When I woke—I saw a fishing float right outside the window and
realized I’d fallen asleep on watch. Panicking I tried to reach out for the
autopilot to turn away from the float, but I was frozen in place. Then I woke
up again and realized the float was a buoy and I was about to run up on land. Then
things got really weird—the boat wouldn’t turn, it morphed into a kayak, and I
paddled up some rapids to where I could see the boat at anchor. When I tried to
I call Evan on the radio I realized the radio was broken.
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| Martin saved us the effort of setting up the dinghy for a surf landing while carting 100 litres of fuel |
I recall getting exam anxiety dreams. But then the fear of
showing up in the wrong room for the wrong test gradually gave way deadline
anxiety dreams where I’d wake up realizing that four interviews and 1200 words
were due yesterday. Navigation anxiety has been slow to seep into my
dreamscape. But these days it seems there to stay. It might be the new
seasickness medication I’m taking (my dreams are so crazy—but I’m vomiting less,
so hey…) or it may simply be the fact we sailed a whole lot of miles this past
year. Whatever the cause, making a safe landfall in both my dreams and in
reality has become an even bigger cause for celebration.
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| gorgeous anchorage--in the right conditions--if it's not crowded |
Our current landfall wasn’t on the list. This situation
actually isn’t new to us. On our first boat we set out expecting we’d go to the
South Pacific but then ended up in the Western Caribbean.
On this voyage there’s been about a 50/50 chance we’d land in the port planned
on the day planned.
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| My goodness we've missed 'neighbourhood' Mexican food |
Long distance cruising is an ongoing exercise in giving up
control. You can plan all you want—but the weather, the currents and random
luck are all going to dictate what you'll actually experience.
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| the best beach life anywhere... |
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In this case, we set out from Puerto Chiapas
with the plan to cross the Tehuantepec and then take on more fuel in Puerto
Hautulco. But then the winds were lovely and the current was in our favour and
it looked like we could skip the fuel and press on an additional 300 miles for Zihuatanejo.
It was a great plan.
But then we came into choppy seas, headwinds and 1-2.5 knots
adverse current and we spent over 10 hours going 2-3 knots—with the odd dip down
to 1 knot. The journey started to feel like Groundhog Day. Every time I started
watch or ended watch I could see the same landmarks. So we thought maybe we’d
stop for fuel in Acapulco.
But then Evan did the calculations again and Puerto Escondido started to look
good.
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| Gorgeous Zicatela beach--I think it's one of the prettiest we've ever visited |
Puerto Escondido is a great town—with a terrible anchorage.
But we knew there was a 40-50 foot patch somewhere in the bay—so we motored in
circles until we found it (it’s at 15°51.39'N 097°03.85'W if you're interested). Then we called the
awesome Martin Mora (mobile #954 103 2273)—who is actually a sport fishing
guide—but he’s also more than happy to help cruisers get fuel, ferry you to
shore, take you to his favourite neighbourhood taco stand and show you the
sights.
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| our awesome hosts |
We had a great day with Martin, his girlfriend Carmina
and her son Carlos. We saw just enough of Escondido
to make us wish we were staying longer—and enough to decide it will make a great destination
for a future Mexican holiday. And we’re off again. This time I’m not going to
declare a destination (somewhere north) or predict when we’ll arrive (hopefully before we
run out of fuel).
It’s awfully pretty out there though. And when we’re not
pounding into it, the miles are as dreamy as ever.
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