Friday we were up at 5.30am ready for our 6am departure. Unfortunately the port captain did not arrive to do our exit paperwork until 7.15am & the navy man another 20 minutes after that. We finally got away around 8am. We started the trip off nicely with a 5 hour spinnaker run. Then it was motor, motor, motor. We ended up staying Saturday night in a bay north of Salina Cruz called Bahia Ventosa. Neither of us had much sleep over the 2 days previously so we decided to stop.
Yesterday we headed off again at 6am. The coast along this part of Mexico is pretty spectacular – long beaches & imposing white cliffs. It is also the coast of the jumping ray! Every time you looked out over the ocean a ray was leaping out of the water & spinning in the air up to 3 times. Fish are everywhere too.
We’ve picked a great weather window & there has been no sight of the dreaded Tehuantepec winds (the ‘T-pecker’ for short) which can blow up 80 knots through the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Only problem is that there has been little or no wind at all. We’ve motored for 34 of the 45 hour trip from Chiapas.
We anchored off a Club Med in Bahia Tangolunda in the area of Huatulco (pronounced Wah-tool-coh) last night. This is the start of touristy Mexico & the hotels have to be seen to be believed! Plenty of little local boats & jet skis were whizzing around the bay.
Today we headed around to the bay of Huatulco with plans to see the port captain, purchase our fishing permits & buy a Mexican courtesy flag for the boat. We couldn’t find anywhere to anchor & the place was a zoo! So many local boats, jet skis & fishing charters speeding everywhere - so we left! We headed to the next anchorage called Puerto Angel about 5 hours away. It’s a lovely little bay lined with restaurants, small supermarkets & hostels. After checking in with the port captain we had our first Mexican meal – fish, beans, rice, tortillas & a hot, hot salsa washed down with a couple of Coronas. Will stay for about 3 days then continue to head north to Puerto Escondido – a great surf spot – where Steve can finally get his board out!