Sailing the Tehuantepec and Arriving in Huatalco, Plus the Road Block

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Judy works the Pole

Sailing

Judy
We didn't put up an awning so Judy stood her watch with an umbrella.

Turtle dives next to boat
Along the shore from the Tehuantepec to Huatulco we saw lots of wild life, including many turtles.

Another

Taking out the oil with a hand pump, not a fun job

Putting in new oil

Huatulco Bay

Judy looks

Cactus and View

Huatulco

Road Block

On the drive back we ran into this road block on a bridge just inside Oaxaca State. The road was backed up with big trucks for a mile or more but we followed some cars to the front and found this scene. The other end of the bridge had a similar blockage.

Moto taxi youths

Yellow

Moto-taxi's

Army arrives

Army meets protestors

The soldiers walked onto the bridge and we saw them talking with a collection of the older Moto-Taxi drivers. When the army left a few minutes later, the word went around that it would be over in ten minutes. A few minutes later two police cars arrived, there was some sort of announcement which included the words, "cinco pesos", which brought up a cheer from the Moto-Taxi drivers, then they cleared the blockage and all drove away. The policemen directed traffic. Being at the front of the line, we got through first, but for at least two miles on the other side we saw trucks and cars still stopped, waiting.

Since then we have seen nothing in the papers about this event. So our takeaway is that it is pretty normal in Mexico. These drivers wanted a raise so they blocked the road. The police and army talked to them but didn't take any strong action, and apparently the tactics of the Moto-Taxi drivers worked.

One side note: The army guys came, talked, then left, but when the blockade was cleared they came back and went directly to the front of the line. in fact we followed them through. Interesting. I think that it was a negotiation: The army said, "You have to break this up". The Moto-Taxi drivers said, "Not while you're standing here with the guns, you leave first." And that's what happened.

Army meets protestors

Its over

Missing the Tehuantepec Window

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Weather Window

What this graphic shows are the two weather windows for our travel across the Tehuantepec. The two black boxes represent time we would be on the water. The one on the left was Friday's window, which we preferred, and the one on the right is Monday's, which we get. The colors are wind strengths, green being good wind, white, no wind, and yellow and red, too much wind. There are columns for several weather forecasting sites. The Black Line across the middle of the boxes shows when we expect to be actually crossing the Tehuantepec.

Neither of these views is too bad, sometimes the whole picture would be dark crimson, which is really a no-go.


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Waiting

While killing time last week we took another trip to the mountains, to another coffee farm called Argovia. The road was rough and it rained.

Chrysler at Argovia

Bad Raod

Road block

Argovia's Restaurant

Jungle

Jungle

Killing Time

Tequila

More Boat Work in Chiapas

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Judy Looks Up

Sailing in Light Air

Mainsail

Showing the Roach

Looks small, right? See below.

OK, We can go in now

Marina Chiapas

Yachts

Measuring Luff

Measuring Foot

Measuring MGM

We measured carefully. We found that the new mainsail from Fareast Sails did not match the Layout they sent us, and which we agreed to. It is several inches small. If you want a cheap sail and want to take a chance, you can try these guys, but if you want a sail which fits, and want to deal with guys who stand behind their work, I don't recommend FarEast Sails.

Mast Head Units

Epoxy Too Hot

Tapachula

Oaxacca Street

Judy and the Singer

Art Gallery

Wall Art

Art

Route to Huatulco
This is what we must avoid: Big winds coming out of the Bay of Tehuantepec, otherwise known as Tehuantepeckers.