Seabrook, TX to Isla Mujeres, MEX (Post #1 of 11)

[View of Isla Mujeres as we enter the harbor]

Remember you can click the photos for a larger version.  Hope you enjoy sharing this adventure!

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You can read of the plans we made leading up to the Isla Mujeres Trip under  "Category 10) Our Adventure Plans."

April 9, 2008--Pine Knot is safely moored at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina in Isla Mujeres, Mexico.  We arrived this morning having covered 680 miles direct from Seabrook, Texas to Isla Mujeres in a four day crossing of the Gulf of Mexico.

(Many thanks to Kay and Vic for some of these photos)

[Pine Knot in Isla]

[Pine Knot all cleaned up after another safe voyage]

[Puerto Isla Mujeres Resort]

[Scene along the channel to the resort]

[Scene along the channel to the resort]

[Scene along the channel to the resort]

This has been Pine Knot's most ambitious adventure so far, and again she performed flawlessly.  We have photos and more to write soon.  Right now we're giving her a well deserved bath.

[Kelton, Vic, and Kay- A Champagne toast to our safe arrival!]

[Kelton, Louisia, and Vic]

[Kelton and Louisia]

Our Gulf of Mexico crossing was relatively uneventful, just one helluva long way!  We averaged right at our planned 6.8 knots, even though we did have to slow down the last evening so we could time our landfall at Isla Contoy Light for sunrise.

[Isla Contoy Lighthouse-Our first sight of land after four days]

We encountered a pretty powerful thunderstorm about mid-way.  The storm was with us for about four hours with winds on the beam sustained at 40 knots with gusts up to 51 knots.  The only casualty of the storm was our American flag.  It was whipped unmercifully and ended up in tatters.  The largest waves were running at least 20 feet.  We turned about 30 degrees into the seas and were still pushed along almost directly on our course line.

[Radar image as storm builds around us-Winds here about 40 knots]

[Pine Knot Riding out the Storm]

[Storm Changes Shape--It develops a strong leading edge and begins to outrun us]

As we entered the shallower water near the Yucatan, we trolled some artificial baits.  We lost one bait but did end up catching and releasing a nice tuna.

[I was more shocked than the tuna that we actually caught something]

[Pretty nice tuna!]

[Kelton and Louisia in the Pilot House]

Upon our arrival in Isla, representatives from the various Mexican agencies came aboard Pine Knot for the clearing process.  We were visited by Sanitation and Immigration. It was a simple process and the inspectors were very friendly and courteous.  They especially enjoyed being able to do their paperwork on Pine Knot's little table in the air conditioned pilot house. A cold drink and a small gratuity didn't hurt, either.

After clearing we took down our yellow Quarantine Flag and hoisted the Mexican Flag in its place.

[Running up the Mexican Flag]

[We share the resort with hundreds of iguanas]

April 10, 2008--Vic and Kay moved off Pine Knot and into one of the resort rooms.  Louisia is about to begin one of her boat cleaning sessions and wants us all out of the way.

Louisia got Pine Knot all cleaned up to her specifications so we all went to dinner at a great sea-side restaurant, Casa O's.  We had a wonderful dinner overlooking the lights of the Cancun hotel zone across the channel.  The girls both had Grouper Veracruz and it was excellent. 

April 11, 2008--Louisia and I took the ferry from Isla Mujeres to Puerto Juarez on the mainland.  We had to visit the customs office, a short walk from the ferry landing, to do the paperwork for a temporary importation of Pine Knot into the country. All our papers were in order so the process was no big deal, just a $50 fee for a 10 year permit.

[Louisia on the ferry to the mainland]

[Ferry Terminal-Puerto Juarez]

[Port Captain Office, Puerto Juarez]

[What more could we ask for?  There's even a McDonald's at the ferry landing!]

Tonight we had dinner downtown at Rolandi Pizzeria on Ave. Hidalgo.  Louisia and I split an order of Fettuccine Rolandi and it was plenty for each of us.  We also checked out the local grocery market near the downtown square.  There will be no problem finding all we'll need here.

We are now connected to the marina's wireless internet.  Our Verizon wireless card was working, but runs about $1.00/minute.  We do have cell phone service while in Mexico.

April 12, 2008--I spent the morning cleaning and oiling the trolling rods and reels, recharging Pine Knot's water softener, and getting my stuff together to head back to Texas.  It's great to be able to leave clothes and toiletries aboard and travel with only a backpack.  Pine Knot's washer and dryer sure makes boat travel simpler!

Louisia will be aboard Pine Knot in Isla for about a month. I'll fly back to Houston today to get some office work done.  Louisia's sister, Connie, is coming down to spend a week on Pine Knot.  I'll go back to Isla this Friday and be there a couple of weeks.

Public transportation here is excellent.  A $3.00 cab fare from our marina to the ferry dock (5 minutes), a $3.50 fare on a high-speed ferry (20 minutes) over to Puerto Juarez just north of Cancun, a $5.00 cab fare to the Downtown Cancun bus station, then a $3.50 bus fare to the Cancun Airport.

You can get a cab directly to the airport from the Puerto Juarez ferry terminal for $55.00 if you don't want to do the bus thing.  It takes maybe an hour-and-a-half to get from our marina to the airport.  Not bad!

[Connie and Louisia]

April 15-18, 2008--Louisia and Connie are having a super time in Mexico!  They rented a golf cart day-before-yesterday and drove to Playa Norte (the North Beach).  When I talked to her, they were having lunch at a beach-side restaurant.  No problem once they worked out how to put the golf cart in reverse!

["Sanditoes" on Playa Norte]

Yesterday, they joined a bus tour to the Mayan ruins. The tour was and all day event, but Louisia says it was well worth it.  Today, they're hanging out at the resort pool, resting up from their grueling tour the day before.  Tomorrow's plan is to take in the bullfights in Downtown Cancun.  I told her to root for the bull!

[The Bull Lost]

Note:  Out of respect for the poor bull, I refuse to post more photos of the bullfight.

[Mayan Ruins]

[More Ruins]

[Connie and her tour guide, Felipe]

April 18, 2008--I arrived in Cancun today.  Louisia and Connie met me at the airport.  Connie took a flight back to the States and Louisia and I rode the bus, a cab, and the ferry back to Pine Knot.

April 19, 2008--I did some of Pine Knot's preventive maintenance items today and launched the dinghy, Knothead.  We can use the dinghy instead of taxis to get around.  We want to do some snorkeling at the reefs so we need the dinghy for that, as well.

[Dinghy Knothead is Launched]

[Dinghy Knothead]

Louisia and I drove Knothead into town and along Playa Norte.  We did locate a few interesting snorkeling spots to return to.  Maybe Sunday we can do some snorkeling.  We spent some time at the resort pool sorting out the snorkel gear and eating nachos. 

Alberto and a friend came by and gave Pine Knot a wash job.  I talked with him about adding a few coats of varnish, maybe three, to Pine Knot's exterior teak.  She'll be out in the sun for the next couple of months so I want to get the woodwork well-protected while we're here. 

April 20, 2008--Had breakfast in town this morning at a little restaurant just in front of the public market.  Actually, there are four little restaurants clustered together here.  I again had one of my favorite things, Mexican Eggs and fresh-squeezed orange juice.  No need to eat anything else the rest of the day!

[Public Market Restaurants]

[Juevos Rancheros y Jugo de Naranja]

We walked around town awhile and came upon a sign in front of a narrow alleyway for a Tortilleria.  We bought a huge stack of fresh tortillas for one-dollar.

[Alley to the tortilla factory]

[The line for fresh tortillas]

[Pretty good deal--$1.00 a stack]

[Isla Street Vendor]

I made a dive under the boat this afternoon and everything looks good down below.  I am going to need to scrape the barnacles off the propellers of the bow thruster, though.

[Godzilla vs Godzilla!]

We spent the rest of the day at the resort pool reading and just being lazy.  Just before sundown I waxed a few sections on Pine Knot.  That's the way we have to wax her, one small section at a time.  Hand waxing a boat the size of Pine Knot is a daunting task.  A little each evening and we should be done by the end of the week.

April 21, 2008--Louisia and I went to a wedding in Playa del Carmen for a daughter of some East Texas friends. It was a beautiful affair on the beach at the Iberostar Hotel.

[Wedding on the Beach]

[More Wedding on the Beach]

April 22, 2008--I spent the morning doing Pine Knot's preventive maintenance scheduled tasks. No problems were discovered so that's good!

This afternoon we rented a golf cart and explored the southern part of the island.  The coastline on the Caribbean side is beautiful with rocky wave-washed cliffs.

[Isla's southern-most tip]

[Isla's eastern shore and natural seawall]

[Homes on rocky cliffs]

Many beautiful homes are perched on the cliffs overlooking the Caribbean sea; spectacular views and cool sea breezes. Several were offered for sale.  I'll check out a couple and see what they're going for.  I could see us living down here.  Isla Mujeres is one of the prettiest places I've been.  The people are super friendly and the food is great!

We checked out a few of the local beach clubs to see which ones we might want to visit in the next few days.  Looks like we can take the dinghy to a couple of nice ones over on the west side of the island. 

At Playa Lancheros Beach Club, "tikinxic" (teek-een SHEEK) style fish is cooked on a huge open pit out at the cook shack behind the restaurant.  The fish is cut in half and brushed with a mix of lime juice and ground seeds of the annatto tree.  The fish is cooked in a metal basket on what looked like a sheet of tin.

[Dolphin being bisected]

[Fresh-fish roasting on the open pit]

Louisia had brought some school supplies from home for the children at La Gloria English School.  There are over 140 kids enrolled in their English language classes here.  They were happy to get them and asked if we might volunteer to help with classes when we come back in mid-May.  Could be fun.

[La Gloria English School--Louisia, Katy (teacher), and kids]

Late in the afternoon we went to the "Super Express" Grocery Store near the public square, the main grocery store on the island, and loaded up with some supplies.  Louisia had to ride in the back of the golf cart to keep the groceries from falling out the back.

[View of Pine Knot across Laguna Makax]

Back aboard Pine Knot, I continued with the polishing and waxing her shaded side.

April 23, 2008--Louisia went out jogging this morning while I did more boat maintenance.  She made it all the way from Pine Knot to the downtown ferry dock and return.  Looks like about a three-mile run to me. 

Alberto has started taping and sanding, getting the wood prepped for the varnish.  We have twelve coats of varnish on Pine Knot's bright work now, and Alberto will add another three or four on top of that.

[Alberto laying down tape]

Later, we took the golf cart into town and had breakfast at Amigos.  Amigos is noted for their chilaquiles, so that's what we ordered.  Chilaquiles is tortilla chips, red salsa, thinly sliced onions, crumbled cheese and sour cream with either huevos (eggs) or pollo (chicken).  I had the chicken and Louisia had the eggs.  It's almost as good as the huevos rancheros.  I'll have to have each a few more times to make my final determination.

[Fresh Red Snapper for someone's lunch]

While at the restaurant, a local fisherman came by delivering his catch.  Hard to get fish fresher than this.

We also visited a pharmacia for more suntan lotion and the little hardware store. I'm having a problem with Pine Knot's TV cable system.  I can get a good signal when I hook the TV directly to the dock outlet, so the problem is in the wiring in the boat.  I bought a long piece of cable wire so I can start testing the boat wiring.  We've never used the TV on Pine Knot for TV, just DVD movies.  This is the first marina where we've tried hooking up to cable TV.

In the afternoon, we took the dinghy Knothead over to Playa Norte and Chi Chi's & Charlie's beach club.  We anchored her just off the beach and waded in.

[Playa Norte]

[Looking for a good anchoring spot]

[Chi Chi's & Charlie's Beach Club]

[Knothead at anchor off the beach]

On the beach, we met a nice young couple, Sagi and Shoshi, visiting Isla from Israel.  It was interesting hearing about their travels through Central America and the Mexican Yucatan, and about their lives in Israel. 

[Sagi and Shoshi]

[Louisia and Shoshi at Playa Norte]

We gave them a ride in Knothead over to Pine Knot for a tour.  They were amazed that we had traveled so far by boat and really enjoyed getting a look at Pine Knot.  It was fun to see them posing for photos at the ship's wheel.  We dinghied back along the waterfront so they could get some good photos of boats and waterbirds. 

Sagi told us that Isla Mujeres is well know among Israelis and is a traditional final-stop for rest and relaxation  after touring Central or even South America.

[Dinner at Sunset Grill]

We had dinner with our friends that evening back at Playa Norte near their hotel at the Sunset Grill. 

April 24, 2008--Not much tourist stuff today.  Louisia and I spent a good part of the day doing boat maintenance, hung out at the resort pool for a few hours, walked to town and had dinner at Rolandi Pizzeria.  We had Fettuccine Rolandi again and had enough left for another meal.

[Pool at our Resort]

Louisia lubed the rubber seals on all the windows, doors, port lights, and hatches.  I cleaned all the strainer baskets; air conditioners, engine, and generator, and the shower sump and air conditioner sump. 

April 25, 2008--Louisia went jogging again this morning while I got started on more boat maintenance.  I'm  working off our computer preventive maintenance list.  Pine Knot gets a thorough going over when we follow our maintenance program.

[Pine Knot in her slip at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina]

Louisia lubed all the canvas snaps and finished up lubing some more of the rubber window seals.  Alberto has finished sanding all the woodwork and will begin laying down the varnish early tomorrow morning before it gets too hot. 

[Alberto aka "Shorty" has the woodwork taped, sanded and ready for varnish]

April 26, 2008--Today we took Knothead over to Playa Norte and visited with our friends, Shoshi and Sagi.  They were headed home in the afternoon, something like 17 hours of flying back to Israel.  We had hamburgers on the beach from the Sunset Grill, then drove Knothead all along the west side of the island down to Punta Sur and back to our marina.

[Mexican Navy boats in the harbor]

[The car ferry from the mainland]

Just before sunset, I did some more waxing.  We spent the evening onboard Pine Knot watching the movie "Into ther Wild."  We exchanged DVD movies with our neighbors John and Suzanne on Zeelander.  They are an interesting couple on a big catamaran sailing boat.  They have done a circumnavigation and have been cruising for about nine years.

April 27, 2008--Louisia and I walked into town this morning to look around a bit and pick up a few supplies at the Supermercado and the hardware store.  Zeelander wanted some lettuce and a cucumber and we needed some TV cable connectors and some medicine Louisia was running short of.

[The island supermarket]

[Nice little store with pretty good selection of things]

We picked up a roasted chicken at La Mexicana on Hidalgo Street.  It's  complete with rice, beans, tortillas and salsa.  We'll have that for tonight's dinner.

This afternoon, Louisia and I took Knothead out to the reef near the harbor entrance for some snorkeling. We anchored in the calm water of the lagoon near a wrecked ferry and swam out to the reef. It was just too rough, with waves crashing on the rocks, so we were only in the water for half-an-hour before giving up and coming back to Pine Knot.

[Ferry Wreck]

[Snorkeling in the Lagoon]

Have I mentioned how wonderful the weather has been since we've been here?  Each day has been practically a carbon copy of the day before:  No rain, high temperature about 86 degrees, low around 70.  There has been a constant cooling breeze from east to southeast of about 15 miles per hour.  It feels amazingly dry here compared to Southeast Texas.  Not sure how that can be since we're surrounded by water.  Oh yeah, the water temperature is a perfect 86 degrees!  Mucho bueno!

April 28, 2008--Shorty got the second coat of varnish done this morning and the woodwork looks really good.  Looks like he does know what he's doing when it comes to applying varnish.  We use Epifanes varnish on Pine Knot.

[Varnish Second Coat]

Some of the sailboats involved with the the "Regata del Sol al Sol" race began arriving today.  Something like 55 boats competed in this race from St. Petersburg, FL to Isla Mujeres.  I understand this to be the 40-th year for this event. The race covers 456 nautical miles and it look like it has taken most of them about 3-1/2 days to get here.  A few of the boats have taken slips in our marina, and the rest are scattered among the other marinas or anchored out.

[Carinthia, one of the Winners]

One of the winners is berthed near us at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina.  In the photo above, check out all the sailbags on deck.  These boats carry extra sails for all sorts of wind conditions they might encounter.

[Kadey-Krogen 39 Bodacious]

A Kadey-Krogen 39, Bodacious, accompanied the sailboats across the Gulf.  Another Kadey-Krogen, 42 foot Kinship, was also part of the race, but turned back after 150 miles with waterpump problems. Kinship was carrying all the race trophies, so the awards will be presented back in the States. 

Bodacious and Kinship were also hauling over some headliner material for our friends on Zeelander.  I drove John over in the dinghy to pick up his material, but it was down in the Bodacious engine room and was to be unloaded later in the day.

[Cocktails at Picus Cockteleria]

Louisia and  I walked to town again today and did some shopping for the kids back home. We spent the rest of the evening at the resort pool and had dinner aboard Pine Knot.

April 29, 2008--In yesterday's posting I mentioned that the Kadey-Krogen 42 Kinship, carrying the race trophies, had turned back due to mechanical problems.  The owner, Dave Dumas, ended up flying to Isla to take part in the post-race festivities.  I met Dave the other evening on our dock and gave him a tour of Pine Knot.  He's quite a guy!  I had read about him on the internet, and knew all about some of his adventures aboard Kinship. 

[Kinship being ticketed for anchoring violation]

One thing particularly interesting is how Dave got involved with fighting a Marco Island, Florida city ordinance which prohibited boats from anchoring more than 12 hours or within 300 feet of shore and set a 72-hour anchoring limit anywhere in the city.  Dave intentionally anchored Kinship within the 300 foot limit and waited to be ticketed.  The ordinance had been adopted by the Marco Island City Council after residents and members of the Marco Waterway Organization complained about a derelict vessel in the Marco River and boats anchoring close to waterfront homes.  Dave felt that this simply interfered with the rights of boaters to anchor where they pleased.

A Florida county judge ultimately declared the Marco ordinance restricting boat anchoring in city waterways to be unconstitutional, a great win for Florida boaters and boaters passing through Florida waters.  The ruling is under appeal, but Dave has made great headway in protecting the rights of fellow boaters. Way to go Dave!

April 30, 2008--Louisia and I took Knothead over to Play Norte again today and hung out on the beach.  We met a couple at the pool yesterday, and they went with us over to the beach.  Tonight we're having dinner over at Hotel Villa Rolandi, supposedly the finest restaurant on the island.  We'll let you know how it turns out.

May 1, 2008--Dinner at Hotel Villa Rolandi was good.  Louisia had Red Snapper and I had Fettuccini Alfredo.  They serve the same tasty puffed-up flatbread there as they do at the Rolandi Pizzeria downtown.

[Chatting with Shorty and Elmer, Hotel Villa Rolandi in background]

Today Louisia and I will start getting Pine Knot squared away for our flight back to Texas tomorrow. We'll be leaving her in the marina at Puerto Isla Mujeres til May 13  We need to hoist Knothead back onboard, defrost the fridge and icemaker, and make sure Pine Knot is tied up securely. Shorty and Elmer have promised to keep an eye on her while we're gone.

   

[Fort Jefferson in the Dry Turtugas]

When we come back to Isla on the 13th, we'll be getting Pine Knot ready to cross over to the Dry Tortugas to check out Fort Jefferson and then on to Key West.  The Dry Tortugas will be a run of about 291 nautical miles and will take us along the north coast of Cuba. Key West will be another 70 nautical miles.

We'll hope to leave Isla somewhere around May 18, the next full moon.  The trip to the Dry Tortugas will take us 2 days and then another day to Key West.  After Key West, we plan to cruise Pine Knot along the Gulf Coast back to Texas.

May 2, 2008--Louisia and I are back home in Texas.  We'll write more when we return to Isla on May 13.

May 13, 2008--Louisia and I arrived back onboard Pine Knot today.  Our flight from Houston left at about 9:00 am and we were in Isla Mujeres about 2:30 pm.  We took the bus from the airport to the downtown Cancun bus station ($7.00), then a cab to the Puerto Juarez ferry terminal ($5.00), then the ferry to Isla Mujeres ($7.00).  As I've mentioned before, a cab directly from the airport to the ferry terminal runs about $55.00.

[Waiting for the Bus]

Everything on Pine Knot looks good.  The boat doesn't get as dirty here as she does back in Seabrook, even though she's kept under cover there in Texas.   Guess our air in Texas is just dirtier.

We walked to town for dinner at what has become our favorite spot here, Rolandi's Pizzeria.  We had the Fettuccine Rolandi again and the wonderful puffed bread.

[Rolandi's Brick Oven]

[Fettuccine Rolandi]

[Rolandi's Puffed Bread]

Walking back by the town square, we stopped for awhile to take in a local volleyball match.  Looked like it was the old-guys vs the young guys. 

[Town Square Volleyball]

Now we're waiting for a good weather window for our next leg to Key West.  It looks like we may leave Isla on Saturday for a two day, 291 mile run to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.  We plan to spend two days anchored there resting up, snorkeling, and touring the fort before moving on to Key West, a 70 mile trip.

May 14, 2008--This morning we did boat maintenance and then spent the afternoon at the resort pool.  I'm having some trouble with Pine Knot's oil changing pump.  I can't seem to get the pump to prime so I can change the generator oil.  The pump is mounted up on the engine room bulkhead so it may not be able to lift the oil from the generator sump.  Last time I used the pump, I poured some oil into the discharge hose and ran it back through to get the pump going.  That doesn't seem to be working this time, though.  Oh well, I'll fix it when we get to Key West where I can get repair parts.

[Reverso Oil Change Pump]

Tonight we're having dinner at Poc-Chuc for some authentic Yucatan food.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

It seems Poc-Chuc Restaurant is named after it's signature dish, "Poc-Chuc" so that's what we ordered.  It's a traditional Yucatan dish; a pork steak marinated in sour orange juice, grilled and served with black beans, rice, tortillas and a fiery sauce.  For an appetizer, we tried the Panuchos; three small corn tortillas topped with shredded chicken (I think), lettuce, tomato, and avacado.  This was a pretty tasty meal at a cheap price. 

[Louisia at Poc-Chuc]

[Panuchos at Poc-Chuc] [Trust me here, carefully ask for "pan-NEW-chos" not "pan-NO-chas"]

[Poc-Chuk at Poc-Chuk]

[Breakfast Menu at Poc-Chuk]

[Louisia at Poc-Chuc]

May 15, 2008--We walked to the town market this morning for some provisions.  We just need to take on some fuel and clear out with immigration before moving on to Ft. Jefferson and the Keys on Saturday.

[Local Fishermen Tying Nets]

We spent the afternoon on Playa Norte, enjoying the gin-clear water and the cool breeze; also a few cold cervezas.

[Another S****y Day in Paradise!]

We picked up a few trinkets from the beach vendors for the kids back home and said "adios" to Thomas our favorite waiter at the beach. 

[Last Day at Chi-Chi & Charlie's]

Tonight we had another great dinner at Casa O's, which has to be the most romantic spot in Isla. The sunsets from Casa O's are magnificent!

[Sunset at Casa O's]

[Dinner with My Sweetie at Casa O's]

There are many sport fishermen docked at Pine Knot's pier at Puerta Isla Mujeres Marina.  Every late afternoon they come back, clean their catch, scrub the boats, and prepare baits for the following day.  At night, the captains and mates hang out on the dock and tell fish stories.  Louisia and I call this "Testosterone Alley."

["Testosterone Alley"]

May 16, 2008--Louisia and I gave Pine Knot a scrubbing this morning, checked to make sure her running lights and anchor light were working, and gave the Deere engine and generator a good going over, in preparation for tomorrow's start of our cruise to the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson.

Just after lunch, the Immigration Officer came by and did our paperwork for clearing out of Mexico.  Now all we have to do is fuel up tomorrow and head out.  The trip to the Dry Tortugas should take around 40 hours at 7-1/2 knots, our expected cruising speed, so we don't need to leave Isla any earlier than 2:00 pm to make landfall at Fort Jefferson by sunrise Monday.

This afternoon, we took the ferry over to Cancun and did some prowling around.  Louisia's still looking for something special to bring home to the kids, but it looks like they just might have to get something from Key West, instead. 

Tonight, Louisia is in the galley putting together some of her delicious taquitos for the trip.  I'm doing some last minute review of the charts and cruising guides to make sure we know where we're heading. 

We'll be out of cell phone range and have no internet connection til we get to Key West Wednesday late-afternoon, if all goes as planned.  Adios for now!

(More to Come)