Adventures with David & Gail

Isla and beyond! - We stopped in Isla Mujeres to officially clear into Mexico, wait out some weather and do some provisioning. Actually US immigration really doesn't care about where we started from to reenter the US, and they don't ask for a Zarpe so we could have gone on to Florida without stopping in Mexico. But we wanted to see Isla and our Zarpe listed it as the next port. The stop ended up costing us a couple of hundred dollars to clear in and out again, but we enjoyed the stay and felt we might come back some time.

The Puerto Isla Mujeres Resort and Yacht Club is the marina where we ended up. Tom and Lori on Camelot were the first boat we saw and they came out to help us into the slip. Also on the dock were Skip and Betsy on Ducks in a Row. We had met Tom and Lori first in the San Blas and Skip and Betsy at Red Frog Marina in Bocas. And here we were together again. Skip and Betsy had their own story of crossing back to the states when fuel problems caused them to change course and ended up here. And a new acquaintance for us but known to some friends were Howard and Lynn on Swift Current also waiting to cross to the US.

So the four of us hung out and did maintenance stuff for a few days while the weather in the crossing area mellowed. We were watching for the winds to change more southerly and the seas to calm after a front had gone through. The weather looked good for Thursday, May 16, and we, with Swift Current, decided it was our best shot. Ducks still had fuel issues and Betsy had gone home for a few days so they were staying. Camelot decided to stay for a few more days to let things get just right. So it was to be just the two of us.

We rented a golf cart for Wednesday to explore the island, clear out of Mexico, and get a few more last minute provisions. The island is being developed and growing. It is still a big diving center and a day sail visit for tourists from Cancun on the mainland. The water around the island is crystal clear and the reefs beautiful. We had lunch at Punta Sur (same name as San Andres but not as nice).

But the highlight of our day was meeting the plastic bottle island guy and touring his house. His name is Richart Sowa from England and this was his third "island" attempt. He has been on BBC and Ripley's Believe It or Not. He has been in magazines and on TV. The concept is simple. Take a bunch of old fruit or vegetable bags like you see in the grocery store and fill them with empty plastic bottles. Then put them under wooden pallets as a base. Raft the pallets together and then start building on top. His island also uses mangrove and ficas trees planted on the island to grow roots through the bottles and give the island more stability. His two story "house" had two bedrooms, nice sitting area, galley, a sundeck with Jacuzzi(?) and a composting head. He uses a small barge also made from plastic bottles to cross from the shore to the island. I could go on and on but needless to say he is a colorful character and his island was an interesting visit. Check the Photo Gallery and Google him on the internet!
As a side interest, we also stopped at the Fish Institute and Turtle Farm before checking in the cart. It was bigger than the Old Hegg's Turtle Sanctuary on Bequia with a slightly different purpose. But in the end they are both helping to preserve the endangered turtle species. It is worth the small entrance fee.

We were ready to head to the US and took off as planned with Swift Current. Just out of Isla we headed northeast on a heading of about 45 degrees on a direct line to the Dry Tortugas and were picked up by the Yucatan Current.

A quick explanation here. There are four currents that make up the famous Gulf Stream which starts actually around Miami. The Caribbean Current comes north from South America and the eastern Caribbean to form the Yucatan Current between Cuba and Mexico. This shoots north into the Gulf of Mexico to where it goes west to form the Gulf Loop Current (which became famous during the BP oil spill) and then loops back east to make up the Florida Current. The Yucatan goes at about 2-3 knots so we were headed north!

Instead of the direction as planned, we were going about 20-25 degrees over the ground in the current. The sailing was great. Swift Current was just as her name and, as she was faster than WD and sailing with the current, soon was over the horizon! We were making good time with the current pushing us as well. We just weren't going where we wanted. But the trip was about 300 miles and we had a lot of time to make adjustments. Our plan was to slowly make our way across the current while going north and then catch the east bound Gulf Loop and head to the Dry Tortugas. For now we just sailed. Winds were nice between 15-20 knots and the seas were a relatively calm 3-5 feet. So the sailing was close hauled but not too rough.

At about 12 am on the second night we got a great lift as the wind direction changed and we headed almost directly to the Dry Tortugas with the Gulf Loop behind us now. Our plan would have worked if the winds had not decided to almost die soon after that so we had to motor the last 40 miles. We arrived at Ft. Jefferson on Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas after 54 hours covering about 320 miles. And WD was back in US waters for the first time in 18 months.

During the trip when people asked where we were going, we always said the Dry Tortugas. We had tried to make it there a few years ago but weather prevented us from getting any closer than about 100 miles. So it took us 18 months and about 6000 miles to get here instead. The plan is to explore the park for a few days and then make a couple stops in the Keys before arriving in Miami. The big crossings are done and we are back in familiar waters a little sad but also with a lot of pride in our accomplishment. Others obviously go further and stay longer but we had a plan and made it successfully. Now we are almost home.