Well we lifted anchor and said goodbye to the lovely touristy island of Isla Mujeres and headed south for Belize. On the way the humans wanted to stop at the coral atoll Blanco Chinchorro. The forecast looked good with winds set around the 15 knot range. Sea state looked settled with waves less than a metre. What could go wrong?
Well the sail started great. All canvases flying and the wind filling the sails. Clear blue skys and light fluffy clouds. But it did not take long for the boat to hit the strong north flowing Yucatan Channel current. With the current running the wrong way at over 3 knots, we quickly slowed down. Deep long keeled boats like ours are great in rough seas and heading into wind, but with so much boat below the waterline, they get seriously effected by tidal currents.
So we settled into a long hard slog into the current as we made our way south. Still we could not complain. The weather stayed fair and the sea state settled as the sun set into the Caribbean sea for the night. In the morning the humans started to realize that they were not going to make the Atoll, at this rate, until almost dark. This part of the Mexican coastline is very poorly charted and ‘eyeball’ navigation with good light is essential. They had two choices. Sail on to Belize and miss one of only 4 atolls in the Northern Hemisphere or stop somewhere along the coast and make for the atoll in the morning.
They chose to stop on the coast. Bahia del Espiritu Santo on the Mexican mainland. A fairly large, but shallow, bay protected by a reef. Nothing shows up on any of our electronic charts, but we had been warned that this area was poorly covered. Luckily we had a well respected cruising guide by Captain Freya Rauscher. Every cruiser we asked advice from, who had done this coastline, insisted we needed this guide book. It does mean you have to switch back to traditional navigational skills including estimating distances based on speed and using bearings.
Still only ‘Rauscher’ said this bay was here, that there was a break in the reef and that there was enough water for us to sail into it. Fingers crossed the humans put there faith in a page in a book, their eyes and the depth gauge. They neath of worried. The break in the reef was large and there was plenty of water behind it. We are now anchored in snorkellers paradise, but not a tree to piss on. The anchorage here does put us in a good position to jump over to Blanco Chinchorro tomorrow. It is another 40nm south, but with an early start we should get there is good light to ‘eye ball’ our way in.
For now I am glad the boat has stopped rocking about, it is so difficult to lift your leg, pee and balance at the same time. I am reduced to squatting like a bitch when the humans drag me on these long trips. Do not ask about ‘number 2s’. I have had a few disasters in that department on rough trips. Enough on this delicate subject!
Fill you in when we get to the atoll!
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