People from the States often complain about how long it takes to do everything in Mexico.  I am finding that even the things that are wholly in my power take three times longer here than they would have back home.  Life simply moves slower down here.  I left two week ago today and am only just now really starting to unwind and take to the pace of life on the island.  It’s a good healthy pace.

I learned a big lesson yesterday.  I didn’t like where I was anchored because it put me to close to the main channel and boats were cutting a little too close for my comfort across my transom.  Easy enough, haul up the anchor and go set it somewhere else.  I got the hook down, backed down hard with the engine and was convinced I was set.  An hour later I was living it up in town with the crew from s/v SOEL.  Little did I know my boat wasn’t just anchored poorly, she really wasn’t anchored at all.

It’s standard procedure here to dive on your anchor.  That means getting wet and swimming down to see that everything is well buried into the sand.  Before the big blow last week I did this and was pleasantly surprised to see my anchor chain disappear into the sand, the anchor too deep to find.  Yesterday when I dove, my anchor was sitting sideway on top of the sand, not dug in at all, with the tip just barely hooked on a small patch of grass.  One big blow and she would have been dragging across the anchorage endangering myself and the other boats who were securely hooked.  Never again will I leave my boat without first diving on the hook.  Lessons come fast down here.

Despite the above lesson, I truly love it here.  The sandwiches, or tortas, are really fantastic and cheap.  To go one better I went to the grocery to get the ingredients to make one for myself.  Jumping into the deli line I realized I had a small problem.  First, what is the conversion from lbs to kilos?  And two, even if I knew the former I don’t know my numbers well enough yet to tell the guy behind the counter I want 0.2 kilos of ham.  My solution, necessito jamon para dos grande tortas, por favor.  In other words, I need ham for two large sandwiches please.  No problem.  Even got a giggle from the local shoppers in line with me.  I guess gringos don’t use the deli line much.  The fresh baked bread, local jam and cheese made for one hell of a torta.  Yum.

Plans are not yet firm, but I may have a visitor coming in that I am excited about.  If so, we’ll be road tripping across the Yucatan on Monday evening so I can make my Tuesday appointment at the SOS village at noon.  The boat is back in a slip and I am spending the next few hours researching car rental options.  Let the road trip begin.

Lee Winters
Phone: (281) 336-0855
Satellite Phone: 8816-316-59853

Web: www.SailingForSOS.com
Email: Lee.Winters@SailingForSOS.com