Notes and Remarks:

12:10 left Anchor Marina dock, said our good byes to everyone, missed Don and Donna, Barb and Al and also Jean in the office.

13:00 cleared the Port Isabel swing bridge, only opens for yachts on the hour. Stopped at the Texaco fuel dock, took on 30.95 gallons diesel,@ $1.170 total $36.22 and moved on to Southpoint Marina to pick up Rotella T and Dextron lll for the transmission. Probably will not be able to find these items in Mexico. Picked up 2 new pillows at Wal Mart to replace the old ruined ones from last week, and taxied back to Anchor to pick up a few things we forgot and say our last good byes.

15:30 finally underway. The plan is to sail all night and hopefully make La Pesca 141 miles south in day light late tomorrow.

16:46 cleared the jetties, light winds set course southerly for 12 miles off Mexican shoreline, around the 100 ft line.

1743 crossed Mexican Texas border at the Rio Grande.

1912 altered course to178degrees, the coastline falls off to the west. Gerry took first shift, Dick went below for rest.

2230 changed shift Dick up, We are 32.7 miles from jetties, 14.7 miles offshore. Seas 3-4ft , AW Speed 12-14kts 20 degrees off port bow cannot sail and make decent speed. Water depth 80-90 ft., air temp 74F water temp 65

24:00 38.6 from Port Isabel 95.45 from La Pesca, winds picking up, bouncy, clear skies all stars out, now if the swell would just go down

02:06 abeam El Mezquital light 14.5 miles to stbd altered course 10deg to stbd for better ride, speed down to 3.1 kts several fishing boats outside of us but cannot see any between us and land. Clouding over, winds up to 25+ swells to 6 ft, no pounding just lots of up and down.

04:56 We are now 61 miles from Port Isabel and 82 from La Pesca

07:30 Only made 5 miles in the last 3 hours, decided to turn back to El Mezquital. Boat speed increases, hit 8.9 surfing down waves.

09:26 outside the El Mezquital jetties, white water everywhere, have to hug the north jetty, we surf through the opening Wow!! A big one came aboard right over the stern!! Depth gauge shows 7 ft at one place, calms down once we are inside, the small village is about a mile in. There are small fishing skiffs along both shores. The shore line is all white beaches backed up by dunes

09:58 We drop CQR and 30 ft chain in 9 ft, just off old demolished steel wharf pilings, good holding. This village is no more than a fishing camp, there are dogs, chickens and pigs wandering around everywhere along the shore. A skiff comes out with 4 men, cannot speak English, but Dick goes ashore with them to the Puerto Capitiania, a cement block building on the one and only street where they check our papers and use the radio, to contact the authorities "Buddy" has a key to the office, but is only the local representative. A "Marina" (Mexican navy) corporal, comes and we return to the boat where he completes a search, every cupboard and locker, even taps the walls looking for hollow places!!!!

11:20 A navy launch, with 6 Marines comes alongside, 3 of them carrying AK 47s, the officer, a young lieutenant, who speaks some English, wishes to also search the boat and check our papers, we have a great chat, he thanks us and leaves. We think he just wanted to see the boat. We hit the bunks until 15:30 and watch a movie before dinner, enjoy the second meal from our HEB chicken. Dick starts up the balance of the chicken for a fricot tomorrow, Dick’s birthday. After dinner we watch "Crazy about Mary" on the VCR. On shore, there are people around the two cantinas, music going until around 22:00 then the shore line goes dark. Looks like a larger community on the other side of the small entrance, we can see further on the Mexican Laguna Madre to our west, not deep enough for us in there.

Another "Norther" is scheduled for tomorrow Wednesday, winds forecasted to 50 Km. The backside of that storm will be perfect for La Pesca and Altamira.

November 29, 2000 Happy birthday Dick!!! beautiful day, light E winds, seems like a wasted sailing day but a norther is forecast, not safe to leave, we do some maintenance, siesta and read, we do not even go ashore, Dick tells Gerry, if anyone comes aboard asking for beer, to give them an 0.5 they will never know the difference. Our "friend" from the Capitiana comes back, looking at our 5 gallon jugs, he wants gas, we have none, only diesel, then he asks for pesos, we make out we do not understand. We want our "Zarpe" (stamped papers) so we can leave tomorrow, but he will not give it to us until tomorrow, the day we leave!!!

Notes and Remarks:

09:43 Went to port Captain office, he was here from Matamoros, says he will tell us at 11:00 after the "Metrologico" if it is safe to leave. Gave "buddy" 40 pesos ($4.US)for taking us back and forth to shore, only 50 ft away. A walk through the village shows us a small shipyard, where the fabricate parts for AMFELS in Brownsville (cheap labor).

11:45 Port Captain said we could leave in one hour, about 1 hour ago, he was waiting for weather forecast, air temp 82F cleared jetties, and out around the shoal. GPS shows SOG 6.9 so we have a .5 push from current.

13:00 lunch time, today’s menu Corned beef sandwiches a la Aucoin, and a 0.5...

15:45 SOG 6.1 we are 23.1 from El Mezquital, 68 from La Pesca TTG 12 hrs 31 min Air temp 78 cloudy.

17:14 We are 1/3 the way to La Pesca, had a bird bath, feels good to be refreshed!!! Red skies to the west good sign. There are a dozen shrimpers outside us, and a flotilla of dolphins on each side following along.

18:02 Sundown, red sky, cloudy winds are 5kts 20 deg off port bow, roll in the jib.

19:39 wind backs to 135M roll out jib speed 6.23 idle engine for battery power, large shrimp fleet, 18 boats around us, one crossed our bow had to alter course to pass well behind him.

21:52 1/4 moon gone down, wind shift to 147M, air temp 78F SOG 5.3, 35.035 miles to La Pesca.

2247 All stars out Whitecap heeled 10deg full jib doing 6.34 Gerry gone to bed, coming up to another shrimper fleet looks like 12 I can see. Just like the old sailors tale "a good ship and a star to steer her by" well we have a perfect ship, million stars and Hester to do all the work. If I seem poetic or sentimental , I guess I am, not many other 66 year olds out here. ETA La Pesca 04:35 guess I will have to slow her down!!!

00:04 speed down to 5.23 wind shifted to158 had to ease off, we are 4.6 miles from shore in 70 - 80 ft depth.

01:16 wind shifted, tacked back out until 01:50 to 100 ft depth. 02:00 dipped main tank, down to 5 gallons + 3 x 5 gal deck cans, another fishing fleet 9 or 10 boats just 1 mile outside 03:05 literally hundreds of fishing boats off to port about 1 mile. See the lighthouse at La Pesca and the flasher on the jetties 8.8 miles

0426 arrived at La Pesca jetties, now to find our way in... not bad, only went aground once, backed off...

05:25 dropped anchor in 8.8 ft, had a stiff Bacardi and hit the hay.

06:34 loud knock on hull, 6 Mexican Marinas (Navy), in speed boat, complete with AK 47's and golden lab drug dog do complete search of entire boat, every cupboard, locker, nook and cranny. Sure would be a problem if someone planted something!!!!! after an hour of fruitless search they took Dick to the Peurto Capitain, where he stamped two copies of our crew list, kept one and gave the second back, said it was a national holiday, "Neuvo Presidente" (inauguration day). Mouchos Gracias, Buenos Dias. Back to the boat for some sleep!!!

Whitecap’s Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

1030 motor over to the muelle (wharf, built in 1980 and since mostly demolished by a hurricane, complete with sunken dredge) for diesel at the next door "Pemex" station, no diesel anymore, everything damaged. We walk the length of the main drag, buy a 40 of Bacardi ($11.US) 1kilo Shrimp ($6) and go back to the boat, we have to find a place to plug in, get diesel, have a shower and find someone who speaks English. We re-read Steve Hamilton’s guide, there is a resort 2 miles up the river, do you suppose? off we go.... maybe... Well did we find the spot, 8 to 9 ft depth all the way, and they do speak English. "Marina Del Rio Lodge" set in beautiful palm trees, a "T" wharf and a palapa (gazebo) over the water, with 9 ft water easy to spot. They cater to American hunters and fishermen, we are the first sail boat here in many years. There are presently 10 bird hunters from N. Carolina here for a week, and us. They have 16 rooms with a total of 54 beds and 16 employees, We are invited to dinner at the lodge, a very elaborate traditional Mexican structure full of stuffed animals and birds, on beautiful grounds and a large macaw cage in the courtyard. Cobi the owner and Pedro the manager, are arranging a vehicle to collect diesel for us 50 km away at Rio del Soto . We are plugged in to charge the batteries, headed for the showers and then invited to dinner at the lodge (wild duck) at 19:30. We are only 30 miles from the "Tropic of Cancer", the air temp at 19:00 is 80F but a "norther" is forecasted.

The dinner was superb, consisted of 3 duck breasts, each cooked a different way, mashed potato and slices of peach, served with a Mexican red wine, oh la la. The Mexican waitresses (no English) came out with more duck, this time covered in a spinach sauce, delicious.

We waddled back to the boat to watch TV and read.

During the night the weather changed, heavy rain and the winds shifted to the north at 40+kts, air temp dropped 15 degrees. This AM the port captain called and said we could not leave, he is sending over the weather fax. We are safe here. Pedro is taking us on a tour of the town this evening. Drove out to the jetties, surfs up... just like Cavendish during a nor-easter, the harbour is closed to all traffic.

Sunday December 3, 2000 Did not get up until 10:30, spent the day lazing around reading, all the lodge guests have gone home, we are the only ones left here. Pedro says he has booked 40 guests from Toronto for next week. Man came with fuel today, 124.9 litres US$120, and US$15 for the truck and driver, enough to almost fill our main tank and 2 of our 5 gal jugs so we are good for a long while if we can sail. Had a mild case of the runs last night, but all cleared up now. Weather cloudy and air temp 58F, cold, only a sheet to cover at night, turned on the furnace to warm up. Watched Christopher Reeves in "Rear Window" after dinner. Hit the hay around 20:00, hopefully the "norther" is gone by, will call the port Captain in the morning for clearance papers. We walk up to the lodge after dinner, the staff is decorating the Christmas tree in the lounge, their children are all excited, tried to get a picture... too dark.. too bad, wish everyone could see their faces. Back to the boat, watch "Executive Decision", then bed and read, furnace still on.

Monday December 4, 2000 Awoke to misty rainy, windy, overcast morning. We are not making very good progress, but we cannot prognosticate the weather. After we can negotiate the jetties, next stop will be Altamira (90 miles if we stop at all), where we will just go in, anchor, rest and leave. We have been advised to skip Tampico, not worthwhile and they require an agent to clear, costing US$250. We will clear customs in Tuxpan ourselves for free, then we can take down our "Q" flag (require pratique), the yellow pennant that means we have not yet cleared customs and immigration, it also means we are "in quarantine", "officially" only the captain can go ashore for supplies.

To pass the evening, we watched all 6 hours of "Lonesome Dove". Barometer rising, outside temp up 4 degrees since noon, still misty, but winds are down, by 22:23 we hit the hay.

Whitecap’s Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

10:30 said our goodbyes left pier at Marina del Sol, Pedro told us "no diesel in all of Mexico", so we have a total of 38 gallons + 2x5 gal jugs.

11:05 stopped at the meulle, Gerry walked up to the small market for last minute groceries, Dick walked over to the Peurto Capitania to clear out. Captain Riviera Barrera very graciously had our papers stamped and gave us the weather report for the next 24 hours. A possible "norther" for tomorrow night, Dec 6, and a sheet of paper with the co-ordinates for 4 way-points which we are to avoid as the Mexican Navy will be doing target practice in the area today!!! Just our luck.

11:30 Arrived at jetties, surfs’ up, the rollers across the mouth are 15ft + and we have to go through. We give her 2200 RPM and head strait into the first few, not bad, then they get bigger. Climbing the largest ones, Whitecap’s bow seems to be 30 ft higher than the cockpit, we hold on, reach the top, she levels off, teeters for a split second, then crashes down the back side to the trough!!!! white water everywhere, The Tabasco even jumped out of the hanging spice basket. Then there is the next one!!! In all we had about 20 of these, and only took green water once. What a ride !!! Too busy for pictures....

!2: 15 Set up the 4 waypoints for the Navy in the computer, we have to stay outside of marks 2 and 4, this puts us 15 miles offshore and about 10 miles out of our way... Thanks guys, and only today he tells us. Open up jib, winds 15 - 20 close reach, seas 3 to 4, speed 5.8 to 6.4 not bad, shut off Mercedes. Then it starts to rain... visibility down to 2 miles, wonder where the Mexican Navy is now... Hester doing a good job on the wheel today. We take shifts for watch. Headed for Altamira a large container port 77 miles down.

15:00 We are just outside the line between marks 2 and 4, and will make a gradual loop towards the Altamira jetties, giving a broader reach.

16:04 Crossed the "Tropic of Cancer", now we are in the tropics.

18:00 Got to thinking, between shifts. Navigating in the Gulf of Mexico is simple, there are only two rules:

Rule #1 when heading south, keep all the land to starboard.

Rule # 2, when heading north, keep all the land to port. Now I wonder when we will find exceptions.....

24:00 speed 6+ still rainy misty, had to change to dry clothes. Nothing to see, we are 11.34 miles offshore and 38 miles from Altamira

02:30 vis is a bit better, can see the light on the jetties, but things do not look right. Change course to head across to get a better look. Seems like the jetties come away out here, 3 miles offshore, not possible!!! Large freighter comes steaming out, we figure if he can come out, we can go in, looks like another one steaming in, we close on her, she is anchored!!! Finally spot the range lights and it now makes sense. The biggest commercial harbour on the coast, and we could not find the opening!!! Turns out we went 5 miles out of our way, should have continued our original course...

03:30 This place is lit like a Christmas tree, refineries, construction, chemical tanks everything lights all over!! Container ships everywhere

04:07 anchored in 50 ft at the extreme end of the new dredged harbour, away from the traffic. Poured a good rum and hit the hay. We should have been here around 02:00!!!

Whitecap’s Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

08:30 awoke to a beautiful clear sunny day, motored over to the meulle, Capitiania is on the second floor, to get the port captain’s clearance this time "in and out" at the same time he says no problem. Watched lady sweeping, she meticulously swept all the office area, to the stairway, and then swept everything down the stairs!!!! She was definitely the "upstairs maid", because the "downstairs maid" took over and swept everything down to the ground level... Today will definitely be a shorts day. Air temp 76F water temp 72F

12:03 cleared inner jetties and at 12:14 the outer ones. They are doing work extending the north jetty, trucks full of large rocks and cranes.. Strong smell of petrochemical in the air, we can see down towards Tampico, lots of smoke from oil refineries.

12:45 shore line is sand dunes littered with oil refinery burn off fires. Behind us we see a mountain rang e which we could not see last night. Tampico jetties are 11.3 miles up ahead, we are not stopping there. Motor sailing at 1500RPM with full jib close hauled, swells 3 - 4ft

13:29 Rolled in jib, what wind there is, is now on the nose, still a beautiful day, water green-blue, so exited, don’t know whether to have a siesta or wash our feet!!! Heading for Isla Lobos another 62 miles further down off Cabo Rojo. Our ETA there is 01:30. After that, it should be a leisurely 35 mile sail to Tuxpan, one of the prime resort areas above Veracruz. After Cabo Rojo, we were told, the northerlies have no more effect, the temperature is too moderate. Ha Ha did we just get off the turnip truck!!!

14:40 abeam Rio Panuco entrance, which is the river Tampico is on, we are 3 miles off near the fairway buoy. There are 4 large freighters anchored, and another steamed out off in the direction of New Orleans or Tampa

15:15 see the suspension bridge in Tampico, raised the main, shut down Mercedes for a well earned rest, doing 5.73Kts and with a little adjustment got her up to 6.34, Whitecap’s first full sail in the tropics

17:38 sun going down, clear red sky to the west, overcast to the east, the moon is up there somewhere. The wind propeller hooked the SYC pennant and they are attached, will have to go up to separate them, cannot get wind speed or direction. Isla Lobos lies 37.9 miles strait ahead. We are 7 miles off shore in 146 ft.

18: 50 winds pipe up, and shift north easterly, we are doing 8.1kts, Hester cannot keep up, heeled to 30 deg, douse main, speed drops to 6.7. Jerry takes watch, Dick goes for rest. Winds and seas continue to increase, something wrong, the forecast was for 15 - 20kts.

20:00 Winds now up to 30+ with swells to 10 ft. Roll in to half jib, speed still 6+ kts

22:15 Seas now 15 ft and the big ones 20 ft, lucky they are on our stern!!! Blowing like hell!! Roll in jib, just a "hanky" left. Hester cannot handle it anymore, Dick hand steers, what happened to our good day?? The light is now visible on Arrecife Blanquilla, the reef outside Cabo Rojo, as is the glow from the lighthouse at Isla Lobos, they are almost in line, we give the first one lots of room. One surf, the knot metre pegs 14.2 wow!!! if she had wings she would fly... but most surfs are between 8 and 10. Gerry sticks to the computer screen, with up to minute reports. Found exception to Rule #1, have to keep Isla Lobos to port, and... the other 5 reefs (mountaintops) just a bit south, off Tuxpan!!!

00:30 Round the light on Blanquilla, change our plans, Isla Lobos is 5 miles off, don’t think we will stop, too bad, the first tropical lagoon island and we have to pass. We keep the red flasher on Arrecife Medio, a rock between Lobos and Cabo Rojo to port. A shrimper comes through also, we stick on his tail, he heads westerly, heading for the lee of Cabo Rojo, smart move!! we follow, the seas abate, we have a respite, but only for awhile. Tuxpan is another 30 miles from here, but we have to negotiate 3 more reefs, (more exceptions to Rule #1) 4 refueling hoses for the power plant just above Tuxpan and the mooring buoys outside the jetties. Not bad, only blowing 80 km (we find out later). So much for the theory about no Northerlies!!!

02:45 The power plant is visible, all lit up, it is located 3 miles north of Tuxpan Jetties. At 03:35 our shrimper turns upwind and starts fishing, we now see his red and green, that answers our question, guess he is not going in to Tuxpan. Can see Tuxpan light at 1 o’clock. Start Mercedes.

04:00 Got past Arrecife Tanguijo Fl(3) 12s and the next unlit one Arrecife Enmedio. See many lights off to port, but there is no land out there, has to be ships moored. See the refueling buoys to stbd after we pass them, one flashes Morse "A" the other "C". Head for the Red and Green flashers at the jetties. Seas still 15+ ft. try to keep them on the stbd quarter, don’t want them on the beam!!!.

05:10 Cleared jetties, enter river and anchor in 1^st cove to port, too rolly, pull anchor and move further in, anchor again in 9 ft. at mouth of small river to stbd about 1 mile in. Daylight is just coming up, Pour little rhum and sack out....

Thursday, December 7 08:45, someone went by in a fishing skiff, gave us a good wake, we must be anchored in someone’s way!!! Clear sunny warm day, make coffee, pull anchor and head upriver to the Puerto Capitain, They take our crew list document, review our clearance from Altamira and tell us we have to go to Immigration, then we must come back here for our "Zarpe" before we leave. Then he tells us they are closed Friday at 15:00 until Monday!!! Great. We power further up river, spot a blue and white ferryboat to port, on closer inspection she turns out to be "Bluenose", Whitecap seems to have a propensity for finding old CN ferries. Abeam the Club La Pesca, obviously looking like we are trying to find a place to tie up, we get a signal to come alongside a fishing boat, turns out to be the dive boat from the Scuba store across the street, one of the guys speaks English, another drives us to Immigration, They have moved!!! He drives us all the way downtown and back, to the new office by the bridge. We do our immigration thing, everyone has to check our boat documents, passports etc... we pay our US$17, all this takes an hour +, and then they tell us when we wish to leave, we are to come back and they will give us the dispacho for the Port Captain. Well there has to be a better system!!! We want to leave tomorrow and will have to do this all over again. We ask to see "the Boss" where we explain that we wish to visit and see Tuxpan, not spend all our time in his office, he concurs and instructs the nice lady to give us a postdated dispacho, so we do not have to come back. Maybe if we stay long enough, we will upgrade their system... And now for those old Remington typewriters in their office.... We take down our "Q" flag, and fly only the Mexican courtesy flag at stbd spreader.

Friday, December 8. 09;00 Air temp 62F., clear sunny but cool day, scattered clouds, good day to be a turista around Tuxpan.

Have to go to Peurto Captainia to get our Zarpe, they close for the weekend at 15:00 today.

Found an Internet café yesterday, offering online for 10 pesoes/hr (US$1), will try to find it again today to send and recv e-mail. If you get this you will know it works. It did not, back to square 1...

The owner of the dive shop and the boat we are tied up to, Julio has gone across the river to pick up diesel, says he will sell us some tomorrow, then we hope to leave here for Tecolutla about 38 miles away, that will shorten the hop to Veracruz. Found out one thing tonight, the mosquitoes here are a lot smaller than home!! We think they are getting through the screen!!! We walk over across the boulevard to a small less than salubrious cantina, order 2 cervesas, sitting with about 12 other customers, suddenly a white ½ ton pulls up, 6 police billy sticks, 2 with shotguns jump out, everyone is patted down, finding nothing, they mount up and drive away. The cantina owner and his wife apologize, guess it is a routine thing!!!! We decide to call it a night, walk across the divided street and hit the hay, laughing all the way.

Notes and Remarks:

07:40 Looks like a good day to head out, waiting on Julio for diesel.

08;15 Julio comes, tells us to go to his other dock, fuel is ready, 08:45 we take on 100 litres, US$35.00 really good price!!! We give him a SYC brochure, and tell him he should build a small marina for 15 boats.

09:50 clear the jetties seas calm not like the other night, we are heading for Tecolutla about 40 miles down the coast, Julio says we can get in there.

10:19 air temp 78F., water temp 72F, SOG 5.7 RPM 1750, COG 144M, depth 40+ ft.. Replaced our Canada flag with new one.

11:29 2.2 miles offshore, very big construction project on shore, looks like a wharf, many cranes, and oil tanks. Several houses in a village and can see cattle grazing on the hillside. This is Punta de Piedras, there are many oil platforms offshore about 20 miles, this will be their land pumping station.

12:40 abeam the entrance to Rio Cazones, about half way to our destination for the day. ETA 15:32 will be nice to get in during daylight.

There are 4 large shrimpers working the mouth of the river. We are in 70 ft. We have toasted fried baloney sandwiches for lunch.

14:26 still hazy, we are 6.3 miles out of Tecolutla, and 2.6 miles offshore.

15:44 turned into the river, cleared the lone rock awash off the point, least depth of 11.5ft increasing inside 30+ ft.. Dropped anchor off the cantinas about 100 ft from the quay. All the small taxi boats bow moor against the cement abutment. Launch dinghy, go ashore to see port Captain. He was a bit difficult, said tiempo bono Veracruz hoi!!! Meaning the weather is good, and we did not include this port as a port on our list, therefore we cannot stop here. With the intervention of several locals, they convinced him to let us stay until manana, so he says we have to leave at 06:00. In retrospect, we should have pleaded engine problems or something.

This is a nice touristy type town, very clean, even the small children put their wrappers in the garbage cans, restaurants and cantinas all along the waterfront, wonder how Colin Smith missed this one in his guide???. The streets are clean, there is a lighted cement sidewalk all along the waterfront, with small shops. Went to shore, walked all over the town, full of small hotels very cheap but clean, a room is US$12 per night. We met a young Quebec couple, they said their room was immaculate, but they thought it was too expensive!!!.

Had supper in one of the cantinas, shrimp of course, could not eat them all!

Whitecap’s Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

08:00 Did some electrical, trying to solve the charging problem, added half qt oil, engine water ok tightened alternator belt.

09:30 powered out, tide low, but still 10 ft at the river mouth. Set course for Pta del Morro 47 miles away We are now in what is called the "Bahi de Campeche" the lower bight of the Gulf of Mexico

11:24 we are two miles offshore, 9.2 miles to Nautla, there seems to be several villages along the shore. There is not enough water for us to enter Nautla, a surfers paradise, they tell us if you lost a buddy in the 60's or 70's, you may very well find him here!!!

12:52 Abeam the Nautla lighthouse, large shrimper sitting at anchor, only vessel we can see. Lunch time, today the menu is pizza and beer, mine is 0.5. The aroma from the galley sets the mode!!! Air temp 78F water temp 76F SOG 5.06 kts

13:55 wind shift, cracked out jib picked up .5kt 64.7 miles to Veracruz

15:12 Wind piped up, on the nose, blowing about 15+, when we round Pta del Morro, we should be able to sail the rest, 56 miles

20:28 abeam Rio Santa Ana, where the famous soldier had a large ranch. It is still operating, and restored, complete with the "convent" (really a brothel). General Santa Ana was president of Mexico on 17 different occasions.

21:09 abeam Pta del Morro, ease off 20deg to stbd, try to set out half jib, no luck. Damn wind is on the nose.

22:44abeam large power plant, 35 mi NW Veracruz, speed 5.6 SOG 5.3 air temp 76F. Refueled generator we get 6hr each time

02:10 16.6 miles to the 1^st reef outside Veracruz we are into a fleet of shrimpers. Full moon, winds 4 -6 swell 2 - 3 ft. beautiful night.

04:30 Round the reef and head for the light on Isla Blanquilla, we see a freighter coming out, we head for him, have to keep the two red flashers on Arreclife Gallega to port.

05:00, The red and green on the jetties are clear now, we enter between the two lights, turn to port, the yacht club anchorage is just ahead. We anchor in 8 ft sand and sack out.

December 11, 2000 Yacht club is charging us US$5 per day, guess we can stand that for a few days, we tour the Malecon (waterfront), and do the port captain thing, we told him about the problem in Tecolutla, so he gives us our dispacho saying our destination is Isla Mujeres and out puerto intermediaries are any port in between, so we do not have to list each one, simple. We then go to Immigration, wait in line, only to find out since we cleared in Tuxpan, and now have our Visa, we no longer have to stop at Immigration at each port, nice to know!!! Met Guy Bishop, an American in the line up, he is looking for a 3 month extension to his visa. Out on the street, Guy gives us the lowdown on Veracruz. There are two types of places to stay, hotels, where you would take your family and live in a boxy room, or a motel where you would take your lady friend, away from downtown, where you can get a 2 room air conditioned suite for half the price. Guy tells us that at the motels, customers just drive up, if the curtain is open, it means the room is available, pick a room, and close the curtain. In a short while there will be a knock on the wall, and a small box will appear in the wall with the list of prices, you put your money, for 1 hour, 2 hours or the whole night in the box, and turn it around. You can order a bottle the same way, and it will appear in the box. The manager takes the money and goes away!!!

A large ship comes in, "Oriental Highway" she is loading 8000 Nissan automobiles, built here for export. The Mexican Navy has a large presence here, there are 4 PT type boats look like they are doing 50 just tied to the quay. We find out they were built in Baton Rouge and their hulls are kevlar, they are jet propelled and leave no wake even when traveling at their top speed of 70kts. The waterfront has many artisan booths, but most just spread their wares out on the sidewalk. Have to replace the upper bilge pump, it burnt itself out when it fell on it’s side and kept running, we did not notice. A local yachter Julio Oropesa, has a new one, just arrived from Boat US, he will sell us, and order another, great. We check the engine for the source of a leak, and find we have blown a small hole in the seam of the aft exhaust rubber boot, so the engine was simply pumping some of her exhaust water into the bilge. We plugged the hole with 4200, taped it up and put a SS clamp over it, should work. Found a sidewalk painter, who will paint us the lighthouse on Isla Sacrificios one of the reefs outside the harbour, Giorgio paints with his fingers, and only uses a brush for detail, Cost US$15.

December 12, 2000 Gerry hauls me up the mast, where I cut loose the SYC pennant from the wind speed propeller, the propeller spins but there is not a reading on the display, damn!!!

Gerry makes arrangements to fly to Houston and home on the 14^th, He and Bunny are going to Calgary for Christmas with their children, and relatives, the last 5 weeks sure went by fast...

December 13, 2000 Have to find a place to send e-mails, we try several internet cafes, but do not have the proper wire connection, go to an electronic store get a connection, back to the internet café, does not work!!! finally find someone who gives the local Telmex access # and a password, now to find someone who will let us use their phone.

December 13, 2000 Harbour is closed to small boat traffic. The harbourmaster puts out a red flag on a yardarm, even the scuba divers cannot go out. Try sending mail on Julio’s home computer, hope I did not muck up his internet, but no luck with sending and receiving!!! Get some more small maintenance jobs done, Gerry goes shopping for Christmas things. Get some sightseeing in, there is a lot of history here. The old castle, fort, churches and monuments. We decide to celebrate, head out to "Carolina’s Ribs" for dinner, very good, US$ 24 for the two of us including wine.

December 14, 2000 We asked the night watchman, to wake us around 05:00 so Gerry could get a taxi to the airport, they were a little overzealous and woke us at 04:00. Ah well a good start to the day. Gerry got away in lots of time for the 07:00 flight.

Many thanks Gerry, come anytime.

 Now back to the routine stuff, have to install the new pump today, sent the laundry out for cleaning, sheets, shirts, socks (none left) towels, (forgot the dish towel), US$5 the lady says "hoi", meaning later today. All the boats anchor out here, and only come to the dock for cleaning etc. They drop an anchor, back in to the dock, and tie off about 2 ft away, sounds good at first, except when the wind pipes up, and they all decide to move at the same time we have pandemonium. Anchor lines are crossed, boats bump into the ones anchored out front, lines get around props, it is a mess. "Pelicano" a Chris Craft 40, just gave us the ultimate display, he had everything going against him, wind, rope and no control. An hour later he still had 2 "boat boy" divers trying to unscramble the props from someone’s mooring lines. There are several "boat boys" who help with line handling, dive and run for things for tips.

15:00 Took WHITECAP back out to anchor for tonight’s blow, forecasted for 60+ kts. Anchorage comfortable but rolly, reading "Spy Catcher".

20:30 hear racket outside, looks like there is a parade on shore, marching band the whole bit, seems they are headed to the navy barracks at the east end of the beach. Air temp 76F

December 15, 2000 Saturday Beautiful day, got the new bilge pump installed, I glued the new switch to the top of the pump, so it would not come on until we have 8" in the bilge, the lower new pump will take care of the rest. Also found a few pin holes in one seam in the SS exhaust riser, "duct" taped them up, but will have to take it off and get it welded somewhere along the way. Have to fuel up, the fuel ship, "Pacifica I" is at her station, all the tugs, shrimpers etc requiring fuel, come alongside her, we will be kind of puny as we only need 100 litres, but we do need them!!! At 11:00 we have the new weather forecast, another "norde" coming Sunday, and again, they tell me, another worst one with maybe 80kts to come next Tuesday, getting our fill of "nordes". But now I have a dilemma, if we wait here until Tuesday because of weather, I require a 3 day window to sail direct to Cayo Arcas or Cayo Triangulo, and then another 2 day window to get to Progresso (Yucalpeten Harbour), where there are 3 marinas, a safe place to leave WHITECAP for 2 weeks, by then, it will be too close to Christmas to get a standby flight home. If I leave WHITECAP here in Veracruz, I can fly to Houston and could be home by Tuesday the 19^th. In the meantime, this afternoon, I arranged to have Felix, an local electronics expert, check the charging system, he is coming tomorrow at 09:30. The windspeed transducer is suddenly working albeit intermittently. Julio is going to talk to one of the boat skippers, Jose, to look after WHITECAP for us.

Felix’s technician arrived at 1030, and I explained the problem, he tested, and he tested, read the schematics, finally I asked if he could figure it out. He said, Felix will be here in 10 minutes (his English is as good as my Spanish). Felix, came and the technician explained the tests. Felix says the problem is in the batteries! We get out the hydrometer (still in the package) sure enough, each cell tested in the house bank is in the "red" range. The fluid was too low in the engine bank to test, but strangely they keep their voltage!! Remove 1 battery for further testing in the shop. Sure enough, it will not hold a charge. We order 3 equivalent replacements for January, when I return. Felix and his wife Karla invite me to dinner, they do not have any family and both work in his successful electronics business, so they eat out a lot. Tonight, we went to the "Hotel Emporio" and the fare was shrimp, fish fillet, abalone (tough) and octopus, in onions and "hot" sauce. Beautiful!! I insisted on paying half but Felix would not hear it. We then went on a tour of the city, all the way down to the small fishing village of Boca del Rio, stopped there for desert. Veracruz, Boca Rica is expanding, there is construction everywhere along then shoreline, hotels and malls, the entrapments of the American way are encroaching.

22:00 Returned to WHITECAP, have to move, winds picking up, the "Norde" has started. CQR Anchor got hooked into someone’s dinghy mooring in the move, dragged him along too, so could not set CQR, set Danforth instead, depth 6 ft, lost the line and Danforth anchor overboard (hope to get it back tomorrow) in one of the runs from bow to engine controls, finally get behind the "T" pier, spent a rolly night, chaffed through a spinnaker sheet, being used as a temporary dock line,, Ah well, only 4 ft at the bitter end. At 0600, another skipper comes along, My Spanish is weak and his English is nil, but we both know what has to be done, we power up, untie and move to the anchorage, drop CQR and 100 ft chain in 20 ft and ... also pick up a mooring, moucho gracias skipper, finally get some sleep.

Sunday, December 17. Woke a t 10:30, bouncing around, but not dragging. Start to pack things for home. Winds up to 50kts and gusting to 60+, too windy to row ashore, guess I will have to stay here and drink rum instead. Checked the freezer only hotdogs, baloney and shrimp left, rather throw out the first two, so I had the shrimp for breakfast, decadent eh!! Anyone feel sorry for me??. Spent the day getting the boat ready for a 2 week holiday, shut off the thru hulls, turned off all electrics, removed the instruments, GPS’s, swept and scrubbed the floor, locked her up and at 16:00 surfed the dink to shore. Hired young Dominic to dive for the Danforth, he found it in two dives, gave him 250 pesos, and says he will put it back on Whitecap tomorrow when the winds go down. Checked into the "Mar- y-Tierra" hotel across the street, US$26. Clean but Spartan. Phoned Continental Airlines, have flight for Houston tomorrow Monday at 07:35.

Monday December 18. In Houston, the nice lady at the desk books me to Denver, to Washington DC, and then direct to Halifax at 1300 Tuesday, not bad for CDN$208, traveling on my senior pass from Houston, and I get to travel the whole country. Will catch the PEI shuttle home from the Halifax airport.

Tuesday December 19 Arrived in Washington Dulles airport at 0500, direct flight to Halifax from there is at 1100. Get some sleep on a bench, real comfortable!!! The Halifax jet is a CRJ (Bombardier’s Challenger Regional Jet) real nice ride, except the seats are a little thin. Arrive Halifax, at 1300 clear customs, and wander around waiting for the shuttle which leaves at 1600. Walk into the bar with my cart, I was the only customer, lady bartender tells me in no uncertain terms, "no carts allowed in the bar", (nice Canadian hospitality), I say thank you, push my cart across the hall to the liquor store, buy a 40 of Bacardi, walk over to the canteen, buy a coke and walk back over to the bar where I stand in front, pour my Bacardi into the coke in front of the nasty bartender, and give her a salute. Enough said... Arrive back on PEI at 1900, and Mary announces that we are going to the theatre for the evening, oh my aching rear!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.