Fueling Up and Heading to Ixtapa

Eric had not intended to buy fuel here in Huatulco. He had read about the fuel dock in Santa Cruz Bay and decided it wasn’t the right place for us to get fuel. It was shallow and there were often surges that caused the boats being filled to bang into the sea wall. Gone Native had gotten fuel there the day they arrived and had confirmed our suspicions that it was not a fun experience.

When we checked in, the marina had told Eric that a fuel truck could deliver fuel to us here in the marina, which was a big surprise to us. He debated about it for about a day, and decided to get the fuel for a couple of reasons. One, we had been planning to Continue reading

Welcome to Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico

Around 0100, the wind picked up some more. Instead of 20 26 knots, it became more like 21 27. We know that doesn’t sound like much of a difference on paper, but the gusts were now more frequently on the higher end of the spectrum than they had been before. After only an hour, it started to die down. By 0230, the wind was down to 15. Since the wind was on our side and we were so close to shore, the ride had never changed for us, so even in the worst of the winds the ride was smooth and pleasant.

In the early morning, we rolled up 29,000 nautical miles. Wow. We certainly have done a lot of miles, haven’t we? At 0800, we looked outside and noticed there were a zillion small jellyfish in the water. We made excellent time all morning. We must have a current with us for the speeds to be so good. The currents in this gulf are also notoriously strong.

Our destination was the town of Continue reading

Passage from San Juan del Sur to Huatulco – Days 4 and 5

Day 4

In the very early morning, not too long before dawn, we encountered 7 pangas within a 10 mile range. Eric was on watch and had to do some evasive maneuvering to stay clear of them. Some had lights on and were easy to see, others didn’t bother to turn their lights on until we were almost on top of them. Thank goodness for radar!

This morning the seas are better. We are still bouncing up and down, but the rapidity of the swells has slowed down, which helps the ride immensely. Interestingly, the wind chop has picked up, going from 6 inches to 1 2 feet, yet the ride is still better. It is so true that wave intervals trumps wave height in the comfort meter.

When the sun came up, we peeked out and saw our bird was still in the cockpit. We started to worry that he may be dying. Yesterday, he would run away from us and try to hide by the little step leading to the starboard side walkway. Today he just sits sadly in the middle of the cockpit when we come out, making no effort to hide. Eric gave him Continue reading

Passage from San Juan del Sur to Huatulco – Days 2 and 3

Day 2

It was a smooth ride until around 0430, when the wind picked up to low 20’s. After dawn, we moved closer in to shore where, where the wind was only 1 4 knots apparent and the seas were smooth. Man, talk about a drastic difference! No wonder they advise running so close to shore. It was another gorgeous, cloudless day.

Eric saw a turtle this morning. What made him notice it was he saw a bird standing on the water. Not sitting, standing. He did a double take and realized the bird was standing on a turtle that was swimming in the water. Eric tried to get a photo, but the bird sensed the camera being turned on and flew off. He took a photo of the turtle, but you can’t really see it in the photo. It looks like a smudge. Christi thinks she may have seen a turtle shortly afterwards, but isn’t sure. It was farther out.

At 1300, Christi also saw bird standing on a turtle. We had thought it was a freak occurrence the first time, but now we think it could be a common behavior. As she was watching the duo, suddenly a four foot sailfish leapt out of the water in the distance. It smashed back down into the water and a couple seconds leapt up again. It jumped at least Continue reading

ATV Tour of San Juan del Sur

This morning we were at the ATV tour company office promptly at 0900. We think they were surprised to see us on time, expecting us to be late. We waited a few minutes while they got the vehicles ready and then we headed out. Here is Eric getting ready to go.

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It was just the two of us. We love it when we get private tours! At first we followed Continue reading