We are still in Isla Mujeres waiting for the insurance company to settle. We got the quotes off to the insurance company the other day. We had to quote labor from one place, parts from another, stainless work from yet another and then calculate all of the incidentals. Thank God for Babel Fish! (an online translator) Oh the fun we have been having....
The truth of the matter is that I have been having fun. My sister flew down from Canada for a visit last week. We met up with a friend who lives in Playa del Carmen and stayed at a resort in Akumal on the Mayan Riviera for a few days. We did manage to drag ourselves away from the lazing around the beach and see the ruins at Tulum. Leslie then came to Isla for a few days before she flying back to Ottawa. It was great to see her and Max had a blast with her auntie.
Ralph stayed behind and got some jobs done on Daydream and to deal with the quotes. No rest for the wicked.
06/15/2008, Peurto Morelos, Mexico
We are all OK and thank whatever force(if any) that nobody was hurt in the events about to be imparted. Oh, that of course does include Daydream, although sporting new battle scars. I have a new way to describe this goddess of a vessel that I am blessed to own; she may be fast, she may be gorgeous but by god she is stout!
On June 12th we left Isla Mujeres to head south towards Belize. We anchored at Hut Point which is a little reef cut between Cancun and Tulum. There is nothing there but one small resort marina place that serves day trippers from the Playa del Carmen.
At about 6pm. A cat, somewhere about 55 feet long, pulled out of the marina with a
30 to 40 tourists aboard. It passed a bit close, about 80 feet but OK. The passengers gave Max and I a wave as did the crew...including the capt. The cat moved of to the north east within the reef on a sunset cruise. About 3/4 of an hour later in daylight the cat came back (have I ever mentioned that I HATE CATS!) and rammed us. It did not alter course it just came on at about 5 KN and slammed into us. At about 30 seconds before impact everyone, including me, started screaming....scream all you want though....screaming don't stop god-awful piece of shit cats from slamming into your boat.
The stbd hull of the cat struck about even with the rig on our port side, she had a huge steel pole between the hulls and that collected the bowsprit and then into furler. Daydream was shoved to stdb, the anchor took up, the bridle took up and wrenched the bow roller to port. I expected to hear tearing wood and glass and basically to see Daydream gutted but that didn't happen, no gushing water, no torn glass, no torn wood...the cat stopped. Daydream took the hit and stopped the cat...the anchor even held...although I don't know how far it was wrenched.
Tiff had run bellow to grab Max who was having Max time on the cabin sole. She was cooking at the time but the gimbaled stove kept all in place. She came up seconds after impact, Max with lifejacket already on. The cats anchor fell off the stdb bow onto my deck and hooked my port fwd lower shroud and the rail I installed. As the cat began to back away I managed to untangle its anchor and get it off my deck.
I did a bit of intense screaming, which it seems has upset my voice, may take a couple of days to heal. Daydream was not holed, she was pretty beat up on the bow, which was to be expected considering a huge cat had just attempted to mount her....gotta hate it when that happens.
The cat contacted us on the radio, they went into the dock, it was decided that since we had just been rammed and were a bit unsure of our ground tackle we would go into their marina to assess damage. We told them that we draw 6 foot....has the marina 6 foot depth? Yes it has, we were assured. But something was lost between feet and meters.... About wo feet. So after being rammed and mounted we had raised our anchor and run ourselves aground in their marina, gotta hate it when that happens. A sport fisher sent out by the marina to try to deal with the vocal captain(me?) managed to pull us off.....so we went and re-anchored. I declined the offer of a boat ride to their marina and opted to get there in our own dinghy ("Rinky" is that little buggers name) as yet there was an entire side of our vessel which the had not yet been molested and felt it best if I did not invite them to do so!
We got ashore and at first were OK, that was until we found out (not through them) that all the guests aboard the cat were leaving soon as they were day trippers out of Playa del Carmen. We needed to talk to some of those people to get info as witnesses. The management refused to allow us to talk to anyone. They did promise to do all repairs, no facilities there though but they said they could spray awlgrip while the boat was in water...yeah. At last some of the guests making their way to the bus noticed us and came to talk with us, management tried to stop this but could not. We got contact info from a number of the guests and some of them even have video. We also gave asked them to tell all on the bus to contact us via our website if they were willing to help.
The management did let us use their cell phones and Tiff rang a friend of her sister's in Playa and while on the phone her friend managed to get a lawyer on the other line. Not bad considering it was around 9pm at this point. We did not want to go this way but it as looking as though we were about to get ....well, you know the word. At this point the marina folks became unhelpful...they said anything we wanted could be requested from the port captain in Puerto Morelos and that was that. We requested vessel documentation, captain's license, crew and passenger list and insurance details. But we were given the same answer. They also refused to call the authorities to make a report. If they had allowed access to a couple of the passengers as witnesses, the conversation would not have gone this way. So we went back to Daydream, made sure she was OK. We tidied up, calmed down and went to bed. This whole time Max had been great, just chillin out and watching the proceedings.
A little after dawn the next morning, we raised anchor and motored 9 miles back to Puerto Morelos. The headsail is useless and I dare not raise the main until the rigging is checked. The friend of Tiff's rang the owner of the marina we had visited in Isla and let him know what had happened. He knew the manager of the marina here at Morelos and rang them and told them to help us. Help us they have. They contacted the port captain and informed him of the situation, the port captain rang the marina that rammed us and
enquired as to why they had not reported the incident to him. They were requested to come to Morelos to report what had happened. We went to the meeting, the marina accepted responsibility for the ramming and agreed to get their insurance assessor here within a couple of days. The long and short of it is that things are looking OK at the moment but should it turn bad with the insurance numbers we have several good options to pursue. The best point being that they have accepted blame in front of the port captain...in writing.
Repairs can't begin until the damages have been assessed . The bowsprit is demolished, the harken furler dead, forestay req replacement, about 4 feet of hull / deck joint area needs repair and awlgrip, stemhead fitting and toe rail removal and repair and a bunch of other stuff.
As much as this sucks (you know how I feel about this boat) we are so lucky as no one on either vessel was hurt, how I don't know. I'm also thankful to sit here at our main salon and am just so happy to still be able to without the use of dive gear.
We are doing really well, have a few different things to consider but all is good. I told Tiff that I had promised her a life of adventure but she says she doesn't recall that statement. Truth be told either do I .......but I must of....right?
Oh yeah, just after we anchored at hut point we saw a pretty big squall several miles north of us.....with a waterspout below it.
Our week at Isla has gone so quickly. We re-entered the cruising community, which was great. We were anchored outside of Marina Parisio and marina stuff and cruisers there could not have been more helpful. They had a daily happy hour with $1 beers and offer a day pass, for those on the hook, to give them access to the internet, garbage, water, a pool and hot showers. We did pull in for a few days to take care of computer issues, but due to missing disks, was unable to do so. The stay was excellent. We took advantage of being at the dock, washed the boat, relaxed and socialized. We have been on the move non-stop since we left New York and it has been nice to finally slow down the pace.
Max enjoyed her stay as well. She was a good crew member and did her part during check-in by complaining about the long wait at the Port Captain's office. It worked, we got served right away. There was even talk amongst the cruisers about a baby rental program.
We are going to heading down the coast aka the Mayan Riviera (that sounds much better) to Belize.
Before heading down to Mexico, we did a lot of reading into the check in procedures at Isla Mujeres. Some of the things we read sounded so convoluted that we were tempted to skip Mexico all together. Once we got here, we learned that things were pretty simple. To start with, we anchored outside of Marina Parasio and the folks there were very helpful. Everyone in Isla monitors channel 13 on their VHF. At 8:30 every morning there is a local net where the cruisers, live aboards and marina staff provide share information, weather and help answers questions about the area. The daily happy hour at Marina Parisio is also a good source for local information.
There is a dinghy dock across from the Port Captains office. It has a yellow flag on it and is in front of the Cocktaliera. To check in your first stop is the copy shop. You will need numerous copies of your crew list, zarpe, passports and documentation for your stops at the different offices. We made 10 copies of each. The next stop is at the Health office. It is located in the hospital near the square. After that, you will need to go to immigration. The office is located across the street from the ferry terminal. If you stay for more than 7 days, you will need to pay the tax which was 237 pesos per person. This is payable at the HSBC bank next door to the office. After that you proceed to the Port Captain to check in. The office is only open until 2:30. The check in fee is based on the tonnage of your boat. We are 18 gross, 16 net and our fee was 185 pesos. The checkout costs the same as the check in.
The next question is to importata or not. Nobody at the any of the offices will mention it to you during check it. Apparently the Port Captain MAY ask for it when you check out. From we have learned from all of the other cruisers is that you require one if you stay more than seven days. We stayed seven days and were not asked for one. We met others, who had stayed longer and were not asked for it and some that were asked to provide it. Those who did not have one went and got one. In order to get an importata, you have to take the ferry to Cancun and the see the customs office next door to the ferry terminal (you no longer have to taxi to Puerto Morales). The cost is $50 and you must supply the serial numbers off your boat, the engine inside your boat, your dinghy, the dinghy motor and any other motors that you have. You must also have originals and copies of your paperwork. It is good for 10 years. It is best to ask the local cruisers what the current situation is.
Checkout was pretty simple. You first have to go to Port Captain and you will need to have a new crew list with your next destination. You will four copies of this. You will then have to immigration to check out. All crew members must go to immigration is person. You then return to the Port Captains office, pay your check out fee, get your zarpe out and you are good to go.
06/05/2008, Isla Mujeres, Mexico
We are now in Isla Mujeres, Mexico and got here on Tuesday morning (June 3rd) after a 69 hour run from the Dry Tortugas. As a lot of you who have been following our trip know, there was a tropical depression which turned into the first "named storm" of the year. It hit Belize and tracked overland through Mexico to 200 miles west of Isla Mujeres. So how did this effect our 69 hour run. the sea was angry that day my friend. but not where we were. We had an acceptably good run. If anything, the winds were a bit light and ended up motoring half of the distance. So we did survive the first named storm of the season, even thought it was only about 500 miles from us while we were underway.
We have sailed into Isla twice before and apart from the banditos and pirates, all is good. Ok, just trying to make it more interesting, there is actually no banditos and pirates. We are on the hook, but will duck into Marina Parisio on the weekend. The folks there are great. They run a morning VHF net where all of the cruisers discuss everything from new arrivals and weather to treasures of the bilge (things for sale). I might volunteer to host the net in my sexy voice for a laugh. It is good to re-enter the cruising community.
We have a few more days here yet. We are tying to work out the next stops along the way south. We do feel the pressure to keep moving as there are now named storms bopping around and we would like to keep them 500 miles away from us at any given time. We will be happier when we are close enough to run to the Rio Dulce for protection.
Max is doing splendidly. She is enjoying entry into the cruising community and had her first sundowners tonight. She was very social and well behaved. She didn't drink too much, but had her share of milk and water. For those of you who don't know, she cut her first tooth en route, but the tooth isn't showing above the gum line yet. We figure that she was a tad pissy en route because of the tooth, not because of the washing machine seas created by the 4 knot opposing current. More photos to come when we have wifi at the marina.
05/28/2008, Dry Tortugas
This morning we decided to ignore the guy sitting at his desk and left for the Dry Tortugas under a small craft warning. There were a couple of small squalls that hit us, but nothing with heavy wind. The ride was a bit rocky but well worth it as we are in a beautiful anchorage 70 miles closer to Mexico.
We will rest up tomorrow, go swimming, do some last minute stowage, cook a few meals, do our navigation and, if the weather looks right, leave for Isla Mujures on Friday.
