S/V Aphrodite

We have been in the Yucatan for the past few weeks, most of our time spent on a small island off Cancun called Isla Mujeries.  As soon as we dropped anchored and ventured to shore we were flooded with memories of the warmth and consideration the Mexican people have for others, even Gringos. Both of us felt an immediate surge of “being at home” and, what language we have, started to stumble, not exactly flow, out of our mouths. We were here for only a few days when I then flew to another favorite area of Mexico, Huatulco, on the south western side of the country, to spend Christmas with my extended family.

Huatulco is a beautiful area of Mexico, comprised of 7 bays with pristine beaches, jungle vegetation and layers upon layers of rolling mountains in the background. It was magical for me to be on the Pacific side of Mexico again, especially knowing that I had sailed there from San Francisco and anchored in the exact bay that we were staying. The area is being developed by the country as an eco-tourist region with a strong commitment to preserve its natural beauty and authentic culture. It sounds like one of the country’s primary goal is to avoid building another Cancun, which was also a national sponsored development. Huatulco is a gorgeous area and worth a visit if you have not been there.

After Christmas Michael and I met Kacy/Chris and Keri/Luke for a short week on Aphrodite to celebrate Michael’s 60th birthday. Everyone flew into Cancun, took a cab to the ferry dock and ferried across to Isla Mujeries. We spent one night there, and then motor sailed to Cozemel the next day. While in Cozemel all 4 kids got a chance to experiment with our Hookah diving system. Kacy and Keri have been diving with us before, Luke had dove on the west coast of California for his open water certificate but Chris had never dove at all. It was such a thrill for us to share the experience with them. They all loved it, especially the boys who were first timers. Cozemel offers premium reef and wall dives. Unfortunately hurricane Whilma destroyed a lot of the shallow reefs, but they were able to dive to 80 ft. enabling them to see some of Cozemel’s best. The time spent with the kids was the highlight for us, watching them lounge on the trampoline nets, listening to them playing cards, laughing, enjoying each other and showing them parts of Mexico most tourists never see. We anchored off Puerto Morelas, south of Cancun, where the only town dock had been demolished in the hurricane so the only way we were able to get to shore was to anchor the dinghy off the beach and wade in to higher ground, even with their luggage when it was time for them to return to the airport. It was terrific having them onboard and we missed them immediately upon their departure.

We saw quite a bit of hurricane damage in the Yucatan. The entire south end of Cozemel, where most of the elaborate resorts are located, were shut down/closed due to lack of electricity. ALL of the vegetation was stripped of leaves, trees up routed, rubble where buildings once stood and ships were aground along the shoreline. We saw extensive damage in Ft. Lauderdale as well, but one primary difference between the US and Mexico is that rubble and ship wrecks are just left in Mexico and life is restored around them! We never made it south to Playa de Carmen which reportedly looked like The Day After.

Our plans are unformed at this time but we will probably return to Fl. for provisioning and then we will go to the Bahamas. From there we will probably continue south along the leeward and windward islands, but when, is still undetermined. I don’t think either one of us are ready to leave this area for the Mediterranean Sea yet. We are even thinking about returning to Guatemala for more time in a language school.

Happy New Year

Jeri and Michael