Puerto Aventuras

June 6^th

Set sail for Puerto Aventuras and a glorious romp it was, made the crossing in 3 hours. Actually lined up on the wrong hole in the reef, and was ready to run it. Luckily the marina explained to follow the cats that were behind the reef and leaving where I was. Oh look another opening! Sea was quite boisterous now and entering a 15 yard cut with a following sea was enough to tighten the old scrotum up a bit I can tell you. Jerry the marina guy says I deviated from the Range lights. Range lights? What range lights, might have been nice if I'd known about them.

Three hands waiting to see me in. That was nice. I'm tied up to a wall that's 6 feet from the water. That means I have quite a step up from my deck to the dock. Lucky I kept my yoga classes going. What? Oh yeah, I've never had yoga classes. Being below the dock, and being tied to basically a stone heat sink means this is going to be a hot berth. Luckily it cools off nicely by about 6:00 in the morning when the sun starts coming back up.

Found out today, that Xcalec no longer has an immigration station so I can't check out from there. And Majawal, which is a cruise boat stop only has immigration when a cruise boat visits. I checked the schedule and there's not one due (after tomorrow) until the 12^th. I wouldn't mind waiting but I have zero charts for Majahual. So it looks like its back to Cozumel for me. The cruising guide actually shows Puerto Aventuras as a port of entry. But I've been told what it means is paying for customs and immigration to travel from Cozumel. I think that's now like Plan G. To be continued ...

Puerto Aventuras is a funny place. It has 3 large pools where you can swim with Dolphins, Seals and Manatee. It has lots of restaraunts, and some tourist stores, and Drug Stores selling all sorts things to fix what ails you. But ... it has no soul. Its like Disneyland without Snow White. Its an Anglo island in Mexico where everyone is hoping to make it big through real estate. It has amenities and no character. Is Mexico without the Mexicans. I did not like this place nearly as much as Isla Mujeres. I'm on a boat but I have no access to the beaches to go swimming. The nearest beach access for me is about a mile away and its enclosed behind a reef. I think its man made, or maybe it has that manufactured feel like a lot of this place. Its all very convenient here, but you have to jump the reservation to get anything feeling Mexican.

June 7^th

OK, the whole reason for coming to Puerto Aventuras, the Tulum trip. Took a Collectivo, actually a nice big bus into Tulum (cost $30 pesos). Missed my stop, so I walked back to the site and walked the site. I've said it before and I'll say it again, those Mayans sure can pile rocks. Not quite as impressive as Chichen Itza but more intimate and cozy. It's also a much prettier location since it sits above the cliffs.

Could have hopped the Collectivo at the site, but no decided to walk the 67 miles or so into town. Did tell you it was HOT! Anyway, Tulum was nice and touristy, no sign of the vegan restaurant scene though. Not that I was particularly hungry anyway. Finally poured myself into a Collectivo only to emerge from the boat for beer and tacos (veggie ones, they were actually pretty damn tasty despite the pineapple.

June 8^th

I was supposed to sail back to Cozumel today but its a friday.,I need to clear out of Mexisco. Just ain't going to happen on a saturday and sunday so I will wait 2 more days.

Damn mosquitoes somehow got under the net last night, not the best of sleep had last night.

Lazy day today, I wore myself out with all that walking. Inquired about:-

Where's my laundry
Fishing license
Belize courtesy flag

Drew a blank on all 3.

I found the showers and took advantage of them. “Clean at last, clean at last! Thank God Almighty I'm clean at last”. Then I sweated, again.

No one has charts. My electronic charts suck. They are basic outlines only and reefs may or may not show up. A lot of the time they are in the wrong place. I really dropped the ball on this one. So, I spent sometime online and figured out how to buy Admiralty charts and import them into OpenCPN – my PC based plotter. Took me a while, downloaded the Admiralty charts together with 2 port charts from the Mexican government. The admiralty charts really are not any better than what I have already. Grrrrr! I guess there really isn't anything better than what I have in my cruising guide. Damn!

June 9th

OK, time to leave and get this show on the road, all I need is my laundry, which I am assured will be delivered. Got some groceries, and I'm ready to go.

No laundry.

June 10^th

Its sunday, marina office is not open. No laundry.

I eat a meal ashore – drunken noodles. It was actually pretty darn good.

June 11th

OK, I'll just go get my laundry and I'm off, after the marina opens of course. I stroll over to the office and ask Gabriela, the middle aged office manager where my laundry is. She looks absolutely flabbergasted, then before she says anything she picks up the phone to call someone, and pushes her sleeves up. She then unloads on some poor buggar. She unloads in a way that can only be done in Spanish, its a pure stream of words with no breathing involved. This was a dressing down by a seasoned professional. It was worth staying put an extra day just to watch it, impressive. Anyway, my Spanish is poor but from what I understood, the poor buggar had delivered my laundry to the wrong boat, never even checked the name and just dropped it off. Someone else was sent to retrieve my laundry and I was reunited with clean clothes.

OK, so we off we go. The engine struggled a little to get going, but all was well eventually, I cast off the lines and put the boat in gear to move off, and nothing happened. Am I stuck? No, reverse isn't working either. Shit! So I grabbed a boat hook, stretched it out to full length and found a nail on the dock to hook onto, and pulled the boat back into the dock. I tied off the same spot that I'd left from.

I emptied the sail lockers to find out whats going on and the flexible coupling between the prop shaft and the transmission has sheared. Its a rubber type coupling and has deteriorated over time and getting the painter wrapped around the prop must have weakened it even more. Well at least it didn't happen at sea. I let the marina know whats happened, ask for a mechanic, and proceed to take the coupling apart.

I find what I hope is the right part on the internet.

June 12^th

The mechanic shows up and takes a look at it. He declares there is nothing like it in Mexico. I order it online.

I tell Gabriela that I will be staying longer and a Brazilian lady who is using the sofa and the AC at the office says “Oh was it your laundry that we received? We're sorry, but we asked around and nobody knew who's it was”. I explain I couldn't have left anyway.

Walked to the supermarket and bought mosquito coils. Damn its hot. Thank God for cheap Mexican beer.

I go eat at the Nauti Burrito, food was just like Chipotle, only better, because it was foreign. I washed it down with a couple of margaritas.

The sports channel is now all world cup.

It was Hiam's birthday today. And thankfully my every thaoughtful daughter Lizzy called me the night before and offered to fetch flowers and deliver them. I love that girl. While Hiam was hiking with her daughter Lizzy let herself in through the back door and put the flowers in kitchen. They were a hit! Well done Lizzy-lou.

June 13^th

Another very lazy day. It rained, ALL day. Literally, all day. The tarp I put up for shade ripped during the night from the weight of all the water in it. Never left the boat.

Got the tracking number from the parts company, and the part id expected by the end of the day June 15^th. I should be sailing on the 16^th. Puts a bit of kink in my schedule to pick up Patrick but its not a total right off yet. Belize City is 200 miles away. That's a 3 day sail. Likely a day to clear Mexico and a day to clear in to Belize. Hmmm!

Finished another book. The was The Cave, Jose Saramago. Very good, a little bit literary and I had to look up on the internet the point in the ending. So the cave in the title was Plato's cave. I wish I'd known about Plato's cave before I'd started reading the book, would have helped.

June 14^th

till raining! Not quite so heavy, or maybe I'm just getting used to it.

I call Patrick with plan B. Hop on the ferry and meet me in San Pedro (Ambergris Cay). That should save me a day a sail, and if I haven't cleared customs then at least we'll be in the same place, and if I haven't got there then its better to wait in San Pedro than Belize City (which doesn't have a good reputation from tourists).

God I hope that part arrives tomorrow. The jack hammer digging up the concrete in the dock for new sewage lines is getting closer and louder.

Did I mention its still raining?

June 15^th

Part arrives, and I pay the duty, its raining and no sign of the mechanic. I try to fit the part at night but its just not working. I figure out the coupler is solid and does not have a hole in the middle like the old one so I have to move the prop shaft back.

June 16^th

Its still raining and I can't find the mechanic. I try to move the shaft back and its not moving, the mount will not budge at all. Resolve to cut the prop shaft after watching hours of You-Tube videos and reading sailing blogs.

June 17^th

I trek into town and find a hardware store and buy some cutting disks. I use them to lop off an inch and a quarter of the one inch stainless steel prop shaft. The cutting disks went through that steel like a hot knife through butter. Fitted the coupler and I believe its looking good now. Resolved to leave in the morning.