March 14, 2010 - ISLA MUJERES, CHOTE CASNA & CHICHEN-ITZA DAY TRIP

The El Milagro Marina, Isla Mujeres, MX. The wind came up and we had to put out an anchor as the piling was swaying back and forth by about 2 feet. Other then a couple of days of wind and one of rain the weather has been perfect.

The Isla Mujeres water front from the passenger ferry dock. Ferries leave for Cancun every 1/2 hour during the day.

We take a day trip that includes the ferry ride to Cancun. Very modern, very fast service.

We drive through a small Myan Village. The concrete homes are often deserted as the Myans prefer to live in the traditional homes right behind. The guide explained that the concrete homes were "status symbols", often with unused TV dishes on top, but the people found the traditional homes more comfortable.

We try out our Myan "look". Woman prepares tortillas over an open fire. The flowers on the woman's dress show her status, "red" for mother, "pink" for grandmother, "purple" for widow, etc. At lunch we enjoyed traditional dancing. This woman was able to dance with a bottle balanced on her head.

Limestone caves, with large natural swimming pool. Waters were supposed to have minerals, including iodine, that promote healing.

Chichen-Ilza, one of the 7 "modern" wonders of the world. Built in about 600 AD by the Telecs (sp?), a relation of the Aztecs, who came and intermarried with the local Myan royalty. They worshiped a snake god. (The Spanish thought this meant they worshiped the devil and destroyed all the written records.) We had an excellent guide, who is also a teacher in one of the local schools. The society was very advanced in mathematics and astronomy. The acoustics of the pyramids and the sports arena are exceptional. An opera singer was able to be clearly heard, without amplifiers, 21 Km as she sang from the top of the main pyramid. Elton John is coming later this year. The players in the arena bounced a 10 lb rubber ball off their hips to put it through the stone hoops. The captain of the winning team was sacrificed and became a god in the next world. Not my idea of a motivator.

We meet 4 of our guides students and they sing a song in the Myan language for us.

Pre Aztec Myan Observatory, Temple and Palace. Note no snakes. The guide pointed out many similarities between the images on the palace with images in India. Whats with that?

February 13th to March 09th, 2010 - BAHIA HONDA KEY, KEY WEST STORM & DRY TORTUGAS KEYS, FL, USA

We had a great stopover in Titusville, FL again, with super visit from SIL Cathy and BIL Barry. Did major engine servicing, including new raw water pump and had the sails reconditioned. Another highlight was the Shuttle launch. The marina is just across the river from Cape Canaveral. It took off at 4:15 am. I woke up thinking we had run aground the boat was shaking so hard. No pictures of this stop as we covered it in our May 2009 posting.

Bahia Honda Key, one of our favorite anchorages in the Keys. The railway was wiped out by a hurricane in the 1930s and never rebuilt. The bridges were used by the highway that followed. We had our first 80 F degree day and enjoyed it on the beach. Sunset on the old bridge.

Key West, calm before the storm, there she blows, late arrival trying to get into his boat from his dingy. He finally made it.

Full moon rising over Key West, FL.

Fort Jefferson at the Dry Tortugas Keys. What can do with 16,000,000 bricks in the middle of nowhere? Build a fort on a 10 acre island. It is the largest brick structure in North America. Obsoleted by technological advances in warfare, before it could be completed, it was used primarily as a prison. Now a very cool National Park.

The most famous prisoner was Dr. Mudd. He was tried for treating the killer of Abraham Lincoln. Later pardoned for his work with the soldiers and prisoners during a yellow fever epidemic.

Boat used by 15 Cubans to escape from Cuba, 90 miles away across the Straights of Florida. They are now all US citizens.

Portuguese Man of War (jelly fish, with poisonous tentacles) "sails" up the Hawk Channel. We saw hundreds of them. Fan Coral on the beach. Bird on the beach.

"Art shot" of Portuguese Man of War in the sunlight.