Harmonica
Hello friends,

We usually use 13.9 MHz for mail, but found last nigth that 7.9MHz at 1.00am gave a really good connection to Palo Alto CA. We'll try it again tonight.

Harmonica is heading south meeting boats which have spent a year or more exploring this coast. We spent 1 day & 2 nights in Barra de Navidad including one night in the opulent marina/hotel complex: our first exposure to immaculate lawns & gardens since entering Mexico. We refueled, & diesel was 2/3 the price at La Paz. A fishing tournament was based around our dock, and we watched queues of poor marlin, sail fish, & dorado being weighed, measured & cut up to the accompaniment of a brass band which had far more energy than sense of pitch.

We sailed without stopping past Ixtapa (Zihuatanejo), past Acapulco, & many attractive bays marked only on local maps & cruising guides, and arrived 5 days later in Huatulco. This was a planned stop for checking ourselves & boat out of the country & waiting for a window of clear weather in the Tehuanapec.

Wilf: I thought for some time about your analogie between crossing Tehuanapec & kayaking over Elbow Falls. I did not feel the same at all. I felt safe doing one, and never tried the other. The falls seem to me to require some spontaneous, accurate moves; whereas the Tehuanapec seemed more a matter of measured, reasoned responsibility for making sure that all of this equipment got across without excess ware or loss. I was mostly worried about things getting pounded to bits (our nerves & tummies included).

Tehuanapec is on the isthmus between the Gulf of Mexico & the Pacific, and there is also a break in the Sierra Madre mountains which rise to 8,000ft on either side. This gives a 30 mile stretch where the wind howls from the north most of the time. Just a straight, low beach with no habitation. There is a major effect on currents as the water is blown out in the middle & sucked in from either side, and we found 1.5 to 2 knots doing just that.

We knew that we had to keep out of the waves by hugging the coast, and it worked. We left Huatulco at 8.00pm and made good time with the motor at just 1000rpm. No wind at Ayulta as we expected, but picked up light NE around Punta Chipehua. This varied 30 degrees in & out of the bays, and combined with dying current, and short chop made tactics complicated. We sailed out, regretted it, then hugged the coast. We past Salina Cruz in the morning & rapidly reduced to a storm jib & no main. We kept up 6 knots of water speed 1 to 2 miles off the beach, but already had 1.5 knot current against us. Back up to full sail for supper. We found no hazards even where Bahia Ventosa marks shoals.

After a week, there were 7 boats waiting in Huatulco and a pack mentality seemed to be growing. We made some friendships which we hope to keep, but I am not a team person & was glad to be off & responsible for us only. We heard the other boats on the radio and those closest in had the smoothest, fastest passage. In retrospect it would have worked well not to stop there but catch the end of the previous weather window and go through our Mexican check-out on this side in Puerto Madero.

Now 100 miles away & just about lost the head current. Should cross to Guatemalan waters tomorrow morning. Still just off the beach with a lovely 15 knot sea breeze. Next we plan an inland trip from Barillas, El Salvador to take spanish lessons, then on to the Gulf of Papagayo where they reported 35 knot easterlies this morning!

Dave & Jan