SV Gallant Fox

Passage to Florida

Wow, has it been almost a year since we sailed from Puerto Morelos, Mexico, to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida?

That road trip we'd taken through the Yucatan Peninsula was one of our best road trips ever, anywhere. With that now behind us, on May 6, 2011, we checked out of Mexico* and started across the Yucatan Channel, making for the east coast of Florida.

* We had a few hours' delay, waiting for (1) the officials to show up at Marina El Cid with our exit papers; and (2) the fuel truck to show up with some diesel. But in the end, we got out before we'd lost very much time.

Even More Maya - Local Critters

If you are lucky enough to embark on a road trip like this here one, here are some examples of the Yucatan's local flora and fauna you may encounter:

In any given Mayan ruin you will likely meet some jolly iguanas who smile "¡bienvenidos!" at you as best they can.

...if you're here in April, you may see the tamarind trees in bloom.

...here's an orange-and-black Altamira oriole.

...and a young Yucatan jay, with his black head, yellow legs and beak, and bright blue body.

 

...a couple of indigo buntings.

 

 

...some jumbo-size, jungle-riffic cockroaches. Note this guy is safely on the OUTside of the hotel's window screen. Yeah, he's about 3 inches long and 1-1/4" wide. Watch where you walk at night.

aaaaannnd, wolf spiders who obligingly lurk near you, hoping to nab those pesky gnats and mosquitos for you. You know - so you can sleep better.

m

Much More Maya - Some Words on Personal Safety

I want to make clear to both readers of this blog (HIIIII!) that we made this trip I've been posting about around the northern half of the Yucatan Peninsula - a rental-car road trip loop that began and ended on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan in Puerto Morelos, Mexico - in 10 days during April, 2011. The distances are short, on good roads, through nice towns*, with no overnight driving.

*"Nice towns." I feel I always have to add this for anyone from the US who might read this. Stop buying the bill of goods your mass media is selling you: behave like a normal adult, and you have every chance of avoiding a beheading if you visit Mexico. As far as reality and our actual experience goes, here are the 6 rules for staying alive in Mexico (or the rest of Latin America, for that matter):

1. Do not sell drugs.

2, Do not try to steal someone else's drugs.

3. Do not try to pick up local women.

4. Do not insult local men - not even in English - the average Mexican is bilingual. You're not.

5. Do not pick fights in bars.

6. Do not wander around bad parts of town after dark.

(Saaayyy, don't you follow those same 6 rules at home?)

If you can somehow manage to follow these 6 rules, you will be happy touring Mexico. Keep your head, and you will keep your head.

I will also point out that the Yucatan has a large Mayan population, who are very proud of the fact that they maintain the lowest crime rate of all Mexico.  It could be because of the Mayan cultural history, their strong ethical principles, their family values...or because every pyramid in the region has numerous graphic representations of exactly what the average Maya can do to you if you cross them one little bit.

Great way to keep the kids in line.

m

About Yucateca Food

It's excellent.

Fresh food in bright colors that's good for you, in tasty combinations that are found nowhere else - not even in the rest of Mexico which as you know has terrific food in general. Yucateca food, specifically, is all about handmade Mayan corn tortillas made to order, table by table, that are so delicate you could call them pastry. Every restaurant and food cart has their own recipe for homemade habenero salsa and bless their hearts, they always warn gringos about the heat of it before they hand it over. It is luscious.

Poc-chuc comprises thin slices of pork loin perfectly grilled over a charcoal fire. It's one of the dishes that most every restaurant offers, and you just can't go wrong ordering it anywhere.

Then there's pollo pibil, chicken marinated in OJ and herbs/spices, steamed/baked in banana leaves inside a clay pot. Falls off the bone. Over there on the left is a pic of a lunch of pollo pibil I had in Izamal. Lordy was that good. There are vegetarian dishes too, all of them tasty and fresh. If for some reason you're not interested in antiquities, you could plan and execute a wonderful gastronomic tour of the Yucatan region and return home happy. Google "Yucatan cuisine," or start here for some basics.

Did you know that Mayans have kept bees for the past several centuries? Me neither, and I can't determine exactly which flowers in the Yucatan jungle the bees prefer, but their final product is the color of dark rum and has a rich, floral flavor you have not tasted before. This is not the thick, honey-flavored corn syrup product sold in the US. Lucky for souvenir- seeking turistas, Mayan honey is sold in a variety of jar sizes, all the way up to quart (liter) size. We started with a pint size jar, then after we tasted it bought the liter-size. The Propane Chef uses it in all kinds of dishes.

Stay hungry, my friends.

m

Much More Maya - Izamal and Mérida

If you can find more than 3 days to tour Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, have I got the 2-week trip for you. The roads are all still in good shape, it's just as easy to get around, and you'll be seeing a wide range of cities and towns, museums, ruins, and cenotes. You can even find some artisans who specialize in pre-Columbian ceramics and sculpture. We met a brother and sister who each reproduce artifacts for some of Mexico's archaeological musuems when they're not selling to tourists like us.

A Perfect 3-Day Yucatan Adventure

Folks, you don't need to sail a boat to have an excellent vacation in Mexico. I've found what might be The Most Perfect Short Trip Possible. You could for example leave Chicago after work on Thursday, land in Cancun, spend Friday-Saturday-Sunday on this tour I'm about to share with you, return to Chicago Sunday night and be back at work on Monday morning - red-eyed but full of renewed life energy and using valuable office computer time searching for Yucatan real estate. Hey, the Mayan Apocalypse is supposed to happen next December, so there should be some real bargains, right?

Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Puerto Morelos is a very nice town that is located about halfway between the insanely crazy insanity of the tourist towns of Cancun (to the north) and Cozumel (to the south). Save yourself some aggravation and stay at Puerto Morelos next vacation, then just take a bus, van, rental car or taxi to either other location for first-class snorkeling and whatever else the kids are up to these days.

The local buses and taxis all stop at Puerto Morelos's town square, just a few yards from the beach. There's a nice little supermarket, a selection of ATMs, and an excellent fresh fish market Right There. There's a very good, reasonably-priced English-and Spanish-language car rental office just off the plaza across from the church. There are at least 6 restaurants either on the plaza or within a few blocks' walk in any direction. Ask anyone where the fancy bakery or the nearest tortillería is. It's all easy.

Marina El Cid, Puerto Morelos, Mexico

We chose Marina El Cid in Puerto Morelos for our entry into Mexico's Caribbean side for two main reasons: (1) we wanted a secure place for The Fox while we spent a couple weeks touring inland; and (2) we were familiar with the El Cid resorts and how they were managed, from having happily spent two hurricane seasons at Marina El Cid in Mazatlan.

El Cid at Puerto Morelos is a larger resort hotel complex with lots more beach than the one in Mazatlan, but its marina is smaller - 20 transient slips and 11 mooring balls. The approach to the marina from the sea is straightforward but visibility was poor for us due to heavy haze and generally flat land onshore. Simply refer to your Mexico cruiser's guidebook of choice like we did, and you'll find the entrance channel, no problemo. Approach depths were fine for our 6' keel, though I personally dislike depths below my keel that run in the single digits.

Ever Kiss a Corn Torilla?

Don't get me wrong - GB and I have had good times in all the Latin American countries we've visited. Judging by our girth, the food hasn't been bad either.

I recall with great fondness South America's tart, purple mora (sort of a cross between a large oblong blackberry and a boysenberry). Costa Rica's papayas were delightful. Nicaragua's Flor de Caña rum is outstanding (try the 5-year-old). And nothing beats the tender, delicate texture of Salvadoran rice. In fact, the Central and South American cuisines generally select rice as their carbohydrate of choice. Not that there's anything wrong with it; I enjoy rice very much.

However.

Mexico's tortillas.

Kick.

A$$.

In so many different ways.

By the time The Fox put in at Puerto Morelos it had been over a year since we had last reveled in the pleasure of Mexican food. It had been over twelve long months since I'd enjoyed my last Mexican tortilla (not that GB's homemade tortillas are not enjoyable). It stands to reason that one of the first places we visited when we got ashore was one of Puerto Morelos's tortillerías. Deeply inhaling the aroma of fresh-baked corn masa, we stood at the counter on the sidewalk outside and giddily bought ourselves 2.2 pounds of warm, delectable, corn tortillas - for the equivalent of less than a buck. I told the bemused ladies behind the counter just how terrific it was to be back in civilization where a gal can get a fresh tortilla on practically any street corner. It was then a simple matter to mosey down the street to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables including poblano chiles and nopales (de-thorned cactus pads), a cut or two of beef, and some (very) fresh chicken.

Soon thereafter it was time for chiles rellenos aboard The Fox, courtesy of The Propane Chef. With hot corn tortillas on the side.

¡Viva México!

m

Voyage from Panama to Mexico

In late March on the Caribbean side of Panama, the weather grows calmer and cruisers select from many fine travel choices. Some prefer to stay in the San Blas archipelago for, like, ever. Others work their way NW to Panama's popular Bocas del Toro and all its anchorages and marinas. Perhaps the majority of Western Caribbean cruisers head for the summertime hurricane protection of the Rio Dulce in Honduras. If they sail there from Panama, cruisers typically take time along the way to visit Isla Providencia, due east of Nicaragua; gradually work their way north around Nicaragua's extensive shallows to the Vivorillos islands, then turn west to stop off at popular Isla Roatan in Honduras before closing out the cruising season by traveling up the Rio Dulce to one of its many marinas. It sounds like a grand tour and one that we'd considered. But this cruising season we had bigger fish to fry: we wanted to get to Mexico's Yucatan peninsula as quickly as possible so that we could tour Mayan ruins until we couldn't stand the tourism any longer and the approaching hurricane season forced The Fox onward to the US East Coast for a well-earned refit.

Thus it was that, contrary to almost every other cruiser out there, as soon as we found a long enough weather window we left Panama on March 28 and sailed 880 miles directly to Puerto Morelos, Mexico (located about halfway between Cozumel and Cancun). It was one of the calmest, easiest passages we've ever had. See above photo for wing-on-wing goodness.