Successful Crossing thru the Gulf of Tehuantepec (Two Pack)!
05 February 2018 | Pacific Ocean off Mexico, heading north
Helen/Mark
Did some star gazing last night after a spectacular sun set. We were still cutting across the 'Tu-pec' bay which is over 150 miles across. The cold fronts head south and that air funnels thru Mexico between some mountains passes and out into this bay. Normally, the winds are high and the seas are rough. All the boats heading north, waited for this weather window. We saw wind speeds of 20 knots overnight and had a fabulous sail, making speeds over 7 knots. Then by morning, the winds died down to the point where we had to furl the jib and start the motor. We stayed up late to hear the scores on the SuperBowl game. Thanks to Jim, Bill and Andrew for sending us the scores via satellite. We took turns on the helm through out the night and then had the opportunity to take nap times today. The Pacific Ocean was pretty tranquil. We have under 10 miles to go to the tip of the Gulf. Then we will turn north and west up the coast. We may make a stop or two before we get to Puerto Vallarta. Our day light was filled with flat ocean waters and light winds to the point that we furled the jib. Then the wind changed directions and we were able to unfurl the jib and motor sail. We made better speed today, unlike yesterday's current that was against us, slowing us down. We enjoyed an afternoon shower on the port steps. Sat out on deck to dry off. Then we were able to view the mountainous coast line. We tried our Mexican phone and were able to make some calls. How cool is that? We were about 10 miles offshore and had coverage. I tested out a new cleaner for the salon windows. Will try cleaning the other side tomorrow before the sun gets high. We can now see lights on shore as we approach our mark. Dinner was one of the meals that I pre-cooked and still yummy! We saw several huge turtles in the water. Also saw dolphins jumping clear out of the water. Other dolphins just like to swim in our bow wake. There are also many different types of sea birds, some flying high while others are soaring so very close to the water. We saw green today at sunset, as the sun dipped into the blue Pacific waters. We are happy to be thru this part of the ocean and look forward to picking up some winds and being able to sail more. Mark did some research on possible anchorages along the way. He also played with our radar, setting guard zones and testing them. We saw a few fishing boats today, but none came anywhere close to us.