Monday The weather was looking somewhat favorable for a crossing but the window would be very tight. We are watching the weather closely to see if we can try to head northeast. Alot of the day was spent getting the boat ready to go if we decided to head out. Our friends on the trimaran "Moon"and Bill on the monohull "Adventure" decided to head out about noon. We wish them the best.
We kept looking at the weather and forecasts. There is a big front pushing south and will be in Isla on Thrusday and in the Keys by 6 am on Friday. The seas are not ideal but the window was there. In the best conditions, the trip would be a 48 hour run, in usual conditions, maybe 60 and bad conditions more like 72.
We felt like we had about a 70 hour window and decided to depart Isla. We headed down to the Port Captains office and Immigration to check out of the country and by 5pm we were committed to departing.
We finished little things on the boat, Beth cooked a nice dinner and we decided to give ourselves a little extra time and would leave at 9:30pm.
J and Jerr came out to see us off and we sailed out into a beautiful moonlit night and left Isla Mujeres.
Once we passed the protection of the island, the seas were indeed rough as expected and the wind was no help. We knew we would have a rough 12 hours before things became more favorable. Beth was at the helm when a pod of dolphins came by for a visit and ran with the boat for about 20 minutes. The moonset was fantastic and the stars amazing even as we were being tossed around in 10+ ft seas.
Tuesday At 6 am, the seas were getting worse, the wind still no help and everyone was sick. We turned around and headed back to Mexico. I guess it just wasn't time for us to leave. We arrived back at the dock at El Milagro just before 11 am. What had taken us almost 9 hours to go took less than 5 to return. I honestly believe we could have walked faster. After being up all night, we were exhausted. We secured the boat, made a trip into town to again visit the Port Captain and Immigration to clear back into the country, and then slept until early evening when we ordered pizza and went back to sleep.
Wednesday A beautiful day in Isla. Light winds and plenty of sunshine. Beth still hasn't recovered from our outing so she hung around the boat most of the day and I didn't go far. There really isn't much going on so we watched TV. I took some of the gas that we had in jerry cans and filled the tank. I guesstimated that we used about 15 gallons on our little trip. I spent the majority of the day looking for alternative transportation to head home for the holidays and checking when our next weather window might be.
Thursday The wind switched around to the north during the night which gives us a rocky ride at the dock and woke me up about 6 am. Still checking the weather, there might be a window behind this front. It looks like we might have a weather window in about a week. That forecast is exactly that, a forecast and they are less likely to be as accurate here as they are in the states and we all know how accurate they are in the states. The rest of the day was spent lazing around. Beth made beef stroganoff for dinner.
Friday The wind had picked up during the night again making the boat rock. I managed to actually sleep in till almost 6:30. I helped a couple of the guys on the dock get online with their computers. Checked out all the construction going on at the marina and took a ride into town. When I got back from town, Beth was up and decided today was the day I was going to get a haircut. It was long overdue and while its difficult to do on the boat, she did a great job. I made a nice roast for dinner and we relaxed watching TV.
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