Places We’ve Been: Heading To Lower Mexico And Central America

Let’s get this out of the way first:  Use this post for information or entertainment only, please do not use this post for navigation.

On November 17th of 2021 we left Puerto Escondido after extensive work on our exhaust (read the Summer of Soot) and pointed Tulum’s bow south.  This was significant because it meant we had started south….headed to southern Mexico and Central America.By late 2021, much of Central American and the Caribbean had started slowly opening back up after Covid, so we knew we could start our trip south with one less thing to worry about. 

We started our crossing of the Sea of Cortez on 23 November, heading for mainland Mexico; where the bow would be pointed south until we headed east through the Panama Canal.  So I’ll be charging the tenor of my posts as you will soon notice anchorages and harbors start to progressively head south.  We did stay in marinas as we went south, but I think we’ve covered most of those in other posts, so most of what I’ll write will be about various anchorages we stayed in and our off the beaten path experiences as we go.  Lots of other material has been written about these same place so none of this is original, except our experiences in each….and our different prospectives as we go.  Our lense for most everything as we went was family and a Great Dane onboard, so it’s certainly unique.

Since we finished this trip, I have the gift of hindsight.  Our trip down the coast of Central America was slower than most, a trip I think can illustrate better methods, techniques and cruising strategies as we go along.  I’ll point those out as we go along, we’re not afraid to show you the mistakes we made and how we think things could be done better.

For our trip down the coast of Mexico, into Central American and Panama…we knew we needed to move quickly as we wanted to be in Panama before the beginning of hurricane season….but plans are best laid in sand, as ours changed dramatically once the shaft strut came loose under the engine (in Panama) and we needed to get the work done to fix it.

Heading from Baja to the mainland of Mexico, we spent Christmas in Zihuatanejo, New Years in Acapulco and then (too much) time in Chiapas (waiting on parts).  In fact, we spent too much time getting down southern Mexico, because before we knew it spring was upon us and we were just getting to Costa Rica.  Once through Costa Rica, it was on down to Panama, where we would experience the problem with our shaft strut..but also help bring in the beginning of rainy season.

In hindsight…the shaft strut problem (fully fixed) became overwhelming and I was so focused on the work getting done that we missed some of the best of Panama.  We never got out to the Perlas Islands or the Guna Yala.  Plus, we got stuck in Panama throughout rainy season, which brought its own challenges….like heavy lightning and predictable rain.  

As a family, we have fond memories of our time on Tulum-5 and our cruising trip.  But we also have hindsight, knowing we could have done a few things differently, faster, better….and our trip was heavily influenced by Covid.  Such is life as a cruising sailor, it’s all about figuring out imperfect solutions to a myriad of minor problems so they don’t grow into big problems.  For us as a family, we did the right thing in selling the boat in Panama and getting our kids back to the US for school and teenage years.  That isn’t the same for everyone, but for us it has worked.  Our kids (and us) were really blessed and enriched by our time cruising…I think anyone considering going cruising with kids should go for it!   

We do not regret the time we spent on our sailboat and we often miss it…as do our kids.