Trip Log: 838 nautical miles. We left Puerto Escondido at 5:30am. After motoring for about 4 hours, the wind filled in and we were able to sail the rest of the way, arriving just before 2pm. Cats Paw IV followed us in, and we found another boat, Galivant, already here. Tane stayed on the boat while Sal and I took a trip to the port captain to check in, and then a taxi ride to check out Zipolite beach. There's a fair amount of nude bathing here, and it's another spectacular surf beach. After viewing a few dried arrangements and some pert newness, we returned to the boat. Sal had invited the crews of the other two boats, and we celebrated the full moon in our cockpit.

1/22/08. The other two boats left in the morning. Cat's Paw wants to take advantage of a weather window to cross the gulf of Tehuantapec right away. The dreaded gulf of Tehuantapec is starting to loom large. This last week, it has been blowing at hurricane force in the gulf, and only now is calming down. This is the bad time of the year and you have to be very careful. The usual approach is to wait for a calm period of several days, then scurry across with "one foot on the beach" so that if something goes wrong, you can move into shallow water and anchor to ride it out. The winds are called gap winds, and come screaming through the gap in the mountains. The gulf can go from mirror calm to 70 knot winds in less than an hour.

We plan to go to a few of the coves at Huatulco, then stop at the marina for a few days while we travel to Oaxaca city.

Today, we took a trip to Playa Ventanilla (little window beach) where there's a conservation project on a lagoon behind the beach. We took a boat trip on the lagoon with a guide, Mateo, who spoke perfect English with an English accent. It turns out his mother is English, and he did his master's degree in environmental biology in England, studying the doormouse. The boat ride was great, as we saw many different plants, birds, and several crocodiles. We then went back to Zipolite beach for lunch and some surfing. Even though it was relatively calm, the surf was still significant, and Tane got quite a beating while boogie boarding.

We're back on the boat in Puerto Angel, the moon is full, and we're listening to live music from a band on the nearby beach.