New wind record

By Aaron, photos courtesy of Zachary SO Lough (s/v Panache)
For the last few weeks we’ve been tied up at Hotel Bahia Del Sol.  For $14 a week you get use of the pool, Wi-Fi, $1 beers, and 30% off all your food.  So you can imagine what our daily routine has been like.  Saturday started out pretty well.  Relaxing in the pool was interrupted by a dinghy raft-up out in the estuary with free beer, so we made sure to attend.
We drifted with the current until the beers were gone
It was just another lovely evening, and none of us had any idea how quickly that was going to change.  Nicole was making potato burritos for dinner and since Zack lives off Top Ramen we had him over.  As we began to eat, the breeze picked up a bit.  About half way through the meal it was blowing over 20 knots.  As we were finishing our burritos, the wind began building and building.  In just a few minutes it went from a breeze to hurricane-force winds over 70 knots with torrential rain.  (Highest recorded wind was 73 knots, about 84mph.)  Definitely a new record high for our anemometer.  All hell broke loose for about 15 minutes.  Then, as quickly as it arrived, it was gone.  We surmised this was our first encounter with a microburst.  The amount of rain and wind was incredible.  And as it tore through here it made a sound that I’ll never forget. 
Zack was anchored about 100 yards up the estuary.  At the time there was about a 3 knot tidal current running with the wind.  His anchor dragged and Panache was bearing down on the marina at an alarming speed.  Zack is one lucky dude.  The boat missed the corner piling and SV Swift Current by about 30 feet.  Zack, Nicole and I followed her, running down the bucking  linear dock with waves crashing over our legs as she flew past.
Here’s the piling that Panache barely dodged
Then, more luck – as the boat is hurtling past the marina she suddenly fetched up on her anchor and held about 20 feet off the linear dock.  We later determined that the anchor had caught one of the cables that are anchored to the bottom to try and hold the docks in place.  We had to leave her there for the time being as the waves were too big to risk getting in the dinghy and you could barely stand in the wind and rain.
Panache, lucking out on the anchor grab
Other boats dragged anchor as well.  Several boats tied to moorings also broke free. 
Talaria makes it over to the dock from the mooring field.  Hats off to the hotel staff who jumped in to help all the boats in trouble.
What was left of Talaria’s mooring.  Several of the links in the chain were rusted down pretty thin.
SV Swift Current, the boat tied up next to us on the outside of the dock, broke two cleats right off the dock.  Her stern went out into the current causing the bow to try and ride up on the dock while nails chewed into the fiberglass.  We fought to get her stern pulled in while Bella Star was trying to launch herself onto the finger pier.
Trying to get the stern back to the dock.  We couldn’t keep our fenders down because waves were washing over the docks and the boat would buck up so high that the fenders pulled out, then the side of the hull would crash down on the dock.

Where Swift Current’s bow was digging into the night before
SV Nauti Moments has a Kevlar reinforced bow that got to chew up a bit of dock
The docks here are cleverly built by using two logs to nail the planks onto, then sticking 55 gallon drums underneath to get them to float higher.  Well those drums were popping out all over the place.  Bella Star had one of the barnacle encrusted drums wedged in and by the current and being crushed between her stern and the dock. 
Got some nice barnacle cuts on my hands from this damn thing, and Nicole got her feet cut up as well.  But she sure looked nice fighting beside me in her little black dress.
Cleats pulled out all over the place. 
All in all we were pretty lucky and only suffered some scratches in the gelcoat.  The docks themselves could have broken loose, as one did about a mile up the estuary.  SV Tolerance was not so lucky.  Her anchor dragged and she went up on one of the hotel pier’s cement pilings at a high speed.
Wind and current conspired to do major damage
The piling from inside
Once the wind died we used a couple dinghies to power Tolerance off the pier and got her over to a slip.
The hole is only about an inch above the waterline.  Just a tiny bit bigger and it probably would have sunk right there.
Talaria collided with Hotspur, bending in several stanchions and one of the dinghy davits. 
They’re also out a solar panel.  Kudos to SV Knee Deep for dishing out some brewskies!
Zack and I were unsuccessful at getting the anchor unhooked from the mooring cable.  And as luck would have it, there was open dock space that we could reach by letting out more chain.  I fed it out of the windlass while Zack piloted her over to the dock.  He was relieved to have his baby still floating.  A diver freed the anchor the next day.
Hotspur took some collision damage and lost quite a bit of her caprail along with sustaining damage to her foam cored hull.  The duct tape is there to keep water from getting into the foam core.
Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt.  The next day everybody was talking about the storm and exchanging their stories.
The marina staff put in freshly made cleats and restored power to the docks the very next day
The barrels that could be recovered were also reinstalled the next day
Tolerance is uninsured and a total loss.  Mick, the skipper, decided to part it out.  The next day it was crawling with cruisers.  All the winches, deck hardware, electronics, spare parts, lines, you name it, the boat was pretty much stripped down.  It was hard to stomach acquiring gear like this, but Mick insisted that he needed the money in order to make his next move.
We got new mainsheet blocks, a whisker pole with mounts and mast fittings, dive mask, various sealants, PFD with integrated harness and a spare rearming kit. 
Mick gave us some good deals.  He really did Zack a favor, and sold him a brand new 4 person liferaft and an EPIRB for $200.
Tolerance won’t sail again, but she’s still floating.  Mick sold the remains to a local marine mechanic for $400.  He’s got a dock on the estuary and plans to live aboard once the hole is somewhat patched up.  It’s still got a working propane stove, a head, and a couple decent size berths with good cushions.  It’ll make a good little house for him.
We’re glad that nobody was seriously hurt.  Throughout the ordeal everyone was helping each other and making sure everybody was okay.  A typical example of why we’re happy to be a part of the cruising community.

Even more waterfalls

By Aaron

Agua Azul wasn’t the only waterfall we visited on our way to San Cristobal.  We also stopped at Misol-Ha.

There’s a trail that winds around behind the waterfalls….

Nothing like waterfall mist to cool you down in the tropical heat

The side of the cliff has lots of small holes and caves with water pouring out.  Kind of felt like standing in front of a dam ready to burst.

View from the other side of the trail

One of the caves is large enough to walk in

Turns out my bravery in cave exploring decreases proportionally with the amount of ambient light.

We loved the hot jungle of Misol-Ha

Next stop, San Cristobal – where we were reminded what it’s like to be really, really cold. 

Agua Azul

By Aaron

After a long ride through the jungles of Chiapas we arrived at Agua Azul.  The water there is rich in minerals and coats everything with a layer of white limestone, making the water take on beautiful shades of blue. 

Time for panorama mode

The beginning of our hike up the mountain

We passed several large falls at the start

Nicole taking a break in the heat

Up we go

The water almost glowed when seen from the shady jungle

A little church for the small community of people that live in the area

We kept finding a new waterfall at every corner

Local houses in the jungle

Swimming in the river is no doubt a popular activity around here

We crossed a small tributary

Believe it or not, we saw more waterfalls

And we saw little waterfalls

The view looking downstream was also fantastic

We hiked back down to where we started and then hiked downstream a bit

Of course there were more waterfalls downstream

The river at this point splits into a few smaller streams snaking through the jungle.  Unfortunately it was time to go, so this was as far as we got.  But I have a good feeling that there were more waterfalls down there.

Warm beer? No way!

By Nicole

Yes, I know I said that the next post would be on the blue waterfalls, but it’s not quite ready yet. Aaron’s working on that post, and he’s off partying in Miami at the moment.

Well, that’s not exactly true. What you don’t know is that our refrigerator went to the appliance graveyard in the sky last month.  That’s right; it died.  See, our lifestyle isn’t all sunsets and margaritas!

We (briefly) considered going without refrigeration—some people do it—but then we realized that we’d have to drink warm beer.  Do we look like warm beer drinkers to you?  No way!  Having to limp along without refrigeration for a month+ is bad enough (no milk, yogurt, cheese, beer, ice, leftovers)…

When we factored the high cost of shipping goods to Central America (at least $200, plus a 1 1/2-hour bus ride to the post office—each way) against the ridiculously low price of airfare to Florida ($200), it only made sense for Aaron to hop a plane to the States.  Amazingly, the refrigerator manufacturer is only a few miles from the airport, so he can pick up the new fridge directly.  And as an added perk, he gets to visit with his mom who lives in Florida.  Sweet!

So be patient on the blue waterfalls post—I promise the pictures will be worth it.  In the meantime, I’ll put together a little something on the gorgeous colonial town of San Cristobal… and drink the hotel bar’s cold beer.

Mayan Ruins of Palenque

By Nicole

A twelve hour drive from our marina, over expansive mountain ranges, past quiet farms and through thick jungle terrain led the crews of Bella Star, Bravo and Nanna to the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque.  We were able to split the trip into 6-hour hops, but it was still a long, winding, speed-bump filled ride (do you really need speed bumps every 100’ for like 50 miles?).  And our bus ride back was a little terrifying, as we barreled along the narrow road, clung to cliff sides and passed slow-moving vehicles on one blind corner after another.  Was it worth it, though?  Absolutely.

Seeing the ruins for the first time was an incredible experience.  I was awe-struck and probably repeated the phrase “ohmygosh” a dozen times in the first five minutes.

 Awesome!  That’s me down there, giving some scale to the huge pyramids.

The Mayan ruins of Palenque are located in a national park, deep in the southern Mexican jungle.  Dating from around 100 BC to 800 AD, Palenque was an expansive Maya city state with temples, plazas and numerous other structures.  It’s a huge site, but due to funding and various reasons, only about 2% of it has been excavated.  That means that around 98% of the ruins still lie buried in the jungle!  Wow.

Ask the tour guide we hired on-site about the documented history of Palenque, though, and he’ll tell you “it’s all a bunch of garbage.”

Victor, who’s been around the site since 1965, working next to the archaeologists and doing his own research, presents a very convincing, or at least interesting, case for rewriting what’s known about Mayan culture during Palenque’s heyday.

 Our colorful tour guide, Victor, tells his version of the Mayan story.

It’s Victor’s firm belief that contemporary societies of the time—the Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks and others—had direct ties to the Mayan world.  That is, people from China, Egypt and Greece visited Palenque regularly, bringing bits of their culture along with them.  Thus you see carvings of Chinese dragons and people in Egyptian dress in multiple locations around the site.  One carving is even said to be that of King Tut (Victor said he actually died of a cocaine overdose—cocaine he brought back to Egypt with him from Palenque).

Chinese-style dragon carving on a Mayan temple?  Believe it or not.

Whether you buy Victor’s theories or not, there’s no denying that the Mayan city of Palenque is a beautiful and enchanting place.

The tops of two pyramids peek out from the grass, waiting to be unearthed

These ruins reminded me of King Louie from The Jungle Book

The pyramids are steep and the risers on the steps are tall – climbing up and down (and up and down) was quite a workout in the 90-degree heat …

… so Aaron decided to take a little break

The requisite Aaron & Nicole arm shot

The inland tour crew – on the left, Cindy and Adam from s/v Bravo; Isabelle is next to me and Magnus is next to Aaron (from s/v Nanna).  A fun group!

Trails lead off from the site deep into the jungle.  We followed one of the trails for about two hours, meandering past waterfalls and unexcavated ruins hidden amongst the vines and trees.  We even saw howler monkeys and a toucan.

 Look closely and you’ll see unexcavated ruins hiding under the roots and vines

 Lovely little waterfall along the jungle trail

 Aaron called these falls “stupid pretty”

That black lump is a howler monkey.  Really!  I got a video of four of them
messing about, but it’s pretty boring.  Although they did drop sticks on us.

Perhaps Victor implanted radical ideas in my head, but I left Palenque feeling a bit spellbound.  It is truly an amazing place.  If you go, be sure to spend the night!  The two-hour tour just doesn’t cut it.

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Next up – blue waterfalls!