The Tehuantapec is known for high seas and big winds, but if one waits for a weather window, it can look like this:
Or this:
On their second night out, Sea Venture did have to contend with a two-knot counter current, which slowed them to five knots over ground. But once free of the current, the Lehman joined forces with whatever sails would fill and got them happily through Guatemalan waters by Wednesday. Long lines were a constant problem, as were pangas, one of which passed as a shadow in the night, unlit, merely feet from Sea Venture’s port side. Michael said his heart shot into his throat as he imagined plowing over a poor fisherman whose fiberglass boat didn’t show up on the radar and whose lack of lights made him invisible.
On Wednesday night, Sea Venture bobbed at anchor outside of the estuary, awaiting the morning and the pilot boat to lead her through the surf to Barillas Marina. Michael dropped the hook in 35 feet of water, with the boat lit like a Christmas tree in the midst of far too many pangas.
The white-water rafting splash through the breakers is not something Michael ever wants to repeat. He knew he could handle SV, but a noise from his steering cable elicited shivers: he’d heard it before, far from shore in the north Pacific, but there he’d been able to fix it mid-ocean. Here, with waves breaking over the stern and slapping the beam when they had to make a 90-degree turn, a fix would have been impossible.
But she held. They made it to the mooring ball. And suddenly, all was still. Sea Venture now sits, motionless in a windless river, surrounded by some of the nicest folk Michael has ever met.
Heriberto Pineda is the Harbormaster at Barillas and one of the most delightful and gracious hosts. He helped me arrange shipping to Sea Venture, and now has helped Michael with check-in and repair issues. Everyone with whom Michael has come into contact has been friendly and eager to please. Heriberto told Michael not to be surprised if people approached to speak to him as if he were an old friend. When Sea Venture’s crew ventured into the nearest small city, that’s exactly what happened. Yes, there were armed guards everywhere, but even they spoke and smiled. “How are you? Do you speak Spanish? Where are you from?” came from all sides.
These are the Internet palapas and the pool beyond.
The Barillas Marina dinghy dock. Sea Venture was the first of the fleet to arrive. Michael says twelve boats now fill the mooring field.
The Barillas Marina club house.
The moorings, with Sea Venture to the far left.
Michael wrote, ” Caught this little guy in a tree just outside the clubhouse. He is about 3-4 feet long including his tail. Let me get fairly close before he scampered, at amazing speed, up the tree.”
A Green Tree Iguana
