Winds indeed did howl last night as the cold front passed overhead. Some of the newly arrived boats - several of us arrived yesterday - did the anchorage drag race. We and our buddy-boat friends Charlie & Saundra, s/v Island Sol, are very happy to be in a marina; we at El Milagro and they next-door at Paraiso. We got up in the early morning to check lines & fenders and make needed adjustments; nonetheless slept well knowing there was no danger from other boats.

Today we do the check-in dance using Julio as agent. It takes the entire day, and we already have the TIP, eliminating that step. We sit & wait for the different departments to arrive with their paperwork and inspection requirements. We need to get to the local grocery store and Cancun Costco but it’s a good day to be waiting on the boat because winds continue to blow in the 25 kt range.

The Health guy is the first to arrive - where have we been, then general health questions, then temperature-taking. Stamp, Stamp, Stamp. Immigration is next for tourist cards & passport stamps; 180 days approved. Stamp, Stamp, Stamp. The three Agriculture ladies are next; they do a boat check asking to see tobacco, alcohol, fruits & veggies, meats. We’d taken the few we arrived with to the marina kitchen so could truthfully say no fruit / veg / meat onboard. Stamp, Stamp, Stamp. Julio confirms he’ll do the Port Captain visit, I believe the last check-in step. All in, US $148. He said he’d do the check-in for us at cost and it is less than the US $200 he charged us last time, however unless fees have gone way up total check-in cost doing it ourselves is the equivalent of a little less than US $100, so there’s US $50 in there for his time and “smoothing of the process”.

El Milagro Marina charges are US $250 / week or US $850 / Mo (small rate discount). A US $25 increase per week over last year. We pay to stay a month giving us time for our longtime friend Joel’s visit, and to wait out what is hopefully the last of this winter’s storms. Speaking of winter cold front storms, the cruisers who have been here many years say this is the worst year in memory. There have been very few days between the persistent cold fronts to go anywhere. The Isla Mujeres Daily reports this is Cold Front #35 (some governmental office counts them!). Everyone is hoping March brings relief; we’ll be here to see if it does!

The day ends with us joining friends for the standing cruiser dock party and pizza night at Oscars.