Saturday June 4, 2011

 

We were supposed to leave Thursday but Mexican authorities prevented us from leaving. The last step to clear out was a visit by immigration. They were scheduled to come to the boat at 2:30 PM and we were to leave after they left. They didn’t show up until 9PM. Well we hadn’t paid the marina so we couldn’t leave until Friday and by then our weather window had closed. It looks like we’ll be here until Monday. Since we’ve cleared out I guess that makes us illegal immigrants in Mexico.

 

After Marathon we spent two nights in the Dry Tortugas where we saw a parking sign that you don’t see very often

 

 

Our arrival in Isla Mujeres did not go without its problems. Once again the issue of having a cat onboard reared its head. According to one Mexico web site we had everything we needed, but not so according to the agriculture guy. We needed a vet statement saying he had been treated for parasites. After some negotiation – most in Spanish between our agent and the immigration officer our cat was allowed to stay. We were also told not to tell anyone we had a cat.

 

 We don’t have any pictures of the main street of Isla Mujeres, but here’s one of the side streets. Lots of golf carts and scooters on Isla Mujeres.

 

 

We did find some nice restaurants like this one.

 

 

The beaches were also very nice. It looked like most beaches were cleaned and raked every night. The first picture is near our marina and the second one is of the beach in the center of town.

 

 

So after 12 days in Isla Mujeres we moved on to Puerto Morelos. We are staying at the El Cid marina (www.elcid.com – Cancun) and are allowed to use the pool at the all inclusive resort. This picture shows only about a quarter of the pool.

 

 

The boat is in a manmade harbor The pile of rocks is about 15’ high and there is probably close to a mile of wall that encloses the harbor. In this picture the marina looks empty but boats had moved out for a fishing tournament.  

 

 

We went downtown to check out the boats

 

 

And to see what was being caught - one crew caught a nice size barracuda

 

After the fish weighing there was some entertainment. We didn’t stay late for the dance band but did catch a Mayan dance. Here are the drummers

 

 

We only got one decent picture of the dancers

 

 

Some friends of ours are having engine problems and had to pull their engine. Crain service here is a little different

 

 

But it worked. Notice the required tool in the hand of the guy on the right.