Vamos a Guatemala

We decided to head to Guatemala for the New Year. We have heard wonderful things about Rio Dulce. The trip took us 55 hours, once again with calm seas. We carefully followed the coastline of Belize, trying to stay just on the other side of the strong northern current in…

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Learning to Dive

Our good friend, Benito, is also a dive instructor. In addition to enlisting his help to make the crossing from Key West to Isla Mujeres we also had him certify/ re-certify us in diving. He started by teaching the basics about the gear while we were underway. Then once we…

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Chichen Itza

While we stayed in Puerto Aventuras we rented a car and drove to see Chichen Itza. Fortunately, Google Maps works even in Yucatan Mexico and it was only about a two hour drive. We arrived early in the morning, before the park got too hot and sunny. We hired a…

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Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas from Mexico. We had a lovely day, warm in the 70s, relaxing together. We decorated Wonderstruck for Christmas. It is a different Christmas. If this complex were in the USA it would be decorated and piping Christmas music since Halloween. They do have some scattered Christmas decorations, but…

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Puerto Aventuras

Our next stop was Puerto Aventuras, Mexico. We left in the evening and travelled all night, arriving the next morning. It is about a 12 hour trip south of Isla Mujeres. This place reminds me of Lake Buena Vista— before it was replaced by Downtown Disney. There are rows of…

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Isla Mujeres

Isla Mujeres is an island just off the coast of Mexico, across from Cancun. It is popular with cruisers, one of the few places to safely anchor on this coast. We had originally planned to anchor there, but we enjoyed the marina so much we just stayed there for the…

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Clearing in to Mexico

Clearing through customs and immigration is involved enough to warrant its own post. Benito had made arrangements for us to stay at a marina the first night. The marina is beautiful, sheltered, has a pool and hot showers, and is only $1 a foot. Needless to say, we have extended…

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Crossing to Isla Mujeres

Now that we had new sails installed, diesel tanks full, water tanks full, all our snacks ready to go we finally were ready to make the crossing to Isla Mujeres. Isla Mujeres is a small island just across from Cancun Mexico. It is a well known port for cruisers, with…

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New Sails!

Wonderstruck has a new jib and new main! Yay! They were shipped to our friend’s house in Key West. First Kim and I installed the new jib. It went up without a problem. We also have a new roller furling and it took us several tries to get the line…

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Short stay in Miami

We stopped in Miami for a reason. Well actually several. One, we really like Miami. We have happy memories there from prior stays and it has a special place in our heart. Two, we feel secure in our anchorage options. And three, the vets there are used to doing international…

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