Sat Mar 24, 2007: Finally made it to bahia ascension, approx 100 miles south of cancun. language barrier made it difficult to give boat over to crew given the proximity of reefs to the west, so used multiple alarms to wake me every 1/2-1 hr. virtually no other traffic at night 5 miles south of cozumel. the 2-3 kt yucatan current flowing north i had found to be quite variable, so estimated 1 kt ave foul. needed to arrive @ break in reef midday to enter the shallow bay & find anchorage. wind averaged 20 on stern quarter, we managed to average 6-7 overground, & arrived 1215. anchored in the lee of punta allen, slept couple hrs, then dinghied 25 minutes to town. started to pour down halfway there. we always close hatches but i didn´t have baggy for cell & had forgotten camera was in my bag. punta allen quite sleepy. 25 miles of ???road south of tulum & the highway. dinghied back to walk around for few hrs, then had lunch (3 beers, whole fish, mixed ceviche, total $20 for the 2 of us, yummy). could have spent days exploring the bay (5 x 10 miles, lotsa island, huge nature reserve - sian kaan), but low on water & lack of cell service. electricity in punta allen supplied by localgenerator. so we left after few days, unfortunetly with wind on the nose, waves 6-9. motorsailed 13 hrs to reach favorite anchorage.

Thu Feb 1, 2007: arrived back @ boat 11 pm last night. have had steady 25 kts, which is great for watching dvds. obtained several for $3 each. wind generator kickin out 15 amps!!!! very little movement as i´m tucked behind reef. dinghy ride a little wet. after getting boat shipshape, sortof, spent lazy day watching dvds, reading, and deciding what to eat (leftover chicken salad, pasta, or cauliflower with cheese sauce). hell, ate em all. love it here so much that i will never again say where i am. keep out the tourists!!!!! wild weekend planned, superbowl not even the highlite. came to my senses (as much as i can). realize i have to return to add new batteries, watermaker, & couple extra things. can always fly down here a few times.

Fri Jan 19, 2007: anchoring in hell, another name for light course sand (basically broken coraL) a foot deep over rock hard bottom. set 2 anchors, dove on them every day, anchors completely buried. one on all chain. 35 kt gusts on 5th night didn't budge me. checked anchor 730 am. 830 woke up, winds down to 18, boat had dragged across harbor b4 1 anchor grabbed 20 ft from reef. better lucky than good!!!!!! go figure. who asked the question about sleeping while anchored? of course the 830 isla net mentioned marialo dragging. but saved face yesterday when i backed into slip singlehanded, 15 kn crosswind, with stern 8 inches from boat on either side, pilings had 3 ft clearance. there were folks aboard their boats & someone in a dinghy. but backed her in unaided, hitting nada. really looked like a pro. (well, u could say i am, since this is a business & i'm uscg licensed). actually what made it easy was a soft mud 5'3" deep with my 5'6" draft. slowed the boat, eliminated drift, etc. everyone was impressed. actually had another plan, to lay her against piling if necessary.