At Isla Mujeres

April 16, 2007 Monday
We got into Isla Mujeres in the wee small hours Saturday morning after a 5-1/2 day passage and carefully (nervously) found our way into the harbor. The Gulf of Mexico is typically shallow for people used to the deep waters off California. A deep spot in this harbor would be 14 feet. So we came in seeing 8 feet on the depthsounder a few times, which makes you a little nervous when you are 6 feet deep. Thanks again to electronic charts, we drove the little red boat through the deep spots and got ourselves anchored. The next afternoon, we came over to El Milagro Marina and ran aground trying to get into a slip. There is a sandbar just off our stern and it took lots of help from the local cruisers to get us pointed into the slip. When it's time to leave, we are going to use our dinghy to drag ourselves out stern first.
Isla Mujeres is a big change. First of all, it's cool! And dry! For the first time in a long time, I don't feel the need for a shower every hour. Of course, we are now 20 degrees North instead of 8 degrees North. Yesterday, a Norther came through and it blew 30 knots for a few hours and 20 knots much of the day. Northers happen every time a bubble of cold air comes down from the central US and into the Gulf. To get to Key West, we are going to have to find a window between Northers. That is 341 miles, so we'll need a little more than 2 days clear.
Another big change here is the cruising community. There is a lot of Texas and Southern twang in their voices, but they are very friendly and helpful.
We still haven't taken the pictures out of the camera, having chosen sleep over all other activities, but today we are more active and promise lots of pictures with the next post. We have quit a few projects on our list for today, including officially checking into Mexico. We have internet for a few days, so write.