March 11, 2007, Off The Coast of Guatemala
It's about 0117 local time and I've got the midnight to 4am shift. It's not so bad. I sit in the pilothouse or on the bow and watch the world go by. The wind is light to non-existent and I'm steering directly into a rising half moon. The swells are less than two feet and the trawler is just gliding along with only a soft rumble to let you know the engine is there. In fact, the water passing by the hull is louder than the powerplant beneath me. I'm about nine miles off the coast right now and can see faint lights in the distance. Not the lights of large cities like further North, but the small lights of isolated settlements. Now that we're into Central America the cities are smaller, and fewer.
The change in boat traffic as we crossed the border was immediate. While still in Mexico there were many fishing boats of all sizes. As soon as we crossed the border the traffic disappeared. We're all alone out here except one faint blip on the radar ten miles outside of us.
For now, all is peaceful on my night shift. I'll check the gauges, monitor the radar, maybe read a bit. At 4am John will relieve me and I can get some welcome sleep.
March 10, 2007, Nearing The Guatemala Border
After all that planning and waiting, crossing the Tehuantepec was a snap. We must have picked a great window! We had hardly more than a ripple with light & variable winds most of the way across. The most wind we had was 24 knots NW about 0200 last night during my shift on watch. Even that was too light and didn't stay up long enough to build much sea. Any sea we did have was mitigated by the active stabilizers on this trawler - pretty fancy!
So far we've had quite a few dolphins, a small tern that caught a ride, and lots of shrimp boats. Other than "At Last," who we are traveling with, we've only seen one other cruiser "Little Wing" who was heading North. All in all, a very pleasant passage. Of course, no passage would be complete on Maestra without great meals. Last night we had barbecued chicken and this morning it was homemade waffles with bacon for breakfast. The parade of good food continues.
Right now we are about 53 miles from the border between Mexico and Guatemala. We'll continue right past Guatemala and stop in Bahia Del Sol in El Salvador. There is a very nasty bar to cross to get into the estuary and then the Marina is up the river a bit. They have a pool! We budgetted our time to be at the bar (sandbar!) a couple of hours in advance of high tide but we are not making as good progress as expected. It looks like we're fighting nearly a knot of tide. We may also get boarded at the border by the Mexican Navy as we hear happens often. Hopefully none of this slows us down too much or we have to sit outside the bar and wait for the next high tide.
Other than that, not much more to report. All systems are operating well and we're just cruising along...
March 9, 2007, Bahia Ayuta, Mexico
So far so good...
We left Huatulco at 0600 local time this morning and headed out into the pre-dawn light. The ocean was smooth with a long swell coming in towards the beach. On the far South horizon we could see a wall of cumulus. The sun was spectacular as it rose through the clouds.
In about another 3 hours we will reach the heart of the Tehuantepec and start to turn East along 16N. So the wind is very light with none of the notorious North wind at all. We'll take all we can of this nice weather!
Traveling by large trawler is very comfortable! On my boat I would be also be motoring along and slouching back in the cockpit. Here, I'm sitting in the shade in the pilothouse with a coffee cup in hand while I stand watch. If the going gets rough the trawler will be extremely comfortable!
March 9, 2007, Bahia Ayuta, Mexico
So far so good...
We left Huatulco at 0600 local time this morning and headed out into the pre-dawn light. The ocean was smooth with a long swell coming in towards the beach. On the far South horizon we could see a wall of cumulus. The sun was spectacular as it rose through the clouds.
In about another 3 hours we will reach the heart of the Tehuantepec and start to turn East along 16N. So the wind is very light with none of the notorious North wind at all. We'll take all we can of this nice weather!
Traveling by large trawler is very comfortable! On my boat I would be also be motoring along and slouching back in the cockpit. Here, I'm sitting in the shade in the pilothouse with a coffee cup in hand while I stand watch. If the going gets rough the trawler will be extremely comfortable!
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March 8, 2007, Huatulco, Mexico
Finally, we have an adequate weather window to head South! Tomorrow around dawn we'll leave the marina and head across the Tehuantepec. The winds will still peak around 30 knots off the shore so we'll "keep one foot on the beach" to stay out of the seas. We should arrive in Bahia Del Sol, El Salvador on Monday morning!
