And now, for some details Palenque has disclosed. Portions of the structures' original stucco can still be found in sheltered places; some of the clearest examples are on the palace walls and show combinations of black outlining with predominant reds and the deep sky-blue color known as "Mayan Blue." …
Dona Josefina might live in Tuxtla Chico, Chiapas, a mountainous Mexican town you may have never heard of, but it seems the international chocolate community knows exactly where it is and who Dona Josefina is. When we met her in late December 2014, she had just returned from Paris and Florence with a bunch of…
For cruisers who don't have enough time for DIY tourism all over the state of Chiapas, consider hiring Tony Alfaro as your guide. He can manage groups of any size, and if you already have something specific in mind to see, Tony will take you there. Marina Chiapas has all Tony's 411 for the discerning…
May 2, 2014. Hauled The Fox at Marina Puerto Chiapas for hurricane-season storage. Did the usual preparatory chores.Weather was very hot and humid but Memo's haulout (that's him in the light blue shirt with the TraveLift controls), the pressure washing, and the placement on jackstands all went smoothly. Covered The Fox with mesh landscape fabric…
Marina Puerto Chiapas is an excellent place to visit, get necessary boat work done, or to store one's boat for the season. Earthquakes and tsunamis notwithstanding. (More on that, in a later post.) On the right, you see a view of their innermost dock, looking toward a portion of their asphalt-paved dry dock and boat…
Got 2 Porvenir, San Blas Isls., Panama, Tue. a.m. 3/5. Passage=9 days + 2 hrs.,1044.61 mi. Boy are we tired. Couple hrs. after we anchored, a boat pulls up & it's Rob & Sue on s/v Joyeux, last seen in Mazatlan in 2007! We're both going 2 Shelter Bay/Colon, us to transit Canal, them to…
Day 9, 3/3: Nice overnight trade-wind sailing, NE winds 12-17. Drop to NNE 10-15 during day then increase to NNE 15-22; then NNE 7-12 late at night. Seas = 4'-6', rolly beam seas. We still have fair current N –> S of 2kt. Aiming for Porvenir on Tues. a.m. 3/4. Position at 2325 UTC: 10…
Day 7, 3/1: overnight, little to no wind tho 12-15kt. was forecast. Wind filled after sunrise for 12 hrs. so we sailed as wind went from SW to S to E. Wind dropped again as it backed to NE. Strategy: motor-sail @1500 rpm due W to WSW w/ a fair current of 3 knots 'til…
Day 5, 2/27: In passage between EJ amaica & W Haiti, spectacular pre-dawn scene with bright Venus rising before thin crescent of almost-new moon above US-owned wildlife sanctuary Isla Navassa. Fox passed 8 mi. W of Navassa. SE winds10-15 became E wind 5-10 in p.m. with 6' SE swells. Are these the trade winds? Visited…
Day 4, 2/26, midnight: transiting the Windward Passage. Very heavy commercial traffic; total 20+ vessels on radar during the passage. Successfully avoided being rear-ended by cruise ship Legend of the Seas. It was passing a freighter by going inshore of traffic lane, passed the freighter but failed to see us due to so many other…