Enroute to Puerto Chiapas
We got up early this morning, recovered our stern anchor with aplomb, weighed the Rocna and were off. We're on our way on the last two days sailing on Leg 2 of The Voyage, heading for Puerto Chiapas, our final port of call in Mexico.
Roy and I both noted the nice smell of the land in Huatulco as we departed. It's lightly spicy, slightly sweet, a bit floral, like a potpourri you might have in your closet or chest of drawers to make your clothes smelling nice, hinting of the fragrance of a chai tea.
We sailed nicely close hauled in about 8 knots of wind, making a steady 5-5.5 knot over the ground. Then at noon the wind died so we furled up the jib and are motoring, heading offshore to see if we can find the wind again. It's a beautiful blue day with light chop on the nose, gentle swells from the starboard bow.
We've been catching and releasing bonito like crazy all day. They aren't the tastiest fish, but I think we might keep a small one later to make into poke for dinner.
I've been exchanging emails with our new crew for Leg 3, John and Kim, and I finally spoke to them briefly this morning while we still had cell reception. They owned a catamaran and cruised for seven years in the Caribbean, notching up over 7,000 nm under sail. They're from Missouri, are looking to buy a new catamaran and are excited about making the Panama Canal transit, something that's been on their bucket list. I'm looking forward to them joining the boat later this month and meeting them in person.
Yesterday we replaced a malfunctioning switch for the electric winch and then took a kayak trip to the bay next door, Bahía Malguey, which has a long line of palapa restaurants along the beach. We saw lots of people. We ate tacos and ceviche. We drank beer. We had paletas (frozen fruit bars) for desert. We kayaked back. A very nice finish to our time in Huatulco.
