MX-TX passage notes

Our passage from Isla Mujeres, Mexico to Freeport, TX was a blissfully uneventful 755 miles covered in 6 nights and 6 days.

We had GREAT weather, due in part to being patient and working with the amazing Chris Parker to plan our passage. We were able to sail for about half the time, and motor-sailed the rest of the way.

We were surprised by the lack of traffic (only saw about a dozen cargo ships); perhaps this was due to our route to Freeport, not Corpus or Houston.

We were also surprised by our lack of luck fishing! This was also the only passage were we have not caught a fish – such a bummer!

We were thrilled to have some longtime friends join us for the trip and that made it all the more easy – and fun!

Of course, what happens on passage, stays on passage 😉

But, here are a few photos fit for the ‘net:

01-IMG_3219 02-IMG_3225 03-IMG_3227 04-IMG_3233 05-IMG_3234 06-IMG_3235 07-IMG_3236 08-IMG_3238 09-IMG_3239 10-IMG_3240 11-IMG_3243 12-IMG_3245 13-IMG_3250 14-IMG_3251 15-IMG_3255 17-IMG_3276 18-IMG_3280 19-IMG_3296 20-IMG_3311 21-IMG_3317 22-IMG_3316 23-IMG_3321 24-IMG_3331 25-IMG_3332

26-IMG_3342

our last sunset at sea

27-IMG_3345 28-IMG_3347 30-IMG_3349

29-IMG_3348

we’re not in the islands anymore . . .

31-IMG_3360

Freeport floodgates

32-IMG_3363

33-IMG_3368

crew, united

34-IMG_3375

safely and happily in our new slip

Making our way home

Daily weather analysis? Check.

Hulls cleaned? Check.

Provisioning? Check.

Ditch-bag stuffed? Check.

Course charted? Check.

Crew orientation? Check.

All the rest of the boat chores? Check. Check. Check.

We have a weather window and we’re leaving TODAY!

Now, all there’s left to do is . . . make our way home.

In contrast to how I’ve felt about passages in the past, I’m actually really looking forward to this upcoming 4-7 days at sea. I’m excited about my star-filled, night-time watches. I can’t wait to watch the sun light dance in white-lighting streaks of the deep blue sea. I’ve got batter & cabbage ready for some awesome fish tacos made from a nice, big mahi we hope to land underway.

In short, I’m so ready – for the 700 nautical miles between here (Isla Mujeres, Q. Roo, MX) and there (Freeport, TX, USA).

In contrast to this well-charted course, there’s everything else which lies beyond.

Like re-entry. As ex-expats.

Which is mostly (thankfully?) uncharted.

What we do know – and are very much grateful for – is that we have (short-term) jobs and housing* lined up.*a friend even offered up her RV for us to stay in, which seems like such a more normal transition for us than a “house” – I mean, it’s small and it moves, feels like home to me.

We have an amazing bevy of family and life-long friends whom we can’t wait to see. We will have an “income” again (which we are so looking forward to!). And, there are all the “little things” I’m looking forward to, like eating *all* the spring rolls, swimming in the amazing, spring-fed, FRESH water springs that abound in Central Texas, and getting a new, actually well-made, cute, supportive bra (one without rust or mildew, bo-nus!).

A few days ago, a newly-arrived, on-a-two-week-sailing-vacay crew member/guest of the boat in the berth next to us swung by to say “I here you’re going back to Texas. I’m sorry.”

What? some people, eh?

I was 100% sincere when I replied “we’re not!”.

This is our third year “on the road” y’all. We’re ready for a change. And, by “change”, I mean familiarity. A home-base. “Normalcy”. (ok, so that might be a bit of a reach)

But, you get the picture.

Shortly after arriving here in Isla, we were fortunate enough to meet up with some awesome sailors from South Africa. They were a young-ish couple, and like us, they were burnt out. Even though they had significantly more miles under their hull (they’ve been out for 8 years), we noticed ourselves nodding along to each other’s sentiments of “we’re not appreciating it anymore; we went to town today and didn’t take 1 picture” and “we’re not retired; there’s still stuff we want to do – on land”, “boat life is hard – it’d be nice to not maintain all these systems for a while”.

Could it be true? Is So Many Beaches beached out!?! Not so fast.

We’re not ready to sell our boat, our home, our MJ. But, we are ready for a change – at least for a while.

As it stands, we’re grateful to have the opportunity and excited to “try on” living back on land for pinch. We figure we’ll take our time, likely sit out next season and just experience life back home for a while.

Speaking of “life back home”, just as we know what we’re excited to come back to, we also know there’s another side of the coin. I’ll miss having so much privacy (the Dr. Jekyll to loneliness’ Mr. Hyde). I’ll miss sleeping in a swaying bed with the stars as my ceiling. I’m not looking forward to the fast-pace of the (awesome) city we’re returning to and the consumer-culture of America in general (spring rolls & new bras being obvious exceptions). I know K will miss his daily salt water swims. And, as much as I can’t wait to catch up with everybody back home, I fear it’s inevitable that there’ll be mis-communications and other awkward adjustments as my fish-out-of-water path merges with others’ on land again.

These are just a few of the things I know to expect. But, what about what I don’t know that I don’t know?

Yikes!

These little – or big – surprises are coming. Ain’t that a peach!?! ummm . . . yes?

I got a little preview today: while in the middle of final prep for our passage, I got uncharacteristically confused, indecisive and overwhelmed. And, I was angry and snappy about that. So, I was angry and snappy with D.

I stormed off down the dock to take a break – and realized, while sitting on the beach, under the palm trees, with a clear view of my boat in the gin-clear Caribbean waters, that this was the last time I’ll have this spot in the sand, in the sun with a view of MJ on the water- at least for a while. Because, of course (reality is sinking in) I’m coming home. Or, at least making my way.

And, perhaps that’s just a bit stressful. For anyone. And, anyone includes me.

Doy.

It hit me: I’m stressed. From turning my life upside-down. From going from everything I’ve known for the past couple of years to something else (familiar and un at the same time – weird, right?). Apparently, I have thoughts and feelings about that, lurking not so subtly beneath the surface. Who knew!?!

There I sat, in the sand, I literally bowled over with emotion: it came right out of the front of my face in thick, salty streams. Along with laughter.

I’m such a type-A dork, I thought. I’m totally adept at the practical, list-making side of things: if I can excel-it, I can do it! But, turns out my emotions don’t fit so well in those little cells – I don’t care how much you “wrap text”. (told you I was a dork)

After some deep breaths and a great call home to an old friend, I surrendered to the full circle of the choice I am making (for everything it is and everything it isn’t – including the  stress of change). All of the sudden, the freedom to just own my stress was funny: I signed off “love ya, thanks so much for listening. but, I gotta go . . . cry on my boat some more!”. And, he, my amazingly wise friend, didn’t hesitate: “Good for you. You’re not gonna get to cry on your boat for very much longer. So, live it up.”

~~~

As we make our way home, across the Gulf in charted waters, you can follow along here: http://www.somanybeaches.com/where-in-the-world/where-we-are-now/. See y’all in the US!

A totally typical day

Today we are prepping for the half-a-dozen guests coming to visit us in Isla over the next two weeks – yay, y’all! Thanks for coming!

For some of our guests, they will be staying on board for their visit. Then a couple of Damon’s long-time buddies will continue on board as they help us crew Mother Jones across the Gulf and back to Texas.

Needless to say, with friends coming and the prospect of returning home (to land, to work, for the foreseeable future) we have found ourselves reaching into our present moments trying to appreciate life aboard – with just the two of us (and Kemah, of course).

So, what did we decide to do on our last day alone on the boat?

WE WENT TO THE MOVIES!!!!

Yep, I know it might sound crazy to all y’all on land, but given we spend most of our time outside (albeit amongst sea-breezes and gin-clear waters), it’s a real treat – something un-usual for us – to go to the cinema.

So, we were excited!

There’s a cinema 10 miles across the bay in Cancun’s hotel zone that has amazing VIP treatment: you reserve your seats at purchase so no need to wait in line, the seats are lazy-boy recliners, they serve sushi (for me) and philly cheesesteaks (for D) and the sound and picture are out-of-this-world. Basically, in contrast to re-watching an old favorite on our laptop, the Cancun Cinepolis is a perfect out-of-the-ordinary experience for a flick like Hombre de Acero* (Superman)!

*Movies in Latin America are dubbed and subtitled depending on the showtime. Most affluent Spanish-speakers (aka “readers”) prefer subtitled movies for the premiere acting experience over dubbed movies. Kids and other less-literate folks prefer dubbed movies. Or so we’ve been told.

6-IMG_0620-001

our awesome seats

Plus, even though we’ve been in Isla for about a month, we had yet to explore Cancun. While we prefer sleepy Isla to “the Vegas of Mexico”‘s miles of hotels, Chili’s and Sears, we thought “hey, why not? It’ll be good practice for our immersion next month”.

We actually thought of this land-date weeks ago and while we were eager anticipating it, we put it off until yesterday: our last day to go. D checked the weather when we got up and said there might be a few scattered showers, but nothing major to worry about (you always worry about weather when you leave the boat). So, we were clear to go.

I got dressed up (adding mascara and jewelry to my jean shorts, t-shirt and flips) and let my hair down (it had been in my anti-humidity, stand-by braids so was all super-mermaidy-kinky-cool). D got dressed up, too (donning a clean t-shirt with his board shorts).

We checked movie times and ferry times, pumped up the dinghy and headed to shore. We popped into El Milagro Marina – where we’ll be pulling in for our guests – to chat with some friends* before leaving, and make final arrangements for our berth.

*by the by, our friends have a little cucaracha problem on board; we had some extra boric acid and were happy to hand help them out. Although, handing them over a small, ziploc baggie full of white powder, in reality could have seemed a bit, ahem, awkward . . .

Anywho, by the time we chatted with our friends – made a few new ones – and confirmed arrangements at the dock, the wind picked up, blowing a cool breeze across the island. A scattered storm was approaching, no doubt.

“Heh heh, great day to be away from the boat?” we joked to one another. I mean, it was just a little bit of wind, with sprinkles, right?

Just then, we saw the dockmaster run up to us sailors saying “is your boat red & white? It’s dragging. Fast!”.

Nope, it wasn’t our boat. It was Pamela Ann and she was about to swipe a Cat with her stern.

2-IMG_0610-001

Pamela Ann, the Cat & the reef in the background

From the dock we could see three dinks full of assistance zipping their way – plus the wind was actually really light – so we opted to stay out of the way, on shore.

Luckily, Mother Jones and the rest of the boats in the anchorage* weren’t budging so we still felt confident keeping on with our plan.

*We all want to know how to prevent dragging. So, without trying to judge anyone, it’s natural to ask “why?”. In such light winds, to drag that much when no one else is, lead us to believe the problem was in the anchoring technique of Pamela Ann‘s captain.

Within 5 minutes (which is long or short depending on whether you’re the one dragging or not) we watched Pamela Ann hook in (you see a sharp turn into the wind) and all seemed under control. We left the marina and caught a cab a mile or so north to the ferry dock.

Standing on the ferry dock, with 30 minutes before our boat left, the wind and rain picked up – like, a lot. Soon the wind was probably about 20 knots and it was white-out rain.

Ugg. We knew what this meant: we really should get back to the boat – or at least somewhere we could see the boat – and other boats in case they drag into us. Aaaaaahhhhh! Stupid wind getting in the way of movie time! Has this ever happened to you? If you live on land, probably not.

We hemmed and hawed. We really wanted to go to the movies! Just to have a fun day playing tourists in a new town.

But, off we went, away from our ferry to fun-town, in the kinky-hair-killing-rain back to the marina where we watched our boat hold steady in the wind until the storm blew past.

Within about 40 minutes, all was quiet again. So, undetoured, we tried again. Cab, ferry, tickets, GOT ON THE FERRY, GOT ACROSS THE BAY and then, THIS was waiting for us:

1-IMG_0611

a trio of pirate ship replicas used for dinner-theater sunset cruises

4-IMG_0616-001

HA!

I really wish we’d have know about this when Mom was here. She’d have loved it (and made us do it). Ok, maybe I’m glad we didn’t know about this when Mom was here . . .

7-IMG_0626-001

Costumes included with your dinner cruise

8-IMG_0629-001

Davy Jones is surprisingly cordial

Anyway, the rest of the story isn’t that remarkable. Superman was great. McDonald’s still has awesome fries. Reclining movie theater seats rock.

And, so does this:

1-IMG_0624

In case of fire in a Mexican movie theater, become a fireman, costumes included, axes on inside of glass #DIY #BYOAxe

In short: weather-threatens “normal” plans, boaters rally to help each other out, movies are special treats, pirates are apparently no big deal & other cultures do things different. In other words, a typical day.

Clearing into Isla Mujeres, Mexico

IMG_0603[1]

 

Clearing into Isla Mujeres, Mexico from Belize without an agent (and with a dog)

5/20/2013

S/V Mother Jones

www.SoManyBeaches.com

Prepared for www.NoonSite.com by Damon Jones

This same report is listed on Noonsite here

In a nutshell:

  • Clearing in on our own was not as hard as we thought.
  • For sailing vessels, you will need:
    • your passports
    • 6 copies of:
      • Passport(s)
      • Zarpe from previous port
      • Crew List
      • Vessel Document papers
  • For vessels with a dog:
    • proof of current rabies & parvo vaccination and internal/external parasite prevention (frontline/heartguard).
  • For vessels staying more than 2 weeks:
    • You need to acquire a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) in Cancun (take the ferry):
      • All paperwork from completed clearing in process
      • Serial numbers on your engine(s)
      • 1 color copy of your visa (you get it from the immigration department)
      • $50 USD
  • You’ll walk to several offices on the north end of the island (some possibly more than once) with your paperwork as you collect officials’ stamps and additional paperwork/receipts. This will take a few hours.
  • We were never, at any point, asked about insurance for our boat. We don’t have any currently, and it wasn’t a problem for us.
  • Total charges for everything, including our import permit and taxi/ferry fees, came to about $170USD

We had read that it was a potential massive headache to clear into Mexico without an agent (in Isla Mujeres) due to the many requirements and departments that needed to be met, but, as we like to do things ourselves (feeling of accomplishment, feeling of fuller wallet), we weren’t 100% sold on needing agent services. Luckily, upon our arrival into Isla Mujeres (on a Monday morning), we got some helpful information from the cruising community via the 8:30 (US Central) cruisers net held on VHF channel 13.

For proceeding sans agent, one fellow cruiser offered us use of a custom map with homemade step-by-step instructions on clearing in on our own. If we didn’t want to deal with all the running around, it was recommended that we check in with Chepo at Marina Paraiso for more info. He was rumored to be one of the most helpful fellows around, and his agent services were knows to be very reasonably priced.

After anchoring in the south end of the north lagoon (across from Marina Paraiso/ Marina El Milagro) we took the dinghy to Marina Paraiso and met with Chepo, who was indeed very friendly and helpful.  He gave us the rundown of the fees involved with checking in, and told us that we’d need to come into a marina slip for the day if we wanted to use his services* and he would arrange for all the officials to come to the boat (rather than going to multiple offices downtown). The added cost of the marina slip on top of the agent fee (which added nearly $80USD to what it would cost to clear in ourselves) was enough to convince us to give it a shot on our own. Chepo was very understanding and proceeded to give us some additional directions and advice on going through the process without an agent, and soon we were in a taxi and headed to town.

*Note: since we’ve been here, we’ve spoken with another captain in the anchorage who used Chepo as their agent without having to enter the marina. This was not our experience, but apparently it is possible.

Here are the stops you need to make (maps below):

  • Port Captain (on the westernmost main street, Avenida Rueda Medina, just north of the Naval Base, right next door to the white, multi-story Bahia Chac Chi hotel; enter the door on the left). Here we confirmed which offices we needed to visit (and in which order) and where they were located. Nothing else to be done here at this point.
  • Sanitation/Health Department (walk about 3 blocks north on Avenida Rueda Medina from the port captain’s office, take a right at the Senor Frog’s store (Morelos St), and walk east three blocks until the street ends. The clinic, which houses the sanitation department, will be across the street to your left).  Proceed through the main entrance, pass the reception desk and straight back to the last door on the right. The official that helped us was very professional, spoke English, and processed our paperwork very quickly. We were told that he can be particular with the formatting of some crew lists; ours are 8.5in x 11in, have all our vessel information, passport numbers, DOB, last port of call, and our signatures. We had no problems. After you fill out a form, he will request copies of the documents listed above (all but passports), keep a few and then return the rest with his stamp applied. He also gives you a health department clearance form. NOTE: the building his office is in is also a minor-emergency-type clinic. We had an abscess and the cost to see the doctor and get it opened and drained was $4 USD.
  • Immigration office (head back down the street you came up, and at Senor Frog’s, take a right and head north another block or so on Avenida Reuda Medina. Immigration is in a clearly marked building on your right).  Here they will need your passports and all your stamped copies.  After filling out the standard-issue immigration forms (one per person), you will need to pay. It was about 350 pesos per person for us (exchange rate at time of writing is about 11pesos = 1 USD).  If the immigration officials aren’t busy, they’ll take your cash, walk to the bank, get a receipt, and bring it back to you while you wait in the immigration office. If they are busy, you have to go to the bank yourself, make your payment, get a receipt and return it to the Immigration office. When you return to the immigration office with the receipt from your payment to the bank, they will complete your paper work, stamp your copies (make sure they stamp all your copies!), issue your visa, and send you on your way.
  • Port Captain’s office (you’ve already been here). This office houses the Customs, Agriculture, and Port Captain. This stop can feel a bit hectic as each office representative comes at you from the small window behind the tinted glass. We were asked several questions (in Spanish) and filled out a few forms and overall the process went smoothly. Here we were charged 455 pesos. The agriculture officer asked us if we had any fruits and veggies on board, and if you reply you do not, they will generally bypass boarding (unless you are coming from Columbia, in which case we have heard they will search your vessel with a drug dog and possibly a diver). He then handed me a form he filled out, which had a box checked that we had no animals on board. I told him we had a dog, and he asked to see the health papers for the dog and copies of our exit zarpe for Guatemala, where we last had our dog “checked out” and where we got our most recent vet documents about a month prior. After looking over the documents, he said he needed to see the dog, so as soon as we were finished with the rest of the paperwork, we all jumped in the dingy and headed to the boat. He didn’t inspect our dog other than to visually confirm that he matched the physical description of the dog listed on the paperwork, and then we returned the official to the island. We had to pick up an animal import permit from him the next day at the port captain’s office, and then we were finished with the clearing in process (humans and dog alike).
  • Getting a temporary import permit (We were told this needed to be done within three days of clearing in, but we’ve talked to folks that took a week to do it with no problems).  As far as we understand, agents are not allowed to handle this step; you must do it yourself. From Isla Mujeres, get on a ferry to Puerto Juarez (the Magana ferry dock is closer –walking distance- to the Customs office in Puerto Juarez, and it’s a bit cheaper than UltraMar at 130 pesos, round trip). From the Magana dock, go right on the road and walk for a little more than a quarter mile. The customs building (which looks a lot like the port captain’s office in Isla Mujeres) will be on the left, across the street  (on the west side of the street). Enter the building and head to the desk straight back and to the right of the restrooms. It’s got a sign that says “Banjercito” and several posters with information on fees associated with importing vehicles. Unlike several other desks, there was no line when we went. Here they will want copies of your zarpe & crew list (with all five department stamps on each of them: sanitation, immigration, port captain, agriculture and customs –make sure you have ‘em all!), passport, vessel registration, and visa.  The Banjercito clerk requested color copies of all except passport (so she could clearly make out the color stamps), which meant I needed to walk up the street to an internet café to have a few color copies made (Also, the port captain prints on the back side of the zarpe, so don’t forget to get a copy of that as well).   She also requested engine serial numbers, which I didn’t expect to need but was able to get via a phone call to the boat. Once I returned with all requested copies, I was charged $50 (specifically in US dollars, not pesos, in exact change, and with no torn or marked bills), filled out an inventory form for the boat, and we were finally done with everything!

Isla Mujeres map with notes

Isla Mujeres homemade map

Viva Mexico!

Hola!

Just posting quickly to let ch’all know we made it to Isla and have embarked on a whirl-wind tour of the island (Mom’s in town 🙂

Anyone who knows my mom knows she is an awesome traveler: she’s up for anything, she thoroughly researches (and details an organized itinerary in excel) of interesting things to do and she gets us out & about (from almost dusk to dawn). Sheesh! I can barely keep up with her!

With Mom here we’re getting a great orientation to the island and practicing our hosting skills for what’s to be a small invasion of Austinities coming to visit us next month (yay!).

For any of y’all that are coming (or considering coming) to Isla, here’s a map of some great stuff we’ve already done & seen:


View Isla Mujeres + Cancun in a larger map

And, here’s some general info about lodging on different parts of the island:

  • The north end of the island has tons of stuff within walking distance (restaurants, bars, shopping, beaches, etc) but you’ll be around more people.
  • The middle part of the island is relatively easy to get a cab to/from. You can get hotel rooms or rent a small villa or house, some with views/beach access to the bay side of the island. It’s more private/less touristy here but you need transport.
  • The south and southeast side of the island is mainly house rentals and you will definitely need transportation.

Where we’re anchored (just south of the airport, mid-island), we can easily go by our dinghy to the north part of the island, most places in the middle or southwest/lee/lefthand side of the island (through the inner lagoon). And, we can always get to shore and cab it to wherever to meet up.

The two marinas across from us (El Milagro & Paraiso) have nice rooms for $50 per night (with a pool, restaurant, bar, etc). Their beaches aren’t the best (there’s sea grass). But, it’s just a $2 cab ride to town or north beach.

And, for those of y’all wondering about what we did in Honduras, the fun stuff we did in Guatemala and our couple weeks in Belize, stay tuned 🙂