Written by Crew Member- Tom Thiesen, aka The Bikeman.
Destination Isla Mujeres. Part I
We not only appreciate his invaluable help in sailing Penzi across the 'Stream', but we enjoy his writing too!
We left our slip in Key West heading for Isla Mujeres, Mexico, on a calm Tuesday night in May.
The boat is a Young Sun 35 similar to a Hans Christian or any of the mid 80s Taiwanese boats of that era, well made with lots of teak inside, canoe stern, Cutter rig,( two sails in front, one self tacking the other a large furling Genoa), high free-board, and heavy displacement. Needless to say the boat was built for safety and comfort not speed, 4 to 5 knots at best.
There was a christening ceremony to celebrate the changing of the boat name from Tralee to Penzi, (Swahili for love). The toasts were made and Champaign broken over the bow. Picking the broken glass out of our feet we realized that perhaps the bottle swing had been a little too exuberant after all.
We hoisted the sails in the Harbor and motor sailed south until the winds picked up around 2am. By Sunrise the wind was from the north at 15 to 20 miles per hour and the seas were growing steadily. The Captain, Keith McDonald, crew Caroline Taylor, Joe Bachman and I, Tom Thiesen, were being jostled around by 5 to7 foot seas downwind. We struck the main and went under full genoa to keep the boom from becoming a hazard.
We rolled back and forth, most of us felt sick. The electric autopilot was overpowered and couldn't hold the downwind course so we had to hand steer as the waves grew to 6-8 feet with some big 10-12 foot rollers rocking the boat back and forth. That night, sleeping was out of the question and eating was a challenge.
The conditions stayed the same the following day but began to settle down as we neared the Cuban coastline the second night. Freighters at night were easy to spot with one bright bow light and one bright stern light. The port and starboard lights were amid ship so by lining up the lights you could tell if you were on a collision course with the steel monsters.
Still no sleep that night, but the next morning we were able to broad reach a bit which made the ride tolerable. Keith did a great job figuring out how the wind vane steering system worked. Set the course on the wheel; adjust some lines on the wind vane and a small paddle in the water and some lines attached to the wheel steer the boat according to the wind direction. At last we were hands free!
The crew took turns getting in cat naps and snacking. As we headed down the coast our course and the wind changed giving us a beam reach. With diminished winds, we shook out the reef in the main, hoisted the staysail, and furled out the genoa. Now we had a glorious 24 hours of cooking great meals, sunrise and sunsets, discussions about everything and time also for on deck showers as we sailed past Havana's tall buildings, which were on the horizon for what seemed like a day.
The third day started somewhat rough because the wind shifted to the south/southeast and we now had to beat and fight our way through the waves. Spray filled the air as the boat hobby horsed over the 3-5 foot seas. The crew went back to feeling sick as we pounded along. The weather calmed down a bit and on the dawn after our third night we were almost past Cuba and her small but impressive mountains.
We headed south to compensate for the current we would have to traverse in the 100 mile wide Yucatan channel. A strong 4-5 knot current flows northward in the middle of the Yucatan channel with the rest of the channel also flowing northward at a good clip. With trepidation we sailed on hoping our chosen angle would put us in Isla Mujeres and not thirty of forty miles north of the island where we would have to motor down the Mexican coast in the dark.
That forth night we were becalmed about 2 Am and motor sailed for a few hours until the wind kicked in from a more southerly direction around dawn. We motor sailed against the current all day and finally spotted some white specks on the horizon. The specks were the Isla Mujeres charter fishing boats with their customers looking for the allusive sailfish.
We were twenty miles out and headed directly to our destination. A large sailfish broke the water 5 or 6 times for us and then we were greeted by a pod of 30 or 40 porpoises that played on our bow wave and surfed the three foot waves in the channel. The south wind and northward flow of current kept the seas down and we had a beautiful day sailing into Isla Mujeres. After 96 hours we dropped anchor and we jumped off the boat to celebrate.
Isla Mujeres Part II
Caroline snorkeled down and set the anchor in 15 feet of water. You should always dive on your anchor and shove it into the bottom to be sure it sets.
When a vessel arrives in any foreign port, they raise a yellow," Q" quarantine flag and call the port captain for clearance. We arrived on a Saturday and the office was closed, so we decided to go ashore. We struck the courtesy Mexican flag, lowered the inflatable dinghy into the water and headed for shore with about and hour of daylight left. Most ports have a dedicated dinghy dock area and we parked our dink and went ashore.
Isla Mujeres is a well traveled tourist town and I was excited because this was my first time in another country in almost twenty years. The sidewalk was disheveled, odd looking cars, motor scooters, trucks zipped by the dusty, bumpy street. The people walking down the street were all Mexicans going about there routines. I had a little adrenaline going because we were illegal aliens in Mexico.
We walked along the, " Malacon" a curvy beach-side sidewalk filled with hawkers and their colorful wares. The heart of town was filled with small treeless, cobblestone streets. Most of the buildings have interesting porches and were colorfully painted in bright yellows and blues. We strolled half a mile from our dinghy on the bay side to the Atlantic side, which is about 15 feet higher.
Another Malacon greeted us at the top! Snaking down the Atlantic side, this one was newly made of red bricks. Sand bags held in with fence wire shored up the eroded cliff edges below. Frequent hurricanes in the past 10 years have really left there mark on this town. The nice brick Malacon was interspersed with large holes and old rubble was strewn about everywhere. We admired the beautiful sea and strolled along for a few minutes making sure not to break our ankles.
A nice expensive home with pool, landscaping and million peso views sat next to a 12 by 12 incomplete concrete block hovel with dirt floors, debris filled yard see through roof, bare walls and naked children. It too had a million peso view.
We headed back into the small street with an occasional gas powered golf cart swerving by us filled with local families or vacationing beer drinking gringos. There are stop signs but most people choose to ignore them as they weave their way around town. Pedestrians are respected and yielded to for the most part and a lot of streets are closed off and are full of restaurants and shops.
Dollars became Pesos at an exchange shop and we went to phone our loved ones and tell them of our adventures at sea. We found a one room internet/ phone shop. "13 pesos" was the charge and we handed the nice lady 1300 pesos. She smiled and gave all of our money back laughing. "Mucho! Mucho!" she laughed.
We thanked her and the four of us sat down and figured out that we get 10 pesos for 1 dollar, so there had to be a simple way to figure out the exchange rate. We gave up and headed to the first nice bar where the best of the Bee Gees blared out of the speakers as we enjoyed our first "cerveza fria" in four days.
After relaxing for a while we checked out the shops and Keith and Caroline were nabbed by a Cancun Time Share salesperson. They were offered 2 bottles of tequila and 4 tour tickets to Chitchen itza a Mayan ruin in exchange for them having to sit through a two hour, "presentation". They accepted and we found a nice restaurant on the beach and ended our night with a large plate of lobster ceviche and margaritas.
The next morning we awoke to a small fleet of shrimp and fishing boats heading out to sea. Keith and Caroline departed on a ferry for their Cancun sales pitch and Joe and I were left to explore the town.
Neither one of us spoke any Spanish so this was going to be a test of our survival skills. I bought a bottle of water and while fumbling with my new colorful money I asked the clerk if she took US dollars. "Si no problema". I handed her a dollar and that is how I expertly figured out how to avoid the complicated exchange rate.
Latter, we sat in the Plaza, a large, interesting, gathering place for the locals and waited for Keith and Caroline. A Catholic church abutted the plaza so while waiting we decided to have a look. It was a cute church with old fans hanging from the rafters to keep the congregation cool. The walls were lined with morbid small sculptures of JC's hands in different positions, some with stakes through them and some covered with blood, dripping down all around the wrist. Mucho creepy even for catholic standards!
Keith and Caroline were now two hours late so we rented a golf cart for 15 dollars and set off to explore the other side of the six mile long island. More fancy houses and tiny shacks lined the narrow road as we headed north. Cars and scooters passed on either side of us zipping by our slower cart.
We reached the end of the island which contains a park and for 30 pesos you can wander around the only Mayan ruins devoted to women, easily the most important historical site on the island and where the island gets its name. Mostly it is just a pile of cut stones on top of a cliff overlooking the beautiful ocean to the east and the bay to the west. Artists from around the world have fashioned metal sculptures of different designs to decorate the park. Walkways cut into the cliffs afford beautiful views on all sides of the steep hillside.
We headed back to town and were flagged down by some local boys who needed a ride. They hopped in the back of the cart, wet and sandy and politely introduced themselves as Juan and Orlando. Juan put his had to his mouth indicating he was hungry and I pulled out my trusty bag of trail mix and we all had fun passing it around. Then Orlando yelled," Halt" and I pulled over and let him off in front of about 30 small derelict shacks all with…… million pesos views.
We return our cart just in time to avoid an extra charge and met up with a tired, run down but triumphant Keith and Caroline. With four tickets to Chichen Itza in hand, we headed into town for another great dinner for four. Cost for dinner? About 40 dollars for the four of us with apps, entrees, drinks and tip. Next up…Chichen Itza.
