This the last of the Caribbean islands we will be seeing in a while - taken while underway through Belize on our way to Mexico.
Waiting for a weather window to move north to the US, we pulled into El Cid Marina in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. El Cid is on the Mayan Rivera just south of Cancun, It is a first class marina and hotel. One of our first adventures when reaching El Cid was exploring the little downtown (ok, ok, we were looking for a local phone sim card for Maggie!). While there we bought some Mexican pottery for the new house in Florida. Bob almost had to pull Maggie out of this shop (see the money in her hand, she was going to spend it no matter what).
After touring the facility of El Cid Resort and enduring a three-hour marketing pitch for their vacation club, we were granted a half-day all inclusive pass. We made the most of it, eating two large meals and drinking in between. At the pool bar, Bob met up with some great people who were staying at the Resort on the all-inclusive plan; he quickly made friends and got free drinks for the next several days. In fact he had too much to drink, they just kept coming.
While at the Marina, Tangaroa, another sailboat, pulled in on its way to Florida. As it turns out the single-handler Guy had just bought a house in Port Charlotte three miles from our new home and one that we looked at and considered buying. I think we will be good friends with Guy in the future especially since he is so close to our house. His dog Lola is smaller than Rosie!
We rented a car and went to Playa del Carmen, an adult playground in the Mayan Riviera - bars, long white beach, many restaurants, and hundreds of shops, .... it was quite colorful in terms of shopping opportunity and people watching. There were so many shops with the same items over and over - with shopkeepers calling us in any time we looked in their direction. We must have said "no, gracias" at least a thousand times.
We are in close touch with Chris Parker, the weather guru for sailors in the Caribbean and Eastern US. We thought we had a weather window to leave on December 8, but here is what developed, so we stayed put. That little red dot is 35 to 40 miles per hour. Thanks to Chris, we didn't go out.
We would be "stuck" in Puerto Morelos for another week. Rather than sit at the dock and play at the resort's pool, we rented a car again, and drove to Chiquila on the northern coast of Mexico, and took the ferry to Isla Holbox.
Along the way, we traveled miles of highway through the jungle, and through many small villages, all celebrating the Virgin of Guadeloupe, a huge event here in Central America. We didn't escape without a "speeding ticket," even though Bob wasn't speeding. Pulled over by uniformed National police carrying sub machine guns, we were told we had to pay 1000 pesos (almost $90) on the spot. After much discussion with the officer, and attempts to lower the penalty, we came up with a US $50 and 400 pesos, and went on our way. We understand this is a situation to be expected; we gringo tourists stand out like a sore thumb and the Mexican Federals are Highwaymen in uniform. Hope their kids enjoy a good Christmas.
Isla Holbox is a
laid-back fishing village that has begun to attract tourists, and
is particularly known as a top area for swimming with whale sharks
(May-September). The main transportation on the island is golf carts that
travel on the beach-sand roads. Here is the taxi stand at the ferry dock
and one of the larger "divided highways" on the island.
And here is the taxi stand in Chiquila. Bicycles are used for everything.
It was a fun weekend getaway. On the way back to SeaTryst, we stopped in Cancun for provisioning, to make sure we have enough food for our passage. It was an interesting contrast from the beach roads we just left to the large city.
The weather here, as everywhere, has been unseasonably chilly; this morning the temp in the cockpit was 58 degrees.
It looks like we might be able to leave on Wednesday, December 15. We figure it will take about 80 hours to reach Punta Gorda, and hope to make it there before the next cold front on Saturday. Rosie is waiting for our return - and we are anxious to get back to her.