GOLFO DE TEHUANTEPEC
PUERTO MADERO MEXICO

We finally got a good enough weather window to cross the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Our plans were to buddy boat with a couple that we met in Panama, Bill and Martha sailing on the Shadow Cat. Heading from Barillas, El Salvador to Huatulco, Mexico. It should take five days to cross the Tehuantepec. We sailed close to each other and talked back and forth on the VHF quite often; we had a great time. Carl and Bill caught lots of fish, Martha caught a few too.

Carl had a feeling that the weather was changing. The Tehuantepec winds are so strong that they can blow a sailboat off course a 100 miles in a blink of an eye. Sailors call the winds the “Tehuana Peckers.” A Mega Yacht approached and passed us by; Carl hailed them on the VHF radio. He asked them for an up-date on the weather. The yacht was very happy to help him out they were also on their way to Huatulco. They told Carl that the weather was changing and we wouldn’t make the crossing going the speed that a sailboat goes. Mega Yachts can go so much faster than us, this was a 150 foot Mega Yacht and they were in a hurry to beat the winds.
This left us no other choice then to stop in Puerto Madero, Mexico to wait for another weather window. Puerto Madero is not a place that cruisers normally stop, because it’s been said that the Port Captain is not friendly to cruisers. He goes out of his way to make things hard for you to check into the country. Martha speaks Spanish; she helped us out a lot. The Mexican Navy was waiting when we anchored our boats. They boarded each sailboat, we were second. The Navy boat was about 20 foot long with six men and a dog aboard. Only two men and the dog came aboard our boat. The men only spoke Spanish. I showed them our boat paperwork and answered his questions with my poor Spanish and hand signals. The men were very friendly. Carl showed the guy and the dog around with no problems. When they were done they left and waved good bye. Next we had to go to the Port Captains office, we found that they had a new Port Captain and he was really nice even spoke a little English. I guess that we lucked out the only problem we had was that we had to get a taxi to take us to the airport to go to immigration, then take a bus to a bank to pay their fees then back to the Port Captain to show him our receipts. Other ports make it a lot easier for cruisers to check into the Countries and don’t have dogs and the Navy board your boats.

It was really nice being with Bill and Martha; she spoke her Spanish and I spoke my English helping each other say things right in the opposite language. Martha is from Columbia she tried so hard to get us the best deals on everything by saying “minimo,minimo, quanto”. She always gets it “cheaper” she would say. We got to be really close friends. She loves animals, when she saw a stray she had to stop and help out everyone that she saw. Buying food giving them water even meds if they were hurt or had ticks. She would always say “I feel sorry for the babies.” Bill was a good friend to Carl teaching him how to fish, helping him make hand lines to fish with. Bill always offered advice about fishing and boating. People are what cruising is all about. The various types and characters make up just how much a particular place is either enjoyed, or not. Cruisers are an odd lot. We travel for the sake of travel itself. We wander the face of the earth in search, not for a better place, but for a new adventure, a look at something we haven’t seen before.

We ended up waiting three days for another weather window, seeing other cruisers stop in the bay to get out of the winds just as we did.
After the check-in process was finished, Puerto Madero was a nice place to visit. The locals were really nice and the town was big enough to shop for food, fuel and get everything we needed.
When we got underway again the Gulf of Tehuantepec was very calm we made the rest of the way through without any weather problems. The last night of the crossing our auto pilot besides he wanted to take a permanent vacation and just quit steering for us. Any cruiser out there understands how much we need auto pilot! Auto is a much needed crew member. Now our watches went to two on two off all night long. With auto you can read go to the bathroom walk around without your stuck at the wheel your whole shift. What a drag.