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"...with great pomp and circumstance and then came about,
raised the spinnaker, cranked the tunes...the radio came alive with
congratulations from the fleet"
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On February 28th at 12 noon, Margarita
crossed her path from four years ago off Zihuatenejo, tying the knot and
completing her circumnavigation of the world. What’s more, the original
crew of five was still aboard! The passage from Guatemala to Mexico was
tense but straightforward, the reception at Zihuatenejo was extraordinary.
The trip north from Guatemala to Mexico includes one
of the big trials of sailors in this part of the world, the Gulf of
Tehuantepec. This is the part of the west coast of southern Mexico that
curves eastward and forms the narrow strip of land between the Pacific and
the Gulf of Mexico. Sailor’s anxiety crossing this 200 mile stretch comes
from the “Tehuantepecers”, winds generated by high pressure in the Gulf of
Mexico spilling over the continental divide and blasting into the Gulf of
Tehuantepec. These winds, blowing gale strength of 40-50 mph from the
North, are difficult to predict and last from hours to days. Our cruising
guide says “Those who pass this way do so because they are heading to or
from the Panama Canal… few cruisers sail this water for pleasure.” Add to
that the experience some friends of ours had here 4 years ago involving
two boat loads of local banditos (a.k.a. pirates), and you have another
high spirited sail on Margarita.
When we were ready to leave Puerto Quetzal
Guatemala, it turned out we were looking at an excellent “weather
window”. We received 4 weather faxes a day, showing predicted conditions
out to 72 hours. We expected to be in the meat of the Tehuantepec about
36 hours after leaving Guatemala, and the next gale wasn’t showing yet.
We planned the passage carefully, setting off at 8 pm to make sure that we
crossed the worst part of the gulf during daylight. In fact the winds
were so light that we were much slower than anticipated and crossed that
part at night. Rule #1: be flexible. The trip was pretty uneventful. It
was so calm that we had to do a lot of motoring. Sounds wrong, doesn’t
it? You are a sailboat! Looking for calm weather? Hello! It feels and
sounds wrong, but there are certain parts of the world, and this is one of
them, where calm is what you want. When we were finally able to turn west
along the coast, in the infamous gulf, it was blowing its normal day to
day stuff, about 25-30 kts (35 mph). We were flying along on a beam reach
with very high spirits. At that point, heading west, even strong wind is
OK so we were very happy. By staying close to the shore (“one foot on
the beach”) the seas don’t have time to build up from the wind. This
means pretty calm seas and lots of wind, a nice combination. We pulled
into Huatulco, Mexico on the morning of 2/22. Back in North America!
It was great to get back to Mexico. We love the
people and the food and the climate. We do not like the bureaucracy.
Checking in to a Mexican port involves several trips to the port captain
and immigration and payments at the bank. Lots of back and forth trips
that seem either malicious or just plain stupid. Add to that three
inspections of Margarita while anchored in Huatulco. The first one by the
Navy, 4 men with M-16 automatic rifles, knocking on the boat hull 45
minutes after we dropped anchor, interrupting our celebratory French
toast! The worst part is that in Mexico this check in is required at each
port, and we pay about $25 to check in and to check out of each town, a
change since 1997/8. So that limits where we will stop here.
But enough whining. We fueled up the boat, did some
chores, ate some nice food and continued north to Zihuatenejo and our
completion of the big circle!
We arrived off the coast of Zihua mid morning on
February 28th. We thought it might be very bad luck to
celebrate our circumnavigation without actually crossing our outbound
path, so we traveled a bit past the bay, to make sure we crossed it. We
sprinkled some more of Grandma’s ashes (my mom, who’s ashes have traveled
with us for the whole trip) and raised our big US flag (special one, 8’
long, presented at my dad’s funeral for his service in the Coast Guard
during WWII). We made a major breakfast presentation to Poseidon (Emma
has made us revert to the Greek name for the god of the sea, rather than
the pedestrian Neptune): a fresh cup of espresso, a full liter box of red
wine (quite drinkable, actually), a plate of bread and honey, and a bag of
lime juice powder that traveled with us since leaving here in 1998
(Douglas says it too was quite drinkable.) We poured and threw these
things into the sea with great pomp and circumstance and then came about,
raised the spinnaker, cranked the tunes (Mozart’s 39th
symphony, followed by Beethoven’s Ode to Joy). Hugs all around, and a
big thanks to Poseidon. We have questioned his friendship once or twice
over the past 4 years and 41,111 miles, but overall he has given us a
pretty good ride. As we turned into the bay we were all high as kites.
Full of smiles that seemed to spill out laughter.
Rounding the point and coming into sight of the
boats in Zihuatenejo Bay, the radio came alive with congratulations from
the fleet. Dozens of great messages from boats we had never met. This is
one of, if not the most popular cruiser hangouts in Mexico and there were
about 60 yachts here. We missed most of the radio greetings as we were up
on deck soaking in the scene. Sarah was at the helm doing a fine job
keeping her spinnaker (put together in Jefferson Elementary School gym,
and rebuilt 3 times on this trip!) full and beautiful. The breeze was
perfect and we glided in with music blaring. Emma found the part of Ode
to Joy that we all know and love, and keyed the mike on the radio to
broadcast it. We sailed right into the pack, coming very close to our
great friends and best boat buddies, Hoptoad. Lots of hollering and horn
blasting, well-wishers motoring up in dinghies to take photos. We
couldn’t have felt any more special if we had been Sir Francis Chichester
finishing up his record breaking trip.
Thanks to the Hoptoads, we spent the next two days
basking in celebrity, of a kind. To have everyone anticipating our
arrival when we thought we would just slip in was incredible, and then the
Toads organized a party on our behalf at the local yachtie hangout. (Being
the selfless toads that they are, they did not tell anyone that they too
would be completing their circumnavigation here in Mexico, just a couple
of weeks later.) The party was a blast. Kegs of free beer ensured that
the turnout would be more than satisfactory. And to top it off, the
Hoptoads together with another great friend, Gypsy, made up some lyrics to
sing at the party, microphones and everything. The first was to the tune
of “Not fade away” with the closing verse: “Heading back across the line;
who’d a thought it’d feel so fine; Miss our friends but there’s a hope;
Just want off this damn boat! Haul the sheets and sail away. . . ” The
other was to the music of Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville”: “Some people
say that the cruising life’s insane; but I know . . . it’s as good as it
gets.” Whew.
Zihuatenejo is a place where US cruising boats
gather to head south and through the canal for the Caribbean, or they stop
and turn around to head back up into northern Mexico for hurricane season,
or they jump off for their Pacific crossing and possible circumnavigation.
People here are full of interest of the details of our trip. They ask
lots of questions and we trade stories. “What tips can you give us? What
was the worst weather you had? How hard will it be to re-enter?” This
is our community now, and we wonder what will happen when we remove
ourselves from it and transplant back into the “real world” where our
sailing experiences are shared or even understood by such a small
minority. I picture relating a story at some gathering in Skagit Valley,
you know, really getting going and hearing: “OK Neill, we get it; you had
a really great trip. But that was 10 years ago man, maybe it’s time to
move on.”
We will leave Zihuatenejo tomorrow (Monday the 11th)
and stop a few more times in Mexico, including Tenacatita, which holds
some very special memories. We have done a nice big shop here. (Our days
of having to do a major provision at a mini-mart are behind us.) We are
all fueled up for the next leg, shouldn’t need more diesel until half way
up Baja. We plan to get to San Diego around April 15th , and
home by the end of May. As always, it depends on the weather and our
endurance.
We still have about 2500 hard miles to go, but as we
get closer, the excitement builds about getting “home”. We now have a
list posted with reasons we are looking forward to getting home. Here is
a sample: refrigerator with a door, things staying fixed, counter space,
lots of water, “my own room”, dishwasher, being able to find tools,
shelves, stove with big burners that light and can be turned down, not
getting wet and salty running errands, and bagels.
Some numbers:
We left the North American continent on April 4, 1998
and returned 1,426 days later. We traveled about 36,800 miles in that
time. 26 miles per day, 1.07 miles per hour.
We have been away from home for 4 years and 6 months
(1,621 days), traveled a total of 41,111 miles.
A long, slow trip. Sometimes we wish it had been
slower. Next time it will be.
Neill and the mettlesome Margaritas
Zihuatenejo, Mexico |
