June 27: Weather and Why we are in Xcalak, Mexico

I thought 15 years living and sailing in the “Tropical Weather” zone of Key West meant that we would be relaxed, but prepared, on our voyage that, coincidentally, started at the beginning of hurricane season. Well, we have learned a few more nuances to the tropical outlook forecast.

In Key West we generally worried about a depression or named storm, and we always knew where we would go to ride it out. Now we are closely tracking every tropical wave that comes off the coast of Africa. With each one we scan our charts to see where we could possibly weather out a storm. This has become a necessary obsession, as it seems like a new tropical wave forms every week. Here is the progression we follow:

1. Tropical Wave or Tropical Disturbance (sounds fun or mischievous)

2. Tropical Low (maybe weather feeling a little glum)

3. Tropical Depression (bad feelings for weather and us)

4. Tropical Storm (inappropriate display of aggression – we run and hide)

5. Hurricane (incredible hulk anger – we hold our lucky coins tight)

Although most of the Waves do not progress, they do bring high gusty winds and thunderstorms. It is also difficult to tell if they will develop further. This means we try to stay where we are until a Wave passes and then dash to our next location before the next wave reaches us.

This brings me to the explanation in our change of itinerary. After we left Puerto Morelos we stopped in Bahia de la Asenscion for only one night and then pressed on to Xcalak, which is on the boarder with Belize. Our next stop is San Pedro, Belize. We sped up, and skipped a few stops, because the Mexican Yucatan coast offers few good anchorages for riding out a storm. Belize and Guatemala will have more options for protected anchorages. We are sad to miss some of our intended stops, but we would rather plan a time, in the future, when we can go at our own pace without the worries of another storm on the horizon

Right now we are on a secure mooring in Xcalak, a tiny fishing village, waiting for a Tropical Wave to pass tomorrow. We till then sail the 24 miles to San Pedro, Belize, where we hope to get into the swing of a new country!