Chiapas Chacha

We arrived Saturday at Marina Chiapas in Puerto Chiapas (ex Puerto Madero) at the civilized hour of 0800. We were greeted by a pilot panga who guided us up a curved channel to a basin dug into the landscape. The place is only a few months old and quite empty but there are some cruisers here including the El Salvador ralley organizers on Mitakuuluu http://elsalvadorrally.blogspot.mx/

Like the ralley boats, most are headed south, which at this time of year means they are going to stay in Central America or get an early start on the South Pacific with Galapagos, Easter Island and Pitcairn. The rest of Polynesia will be in cyclone season until April. Ecuador just issued a piracy warning so we wish the best for our friends who headed there.

The marina staff has been very helpful with clearance procedures and when it is all done (finishing up on Monday) we'll let you know the details. Katie again had some staff help with washing the boat while Kurt changed oil on the ME and AUX as well as fuel filters and ATF. We change oil and filters every 200 hours. 'Memo' the assistant marina manager after driving us to the airport to see immigration, dropped us off at a huge shopping mall in Tapachula (the big town nearby) where we did some provisioning at Walmart. The town also has a Sam's Club, Home Depot, Office Depot, Auto Zone, as well as a naval air station and cruise ship dock.

A weather window is opening up for us to cross the dreaded Gulf of Tehuantepec (250 miles) mid week so we will be on the move again.

This afternoon we are going on a bus with some American cruisers to a Superbowl Party (Go Niners!)