Acapulco To Huatulco

1/26/15 – 1/29/15

240NM

This way an uneventful leg. Very Hot, with light winds. Solar panels working at full throttle. Too boring to log all the motoring and light air sailing. There was a cycle of thermal winds from 1200 – 2100 (5 to 10 knots) onshore, calm from 2100 to 0000, then offshore winds (often 5 knots and never more than 8) from 0000 – 0900, then calm and very hot until 1200. This pattern seems the norm for most of mainland Mexico this time of year. At least in JUMBLE's very limited experience. We motored about a third of the time, but covered about half the miles with the iron jib.

Haircut Needed

In a more exciting vein, we caught our first real fish a couple hours out of Acapulco with the lure given to us by Santiago It was a Crevalle jack, a very common fish in this part of the world and nothing special. It has very dark, oily flesh and it's considered poor table fare by many snobs and ninnies. However, it's quite popular amongst folks in Central America and Mexico and the younger, smaller fish are supposed to be lighter in flavor. The filleting was quite tough on my knives and a hatchet came in handy for the heavy bones behind the gills. Anna made some excellent sushi (think basic tuna roll) the first day and we marinated and bagged the rest for a few more meals.

Trying to beat the heat

As we approached Huatulco and the Gulf of Tehuantepec, there was an easterly swell that could only have come from the frequent gales that blow there. The wind was calm locally and we reached Huatulco earlier than planned at 0100. The anchorage is tight and we had planned to wait until morning to anchor, but the prospect of heaving to with no wind and moderate swell was unappealing so we chanced it. After a couple of set attempt and lots of grinding on the chain, we decided to call it good enough and keep anchor watch for the nearby cliffs, buoys and channel.

Huatulco Bay

Looking out of the anchorage

JUMBLE didn't drag until our last day anchored in a strong afternoon onshore breeze. Conveniently, we were in town enjoying internet and sandwiches. Slightly concerned with the strong winds, we rowed the dinghy back as fast as we could with 2 jugs of diesel and 3 jugs of water against the wind. Not very fast. JUMBLE had drug about 40-50' into the bay and no one was surprised. The bottom is only 15' down and all rock and coral, not a patch of sand in the area up against the eastern cliffs, but the bay is surprisingly well sheltered from swell and I'd recommend it if it weren't for the deluge of tourists. No, this isn't boat snob talk: the number of tour pangas prevented diving except right next to boat and some teenage prick crashed into JUMBLE on a Jetski and then sped off while we hurled every English and Spanish curse we knew at him. Just a scratch, but a couple hours of putty, fairing and painting are needed.

On the plus side, Huatulco was the driest place we've visited on mainland Mexico. Same basic 90s in the day, but 40% humidity and even into the 70s at night. Very, very nice. A USCG ship was in town on the cruise ship dock, but they seemed to be partying it up and didn't respond to our requests for a weather forecast. On the second day we got a neighbor in the anchorage, GRAINEDO, a large French catamaran. Michelle, the dad aboard, gave us some expert tips regarding the Canal, Papagayo winds and so-forth. With a 36 hour window, we left to cross the dreaded Tehuantepec on the evening of Saturday the 31^st.