25 hours later, we arrived in Xcalak. (7:30 Saturday morning) When we left Bahia de Spiritu Santo, the winds & waves had already picked up. We knew we had to find a place to do our zarpe. We made it to Majahual in about 6 hrs. We tried to go in there & couldn’t, it was too shallow. We had to go to Xcalak. Knowing the pass to get into Xcalak was tricky we decided it would be better to do it in daylight. What this meant was we would have to pull an all-nighter. So an all-nighter it was. We got to Xcalak at 9 pm turned around went back to Majahual (2:00 am) to turn around & go to Xcalak once more being pounded all the way with high winds & waves. Not a friendly sea she was. Fernando had to adjust sails hanging on in the meantime. Rode hard & put up wet (literally), we were both salty, sticky & had very little sleep. We were still being pounded by the waves as we made our approach to the cut. As we were going through, a giant wave picked us up & threw us on the reef causing us to bump really hard & break our #1 rule. ‘Don’t hit anything.’ The next wave gratefully picked us up also & took us off the reef. Fernando had given her all she had & she just did not respond. ? After anchoring we realized my dingy Captainship was short lived & over. BOO HOO! The dinghy went down. She took it in the bow. The sides & floor are ok. Actually it probably helped push us off the reef. Now we get to search for a new dinghy. When Fernando did dive under Tradewinds to make sure everything was ok, he found a rope an inch thick 10 ft. long wrapped around the prop. DUH! That’s why she didn’t have any umpf when we needed it. “I’m givin her all she got Captain & she just won’t do any more.” Tradewinds is a tough old girl & is ok. A little beat up, but ok.
We also discovered we picked up termites somewhere! Who know where, but we have to take care of them. Not sure where to find the chemicals to do so. Maybe we’ll ask The Bee Guy.