always tough being the new guy.

the face of El Milagro

The good news for checking into Mexico is that it is not too difficult. Just remember to have five copies of all your paperwork, including; Zarpe, Boat Documentation, Crew List and Passports. For those with pets have a health certificate that is NO MORE than ten days old otherwise there will be an additional charge to aquire one from a Mexican vet, as we had to. As we were near the El Milagro Marina and they offered their services we opted to have the marina serve as our agent.

The benefit to having an agent when clearing into a country is that they organize everything. So it happened that on May 10 Julio arranged to have Customs, Immigration and Agriculture all come to meet us at the marina. Our papers and boat were inspected, Agriculture confiscated half a head of cabbage and two cans of beef [apparently Mexico is still afraid of some mad cows]. We were given the secret handshake and where thus cleared into Mexico. However, this is not the end of the process. If you plan to spend more than a few days in Mexico you must pay an importation tax. This will cost you US$50, only in US Dollars please and requires a ferry ride to Cancun to process the paperwork. All in all not difficult however, remember to bring along several copies of all your papers including passports.

life is good

Oh, for Chula the marina was good enough to call a local vet who showed up that afternoon with a health certificate already filled out. After collecting the equivalent of US$25 Dom departed. We call him Dom as he has a strong resemblance to Dom DeLouise. Hey, we’re in Mexico.

We do the norm, catch up with old friends meet new ones and do our chores. The primary chores are readying the boat to cross the Gulf of Mexico.

crossing GOM under sail

We spent two weeks in Isla Mujeres and truly enjoyed ourselves even going so far as to spend a week dockside at the El Milagro Marina. Chula insisted on having shore power so she could enjoy the air conditioner as the days grew hotter.

sunset underway

Speaking of weather, it is that time of year again and the first summer storms have already cropped up off the east coast of the US and off the Pacific coast of Central America, looks like it is time to get a move on. With fond farewells and the realization that we are about to complete our circumnavigation of the Caribbean we set out from Mexico on the morning of May 24. As an aside we recommend checking out of Mexico on your own, the expense is the same whether or not you use an agent however doing it yourself is less time consuming. The reason being that you need to visit the Port Captain to obtain a zarpe, an agent will do this however we were told it would take a day to process, we managed to get it done in 30 minutes and this even though the office was officially closed for the day.


at least we`re not alone


The weather forecast looks good and we will have the chance to sail yet again. While another TS is brewing around Florida the sun is shining and the winds are fair. We managed to sail all of Thursday the 24th and most of Friday the 25th , before the winds died. We had to sail the afternoon and evening of Saturday the 26th as we noticed a distinct vibration from the prop/driveshaft which could be a problem.

ah, a dip in the ocean first thing in the morning

Having made a whopping 27nm Saturday evening with winds less than 10k the sun is up and it is time to go over the side and investigate our problem. We did the democratic thing and took a vote, the girls voted that Ed goes under. No big deal, we’re in 11,000 feet of blue ocean and the sun is shining, it’s’ highly unlikely that the prop has been sabotaged by a hungry shark! Good news! The drive shaft and prop are ok, we had accumulated a large snag of seaweed around the prop and shaft once this was removed things were back to normal. Good thing too as the wind Sunday afternoon is less than 10k off our starboard quarter [that is almost behind us] the sails are flogging on occasion and we are motor sailing at a steady 5k.

halfway there

We are mostly alone on the Gulf sighting the occasional freighter or tanker but on Sunday afternoon to celebrate having crossed the half way mark and to accompany Chula on the bow, we are joined by a large pod of dolphins. We have easily two or three dozen dolphins cavorting in our bow wake, while Chula greets each one.

 





































Sunday evening brings into view our first oil rig, it took nearly four hours from first sight to pass the rig, HUGE!



No Toto, it`s not the Emerald City



flat calm on the GOM

Monday, 5\28 more rigs and more ships, we must be getting close to Texas and the U.S.A. . We sail for most of Monday making good time, then comes the decision on Tuesday, we can either continue to sail along in the light winds or crank u the engine and try to make Galveston before sunset. So we go with the iron jenny and guess what, the winds pick up and we are making our way toward Texas at 7 kts. WE make Galveston by 16OO, make our call to U.S. CBp and clear in to the United States by 163O. Now for the final run to Kemah. There is a lot more traffic than we are used to, but we make it to the Watergate Marina and our berth on dock 25 before sunset, as we turn into our slip we are greeted by old friends once again.

Our`s is not the only home coming, the shuttle, ok a mock model, is being ferried to the Johnson Sace Center for display.   So now we`re back where we started, guess it`s time for something new.