Cozumel Mexico

We broke up the trip to Cozumel , stopping at Cayo Norte and Espirtu Santo along the way. We thought we had the weather to do this with just an overnight stop at each. The sailing was great only having to motor through the inlets. We had a currents up to a 3 knots at times. I cant comprehend going south down this coast as the currents are so strong. Cayo Norte is an atoll with only a Navy outpost on it. They stopped to Question us but did not give us a hard time at all. This is a very pretty spot but there is little protection so we press on the next morning for Espirtu Santo. The weather was going to kick up the next day so we decide this location would give us fair protection. The following morning around 2:00 am the wind picked up to 25 to 30 knots and created a chop that sent a breaking wave over the bow and onto our heads in our bed, what a rude awakening. This went on until the late afternoon when it died back to 15 knots. Both Serene and ourselves broke our anchor snubbers through this blow, a first for each of us. The holding was good and we both stayed put it was just to far from the reef to give us good protection. The morning of the 20th we headed for Cozumel. We dropped anchor just after dark, around 7:00 pm.

The following morning we split a car rental with Mel and Joni so that we could run around and check into the country. They don't make it easy as all the different departments are all over the place, and as we found out nobody knows where they are. We finally found the health office, the one we needed to check into first and found it closed, so much for checking in until Monday. We ended up driving around the island instead. We stopped at the San Gervasio Mayan ruins site and then drove the coastal road along the beach that spanned the length of the island. Back in the main town there are all the vendors who aggressively try to get you into there shops. The food is geared to the tourist and we find it far from being Mexican. The beer is getting more expensive the closer we get to the states along with most everything else. Two days of window shopping and were ready for something else. Cayo Norte 46NM 9 hours, Espirtu Santo 45NM 7 hours, Cozumel 79 NM. 12 1/2 hours, full sail all the way.