6/8/13   Huatulco - North or South?

Ever since we decided not to go to the South Pacific this year, we have had the question of where to spend hurricane season.  I had thought that we would get to spend the summer exploring Mexico, visiting all of the coastal villages and harbors.  However, I was not thinking about hurricane season.  The danger season is from June to November and the word is that  one needs to be south of 10 degrees by the beginning of June.  That means we need to get to Costa Rica.  Thus, our mad dash down the coast, stopping only when we to get fuel or needed to rest.  Now we are almost there.  Just across the bay of Tejuanapec is the southern border of Mexico.  Guatemala is next but there are no very good harbors and it is very expensive.  250 miles further south is El Salvador.  Although it is not quite 10 degrees, everyone says that it is lovely and has never been hit by a hurricane.  There is a big push to get cruisers to come there, including “The Rally to El Salvador.”   So that is our new goal.  Once we get there we can relax.  We will have 6 months before we can leave for the South Pacific.  Maybe we will go further south, maybe to Panama, maybe through the canal, although probably not.  We have all the charts and books.

Or we could stay here.  This is also a safe harbor from hurricanes.  It is hot and humid and we can see clouds and lightning over the mountains but it never seem to come into this bay. There is one other couple in the marina, living here year round on their trawler.     They think we should just spend the summer here.  There are world famous ruins and the colonial city of Oaxaca to explore.  Wonderful food, nice people.  We could leave the boat for a couple of weeks, rent a car and explore the country.   But it is so hot and buggy.  They have doors and screens and air conditioning.    We have 2 small fans and mosquito net.  We have a lot to get done to the boat before we “jump” and it is hard to get anything done in this heat.  While there is an airport with direct flights to LA during the summer, there is no ships chandlery.  The owner of the only other occupied boat here, flies to Houston once a month to get parts and supplies.  It is really isolated and lonely here.  We sleep much of the day, fight the bugs at night   The water is too dirty for swimming in the marina and it is a 20 minute walk to the beach in the sweltering heat.  No one is talking about cruising.

Alan just cannot decide.  One day it is “go south”, the next “go north”.  Every day he changes his mind.  Now is the time to go but we could also turn around and go back to Puerto Vallarta.  They say Puerto Vallarta is safe from hurricanes, even though it is not far enough south.  Lots of cruisers spend the summer there.  If we go back, we will be in contact with other cruisers who are doing the Puddle Jump.  We can share ideas and learn from them.  There is a series of meetings and seminars in January, and February and people set sail in groups.  The camaraderie and support of other cruisers is starting to look better and better. It has been a long time since we have been able to reach anyone on the radio nets.  We had thought that there were also seminars in El Salvador and that a lot of cruisers left from there, but the more we read the less that seems to be the case.  The other jumping off place is Panama.  Only the further south we go the more lightning we will have.  The thought of a summer of lightning storms is worse than the threat of heat, flies and mosquitoes.  We would spend the summer being hot and fighting bugs and not getting anything done.  We know we need to make  a decision.  If we go north we can move into the marina, take advantage of their summer rates and get to work.  And we would have showers, a spa, wifi, lovely grounds and an air conditioned lobby to hang out in with the beach and ocean just a few steps away.   There is a big beautiful bay where I can practice my sailing skills and an airport with cheap flights to LA.  But it is 700 miles away.  We just spent weeks getting here. 

And still he cannot make up his mind.  Go south like the books say, go north or stay here?  We are into hurricane season now and we need to constantly check the weather.  This time of year the winds should be blowing north.  If we watch the weather very carefully we should be able to avoid storms. The only trouble is, we cannot check the weather when we are off shore because we need to internet.  That means that if we do go north we will have to check very carefully with the port captain and then move in fairly short hops, stopping to check the weather every few days.  This is one more issue that we need to sort out before we head across the ocean, how to get weather data.  Our radio is really good, but is so old that is can not get email.   The more we sail, the more we discover things that really should be taken care of before we go.

Finally the decision is made.  We are going back to Puerto Vallarta. Consultation with the port captain shows clear weather for the next several days, long enough to get to Acapulco where we will need to stop for gas.  We are going to try to sail a much as possible but we also want to get back quickly.  We are well into hurricane season and the longer we are out here sailing the more chance there is that we will run into trouble.  A last trip to the grocery store.  A last dinner ashore.  We are ready to go.