Fort Myers Beach, Florida to Isla Mujeres, Mexico (December 27, 2005 - January 2, 2006)

It was still dark when we started getting things squared away for leaving. The dingy had to be brought aboard, disassembled, and lashed down. Lifelines had to be run and secured, and everything in the boat had to be secured in case we ran into heavy seas along the way. At dawn we were ready to go and shortly thereafter Bill motored over in his dingy to take us to breakfast. There was a small waterfront hangout a short distance away that served inexpensive breakfasts. We had decided to get one last American breakfast before leaving.

Bill still had to refuel so after breakfast he took his boat to the fuel dock while we waited. At about 9:30 he had completed the refueling so we cast off the mooring and motored under the bridge into the channel. On our way at last. For a few minutes anyway.

As we came under the bridge we saw the channel markers about 1 mile away. Should be easy enough. We set a course for those markers forgetting that on the way in we had followed the shore closely. Soon the depth meter began showing the water becoming shallower but we were convinced that we were aiming for the channel. Suddenly Stop Isi shuddered to a stop. We were aground again. Five minutes into a 10,000 mile trip and we were aground; not a particularly auspicious beginning. Still not sure of what had happened we started looking around and soon saw another set of channel markers over by the shore. Oh yeah, I remember now. The channel parallels the shore. We had been unintentionally attempting a short cut. Quickly Kyle put the engine in reverse and once again we were able to motor off the shoal. Four groundings so far and we had been able to extricate ourselves from each one. As we proceeded south, however, the nice sand and mud was going to be replaced by hard rock and coral. We would need to become more careful quickly.

Coming out of Fort Myers Beach, we got the sails up and set a course for our first stop, Dry Tortugas. For an hour or so there was barely enough wind to keep the boat moving and then that quit altogether. It was time to fire up the motor.

We hate to motor. It is noisy, hot, and consumes expensive fuel. But faced with the alternaive, spending the day drifting within sight of Fort Myers Beach, there was no question. Sometimes the motor is a wonderful thing to have.

Throughout the day we continued on under motor. The seas became calm, then glassy. Because the only autopilot we have works on wind power, we had to stear by hand for all of this first day. During the day we steered a compass bearing. At night we would find a star on the correct bearing and aim for that - sailing towards the stars. All night we took 1 hour shifts at steering while the other tried to sleep. Finally dawn arrived, just a few more hours and we would be in Dry Tortugas.

Dry Tortugas is a cluster of small sand Keys located about 40 miles west of Key West. It has no water or other facilities but is the location of Fort Jefferson. The Fort was built back in the 1800's as an attempt to exert American control over the Gulf of Mexico. It is a huge thing, built with 1.6 million bricks and designed to hold 450 guns and 1500 men. Today it is part of the national park service and visitors arrive daily by boat or float plane from Key West.

For us Dry Tortugas was going to be a rest stop. After our overnight from Fort Myers Beach, we thought it would be nice to anchor there and get a good night sleep before starting the three day passage to Isla Mujeres.

Different boats sail differently depending on their size and the wind direction. Bill's boat did better than ours sailing into the wind but ours seemed to be a bit faster sailing with the wind. Since we were still motoring, though, it was fairly easy to stay close. At 1:30, when we were just a few miles out, Bill came on the radio - his motor had just died.

He described how the motor had died and it sounded like a fuel problem. The first order of business would be changing the fuel filters. On Bill's boat this was a fairly involved process that could take hours. He told us that the last time he had to change filters it required a mechanic coming out to the boat. We looked around - mechanics were going to be a bit hard to find.

We brought Stap Isi in close to Bill's boat and threw him a line. Soon we were tied up together with fenders between the boats. We could pull him along this way all the way to Dry Tortugas or until he could get his engine running again. We were so thankful for the quiet seas. Tying the boats together like this would have been impossible under anything but the wonderful conditions we were enjoying.

Kyle jumped over to AnnVeraLynn, Bill's boat, to try to help. They bled the lines and tried to engine. Nothing. Bill continued to tinker while Kyle returned to Stap Isi. Bill tried again and again to get the engine to start but without success. We were thinking that getting this fixed in Dry Tortugas was going to be interesting.

After over an hour we were ready to make the turn into the channel leading to Dry Tortugas. About this time Bill found a can of starter fluid and decided to give that a try. A couple of squirts and the engine fired off. PTL! We cast off from his boat and he followed us into the anchorage at Dry Tortugas. We dropped anchor and sat back in the cockpit, glad to have arrived safely with nothing more than a bit of a motor problem.

Rather than head right back out, we decided to spend the day at Dry Tortugas. After cleaning up the boat we assembled and launched the dingy and rowed over to the fort. The National Park Service maintains Fort Jefferson and a small staff of rangers and maintenance people live there full time. There is a self guided tour of the facilities that explains the history of the fort. Kathy and I enjoyed wandering the grounds and exploring the nooks and crannies of the fort.

Probably the most interesting and moving part of our tour came when we discovered a small floatilla of crudely built boats tied up together on the shore. The ranger told us that these were boats in which Cubans had made the passage across to America. The US holds a wet-feet/dry-feet policy towards Cubans. If the Coast Guard interdicts a boat at sea they are returned to Cuba. But if the refugees are able to get their feet on American soil they are granted asylum. Apparently Dry Tortugas is a popular landing place as the ranger said that all of those boats had come in over the past few weeks.

We were amazed at the desire that would drive people to risk everything in a crudely built boat just to taste the freedom offered in America. The ranger told of one woman, a diabetic, who had come over in one of those boats. She had maintained her glucose levels by subsisting on hard candy and sweetened milk. When her boat landed she went to one of the rangers and asked in Spanish where she was. In broken Spanish and sign language the ranger was finally able to convey that to her that she was on American soil at which point she fell to her knees sobbing with joy. Both of us were reminded that even with her problems, America was still the land of promise for many people in the world.

At first light we raised anchor and started on towards Isla Mujeres. The wind had filled in during the night and we were able to finally get our sails up. Sailing downwind we left the main down and sailed along at 4.5 knots on a jib alone. It was very relaxing and it felt nice to take our hands off the tiller for a bit.

This was textbook sailing. The wind vane took care of the steering, the seas were only 1-2 feet, the sky was crystal clear, and we were making good progress towards out next destination. We read and napped and worked on email. After the sun set we enjoyed looking at the trillions of stars and the occasional meteor or satellite. Our satellite radio was still working so we left it on all night listening to jazz or classics. Best of all, it was finally warm. At long last we were in T-shirt and shorts weather.

During the night the wind clocked around to the south east and we were able to get the main up. With that our speed increased to over 5 knots. Still the seas were calm and it was beautiful sailing. Again it was a relaxing day, catching up on sleep and reading. If only every day was like this. At 12:00 Kathy it was Kathy's turn to take a watch. I woke her, wished her a Happy New Year, and went below to try to get some sleep. Even though that was the extent of our celebration, we couldn't have had a better venue from which to enjoy the new year.

The wind had continued to clock around and on Sunday we were sailing up wind and contending with the north setting current that flowed up the Yucatan channel into the Gulf. This kept us from sailing directly to Isla Mujeres so we decided instead to aim north, get beyond the current, and then come down towards Isla Mujeres from the northwest.

At about dusk Bill had had enough of trying to sail against the wind and current. He radioed us that he was going to start his motor and try to make a course directly to Isla Mujeres. Kathy and I really wanted to sail all the way in so we told him that we would try a bit longer. If he was going to head directly in he would probably beat us to Isla by several hours. That, however, was not to be.

As Bill's boat disappeared to port, we continued on. At 2AM, however, the math was showing that, while we might be able to sail all the way in, we would not be able to make it in under sail before dark on Tuesday. By this time we were tired, wet, smelly, and were really looking forward to Isla Mujeres, a hot shower, and a good night sleep. So we dropped the sails, started the engine, and set a course for Isla.

Even though Bill had left several hours before, his course had only been about 20 degrees different from ours. Since sailboats move so slowly we figured that we should still be in radio range. So throughout the night we called out for him on the VHF but with no response. Since he was motoring, though, we thought maybe he was not able to hear the radio. A couple of times in the night we thought we saw a light on the horizon that might have been his. But when the sun came up there was no sign of him.

Coming into Isla Mujeres from the north, the first land one sights is Isla Contoy. Contoy is a nature preserve with a lighthouse on the north end. It is about 20 miles north of Mujeres. At 9:45 Kathy saw the distinctive shape of the lighthouse on Contoy. We had made it.

Before he left us, Bill had said that he might wait at Contoy for us to arrive. There are a couple of good places to anchor on the west side of the island so we figured that when we got close enough we would see his mast on the other side. We were disappointed though to pass along the island and find no trace of Bill. Well, he probably went ahead and was already resting at anchor at Mujeres.

We were still motoring into 2-4 ft seas but the wind was slightly off the bow so our main sail was able to help a bit. With the sail up we were making 5 knots against a small current. Occasionally we would call out to Bill on the radio, hoping that as we got close enough to Mujeres he would hear us. Still no response, though.

Soon the shape of the large hotel at the north end of Mujeres was visible and then we passed the place where last spring we had run out of fuel just short of the island. It was nice to put that behind us and know that this time there was plenty of fuel on board.

Finally at 3PM we pulled into the harbor and tied up at one of the marinas in town. Tomorrow we would take care of the entrance procedures. Today it was time for a shower and a long sleep. But first we scanned the harbor for Bill's boat. When we did not see it we called on the radio to see if any of the other cruisers had seen him. No one had seen his boat so it was obvious that he was not here. We wondered how Bill could have gotten behind us? He was motoring directly towards Mujeres with a several hour head start. We began to fear the worst. He was single handing the boat, running on little sleep. A slip or fall or miscalculation could have sent him overboard or sent the boat up on a reef.

By dusk we were becoming increasingly alarmed. It was possible that he had somehow gotten behind us but still, he should have been at Mujeres by now. We figured that if he had not arrived by morning we would notify someone. But whom? Back in the US the Coast Guard will spend countless man-hours and money to find and rescue a sailor at sea. But leave the US and one finds themselves very much on their own. We could report him overdue but would anyone down here actually go looking? We had been three days with very little sleep so by 7 PM we couldn't stay awake any longer. We put out a final call on the radio for Bill but the only response was the gentle hiss of static. Kyle clicked off the radio, we prayed for Bill, and with a deepening sense of gloom we dropped off to sleep.