Does it get any better than food in Mexico?

Time sure does fly when you aren't drifting aimlessly offshore.  It's been 2+ weeks since we "arrived" here in Huatulco, and our joy at being here has not diminished one bit since we first kissed the dock.  We are very grateful for:

• Chips and Salsa - what is wrong with the rest of Central and South America?  El Salvador has those vile things called papusas (honestly, they are simply tummy filler), the other countries' "salsas" are vibrant plastic-containered pink concoctions which adorn every restaurant table from Costa Rica to Ecuador, and their colour alone should encourage NO ONE to try them, and those much beloved tortillas will only come to your table if you choose to make them yourselves (or are content with supermarket versions pumped with so many preservatives that they are truly perfect for 2 month long offshore expeditions).  I was fortunate to find a brand of tortilla chip in Ecuador that sufficed, and when we were provisioning, we bought 50 bags of the things.  Maybe deep down I knew we would be needing them....We found a chip bar at a local store recently, and as my hips will tell you, I could eat tortilla chips for every meal.  I parked myself there, with an idiotic and mesmerized grin on my face. 
• Salsa -  okay, this probably should go above but Pico de Gallo is God's Own Creation.  It is perfect....and should be revered throughout the world as such.  However, no one outside of Mexico is familiar, although they all have the necessary ingredients to make it.  Upon getting to know the guys working here at Marina Chahue, when we mentioned that salsa in general, and Pico de Gallo in particular was really just embraced in Mexico, he frowned and visibly recoiled.  Priceless.  Salsa Verde and Molcajeteada....they have both found their way back on board, to the vast relief of Sundancers' owners.
• Tacos Pastor - or frankly any type of taco, but Pastor is a favourite.  Made of spit roasted pork and topped with a "flick" of roasted pineapple, cilantro, onion, and of course, Pico de Gallo.....heaven.  And although we thought that Ecuador restaurant "eats" were pretty cheap, 39 pesos for 5....ahem, but that's about $2.60 us, and even us Canadians can afford it at $3.25.  Add a 15 peso beer ($1 usd, $1.20 cdn), and we are thrilled to go out for dinner every night. 

 

•  Bolillos - while perhaps not as sexy as the above, bolillos are as indispensable in Mexico as is.....say salsa.  We use them for sandwiches, sliced sideways for bruschetta, and dunked in milk and eggs for Mexican Toast (the south of the border version of French Toast, people), and these rolls are a steal at 10 centavos/each.  That means you can get 15 of these things for $1, $1.20cdn.  
•  Arrachera - I don't know how they do it, but this is the most flavourful, the most tender, the most heavenly hunk of beef you will EVER buy in any country in the world (this may be an exaggeration, but my love for arrachera knows no bounds).  I'm sure the marinade in the packages you purchase in the supermarkets have all sorts of questionable ingredients, but this could be the only time that I look the other way....the meat is THAT GOOD!  We first discovered it many years ago, when we first arrived in Mexico.  With friends, we visited the Costco located in Cabo san Lucas, and I admit to turning my nose up when Ron dumped a huge 4 pound package of this premarinated skirt steak in the cart.  I adopted my "when in Rome....." attitude when I agreed to purchase it, we grilled it a few nights later, and promptly returned to Costco for 5 more packages to stick in the freezer.      

Oh, yes, after 3 years away from Mexico and making this unscheduled return to our first "foreign" country after leaving Canada, we are going to make the most of the food.  How we've missed you!!! 

The end of the adventure....

So I'll pick up where I left off several weeks ago.  The day after the last post, Day 8, was frightful.  With sustained 35-40 knot winds, I came up from a break at 4am to hear Ron screaming at me to get him a knife.  The stainless steel radar mount had sheared in 1/2, and the radar, with it's base, was banging and whipping around the mizzen rigging.  No way in the current conditions to climb aloft to make an alternative plan and lower the radar to the deck (perhaps we could have done that had it been daylight), so we made the decision to cut it away.  And so we did, watching as $2000 fell into the sea.  I try to look on the bright side of all situations, and while in this case it was more difficult, it could have been worse if it had fallen down onto the 5 solar panels within striking distance.  The rigging was safe, we were safe, and the true adventure was just beginning.

Ron had been stressed; the worry of keeping me safe, keeping the boat safe, keeping the systems working....it was starting to take it's toll.  We spent several hours discussing our situation, coming up with alternative plans.  The overriding thought between us, was that the last 5 years while cruising, we had been complacent.  It was difficult to get replacement parts, it was difficult to do major repairs and upgrading, but we were now faced with the future destination (Easter Island) and the loss of our radar.  The conditions were pushing our boat to it's limits (or so we thought) and we decided that if we really wanted to continue with the sailing life, we needed to do some upgrades, and the easiest place to do those was going to be Mexico.  Yes, it was a long way away, but water and food and fuel were plentiful, and the long range needs took precedence.  So, we turned the boat 180 degrees away and started heading north.

25-45 knot winds, 10-15 foot seas, some south and some east winds, we were doing fine, and had Mexico in our sights, 700 miles away. Then....disaster.  One day, there was some uneven reving with the engine, as we were using it under massive swells, but no winds.  Exploration discovered lots and lots of water in our fuel filters and an hour later, the engine had quit, never to start up again.  The fuel injection pump was hooped!

Not a problem, we thought.  We're a sailboat, and while we may not get there as fast as we could, as long as the wind held, we'd be fine.  AS LONG AS THE WIND HOLDS!!!!

Bypassing this an account of too repetitious days, a week later found ourselves still 280 miles away from the Mexican coast and enthusiasm was on the wane.  We had been heading first east to Chiapas, then further west to Huatulco, and then finally with the north winds in control, we headed towards Acapulco.  By this time, Acapulco Search and Rescue made an appearance, and indicated that for $33,000 they would be happy to give us a tow.  Uh, huh.  For that price, I would be too.  Another week of haggling, another several days of drifting either in one place or even backwards......the game was starting to get old.  A different system took hold, and we were back heading at 1-2 knots/hour towards Huatulco.

In the meantime, we give thanks to three boats who really gave our spirits the needed boost, and one boat in particular who we will remember always.  Islena, Sailor's Run, and Curiositas happened to be in Acapulco, heard about our trials on both the Amigo and Picante ssb nets, and came to our rescue by attempting to find a private party to tow us towards Acapulco.  Another quote, this time for $10,000 but we still weren't desperate, although it was now Day 36 since our little adventure began.  The winds switched again, and off we all went to Huatulco, our three new best friends from Acapulco, and us from 80 miles offshore.

It was finally decided, on Day 38 that if we could get our boat to Islena, who was drifting 9 miles away from us and 20 miles from Huatulco, that they would be able to tow us the rest of the way in.  We got busy.  As it was dead calm, we successfully lowered the dingy, got the outboard engine on, sidetied the dingy to Sundancer and at a blistering 2.5 knots, off we went.  We rendevoused with Islena at noon, and by 4:30pm that afternoon, we were inching our way into Marina Chahue, in Huatulco.

Our Saviours, Dave and SaM on Islena

Inch by inch we made it into Marina Chahue, Huatulco

Can you tell we are happy?

And so here we are.

It's now 3 days later.....and only now can I write about it.  We don't know what the future holds, except that the first order of business is to get the engine up and running again.  We are kicking around a couple of ideas, to stay here for a few months, to stay in Mexico for another year, to attempt the south Pacific again next year this time, to sail north back to the states or Canada.  The only thing we really know is that we are very grateful to the sailing community that pulled together to help a fellow mariner.

We are staying on land for awhile