Sunriser

When travelling by sailing boat one can choose a destination but, in that case, the weather chooses the departure time and the route. This time we were headed to Mexico with our buddy boat Happinez, but we had to deviate from the planned south route (south of Cuba, via Jamaica and the Cayman Islands) due to a stubborn southeast wind. We decided to go back to the Ragged islands and, from there, wait for a good weather window to sail west, north of Cuba. On this trip we caught a nice spotted mackerel, which fed us and others for several days and is still not finished.

The route north of Cuba instead of south is considerably shorter but has its own challenges in the form of huge sand banks, big waves and strong currents.

We spent the waiting time in one of the most beautiful anchorages in the Raggeds, Flamingo Cay, where we dropped anchor next to a clump of coral, home to many baby fishes. The bay is also home to a huge turtle which visited us in the morning and in the evening.

And excellent breeding grounds for Conch, so we also filled up our stocks of conch meat, which goes into conch salads or conch fritters (fried).

We profited from the clear water to scrape the hulls clean of sea growth and sand them to reactívate the copper coat. Hopefully this will slow down the growth and increase Sunriser’s speed.

The 5 days sailing to Mexico passed very fast and comfortably with good winds from the stern, Sunriser’s favorite course. We sailed very close to the coast of Cuba and were contacted by the Cuban coastguard requiring us to identify ourselves, but aside that, we did not see any other boat. The situation in Cuba is quite difficult at the moment, so there is no comercial traffic and not even fishing.

We did catch a single fish, but there was often too much seaweed in the water to keep the fishing lines out for long periods.

The lack of fish was compensated by a flock of swallows which took refuge on Sunriser to rest. They stayed with us for a whole day and night until we were close enough to land for them to reach it flying. Sadly, two of them were so exhausted that they died onboard.

After 5 days of sailing we still faced the challenge of crossing the Yucatán stream, a very strong current going North along the Mexican coast. We needed to arrive with daylight to our destination, Puerto Aventuras, as the entrance is very narrow and dangerous in the dark, so we pushed with both engines and made it on time before sunset.

Now, after weeks in the loneliness and wilderness, we find ourselves in a luxurious huge resort, full of restaurants, shops, pools and any facilities we may need.

The formalities to enter Mexico with a boat are known to be quite daunting so we hired an agent to help us navigate the administrative hurdles. Arriving on the Easter weekend did not facilitate the process. The agent came with no less than four officials (customs, immigration, agriculture and health). The boat was thoroughly examined, particularly all the food storage was photographed twice! It is not allowed to bring fresh food into the country, and we were even asked to crack the nuts to show they were not fresh. Lots of forms were filled, copied 5 times, signed and a substantial amount of dollars changed hands, but at least we did not have to go to five different offices ourselves.

A bit overwhelmed in the beginning by the return to civilization, we are now resting and enjoying the luxuries of resort life, preparing to explore the inland of Mexico while Sunriser will stay safely tucked in the marina.