MUST HAVE'S FOR CRUISING TO MEXICO
WHEN STORAGE SPACE IS LIMITTED...
MUST HAVE'S FOR CRUISING TO MEXICO
FOOD
First off, a love of tacos will serve every traveler to Mexico well. Tacos throughout Mexico are tasty, available everywhere every day of the week, affordable, and generally delicious!
Second, know that most markets big and small are very well stocked in Mexico.
Third, some items will be beautifully presented in bulk in covered market spaces.
Over the years more and more people are cruising to Mexico from the north and the south and finding that provisioning in Mexico is overall excellent particularly in larger towns. In most larger coastal towns like Ensenada, Cabo, La Paz, Loreto, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, etc... there are multiple large competing supermarkets (like Chedraui, Soriana, Walmart, Sam's Club, La Comer...etc), plus many smaller, local markets, and produce stands. In fact, excluding certain specialty foods that you may love in a certain brand (i.e. Jiffy Peanut Butter), most larger towns now have broad specialty provisioning possibilities. That said, as one visits smaller and smaller communities the selection may lessen and in an eye opening way so it is wise to provision well in large communities.
Nonetheless, one can depend on finding food provisions easily throughout Mexico and does not need to arrive in Mexico with their vessel stocked to the gills with a full pantry. Nowadays, some people are filling their hard to reach storage spots with special treats that bring them joy or could be fun gifts to bring others the taste of their homeport. For example, a buddy boat from the Pacific Northwest packed several cases of homepacked salmon to enjoy and give away. With this in mind, people are finding that they are fine to fill their stores with enough food for their passage to their next big port (plus a little) whether it is Ensenada or Chiapas, and save the rest of their storage for other items less easily acquired in Mexico.
BOAT SPARES AND PARTS
Often boats and boat owners are pretty brand and/or quality specific. These types of items may or may not be found easily and locally in Mexico. Often specialty and/or brand specific marine parts need to be ordered in which adds cost and time. For example, our boat has a fair bit of brightwork which we choose to keep up on. That being said, while we have tried many different varnishes and techniques over the years we always load up on the particular material we are using when and where we can because we stick to one product at a time. Mind you, there is Varnish for sale in Mexico, it just may not be the brand you (or we) are loyal to and, if imported, it may be twice as much. For this reason, many people load their vessel up with spares and boat maintenance materials that they are particularly loyal to.
Additionally, many people head to Mexico with boat projects in mind as labor and yard costs are more affordable in Mexico than in the neighboring USA. For this reason, some people will sail to Mexico with parts they plan to use in a project. Use Storage Space for these specialty parts and products that would otherwise need to be imported. Additionally, as engines and generators are very part specific, many people fill their stores with basic spares and filters for your engine and/or generator.
Equally important to note: Mexico is the land of 'Fix it' not 'Replace it'. To this day I wish I took a picture of a plastic chair we found on an empty beach under the shade of a beautiful tree. The chair was old, battered, AND laced together with fishing twine continuing to serve its purpose to any and all who pass by. Similarly, things like alternators and starter motors are often torn down, rebuilt, and reimstalled rather than torn out, thrown away, and replaced. The key to success here is a willingness to ask locals and look for the local specialist for whatever repair one needs. Mexico is full of smart, resourceful, and talented people that make and fix things. Understanding and speaking Spanish, and at the very least trying ones best, is a very important tool in ones toolbox when travelling in Mexico.
PERSONAL/HEALTH CARE
Pharmacies are well stocked and widely distributed in Mexico. Many medicines that are controlled in the USA can be bought without prescription in Mexico. Our first aid kit has been easily maintained and readily built up in Mexico.
SAILORS HAVE BEEN USING THE GULF STREAM FOR CENTURIES
The Gulf Stream is part of a global conveyor belt of ocean current that mixes global ocean waters (salinity density and temperature) around the globe. Like creatures of the sea, sailors have been using different currents in this conveyor belt for centuries. A very important current in the Atlantic Ocean is the Gulf Stream. Basically, SE trade winds blow and drive warm surface water from the mid/south Atlantic between Western Africa and Northeastern South America northwest through the Caribbean to the Gulf of Mexico. The turning of the earth and the west winds then drive this current north east up eastern North America. As the gulf stream gets more north it splits in a few different directions towards Europe and the North Atlantic.
The Gulf Stream is very important for the European climate as it brings warm air to the continent that would otherwise be quite cool. The Gulf Stream is 10,000 km long and moves at 2m/sec making it the largest and fastest of all the ocean currents on earth. Some people liken it to a river of water in the ocean. The Gulf Stream was discovered by early Spanish explorers over 500 years ago and was used to both colonize the West and bring wealth and fortune back to Spain. For this reason the Gulf Stream has had a huge impact on the history and culture of the Caribbean, the Americas and Europe.
Consider Christopher Columbus’s final transatlantic voyage, when conquistadors carved out a vast and wealthy overseas empire for Spain, first in the Caribbean as far north as what is now Florida and then on the mainlands of Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru: these early ships used the Gulf Stream. Products of these tropical and mountainous territories brought high prices on the Continent, and Spanish galleons sailed home laden with exotic dyes, sugar, tobacco, chocolate, pearls, hardwoods, and silver and gold. These so-called “treasure fleets” made Spain the most powerful and envied nation in Renaissance Europe. Thanks to the travels of Ponce de Leon in 1513, Spanish navigators knew that the best return route from Spain’s rich Caribbean possessions was along the Gulf Stream, through the Bahama Channel, and past the shores of Florida. The Spanish knew they must defend this peninsula to prevent enemies from using its harbors as havens from which to raid the passing treasure fleets. The Spanish built Forts to defend their positions in the New World. One such Fort was built on the East Coast of modern day Florida:
CASTILLO SAN MARCOS, St Augustine Florida
See https://oceanposse.com/castillo-san-marcos/ to learn more about the Spanish Must See Fort along the Ocean Posse route in San Augustine, Florida.
For Ocean Posse vessels looking to cross the Atlantic Ocean the Gulf Stream has been and continues to be very important voyage planning consideration. Two big challenges are the higher amount of large vessel traffic in the Gulf Stream and the warmer water in the Gulf Stream which translates to thunderstorms or worse. For these two reasons many mariners cross the Gulf Stream as quickly as possible relative to their destination.
WHEN THE HALYARD SKIES OFFSHORE...WHAT DO YOU DO?
WHEN THE HALYARD SKIES OFFSHORE...WHAT DO YOU DO?
On every passage there are sail changes and shifts that go smoothly or even better than expected...and then there are the surprises. Some surprises are more or less demanding than others. Our most recent surprise underway gave Captain Mike the opportunity to go up the mast in the middle of the ocean under clear blue skies over gentle 2 meter seas.
His thought was, "I'd rather see what it's like now under these conditions in case I have to consider going up the mast in anything else."
Here's what happened:
Last week, we sailed from the Marquesas to the Tuamotus. Conditions were excellent; we decided to go dead downwind and fly our Main and Jib wing and wing. We poled out the jib, adjusted our course, set the main, and put a preventer on it. The boat felt rock solid sliding down waves and sailing at 9-10 knots.
The wind slacked, we shook out the reef and sailed for maybe 5 more minutes before we heard a "floosh" sound and SURPRISE our mainsail lay a limp pile on the boom.
After minimal discussion, Mike went up the mast to retrieve the halyard. He used his ascenders on one of our spinnaker halyards and we backed it up with our second headsail halyard. At the second spreaders we swapped and he was raised the rest of the way on the headsail halyard and the spinnaker halyard was his backup. Now with all these halyards, where is the backup main halyard? THAT and a backup mizzen halyard are now on our list. Had we had a backup main halyard we could have waited to ascend the mast on anchor instead of underway. Hindsight is indeed 20:20!
Once down with the skied halyard, we found that the shackle had opened, the main twisted out, and bent the shackle arms open. We fixed that, reattached the halyard to the sail, raised the main.
Mike's Take-away:
"It was about what I expected. The hardest thing was staying on the mast. I would definitely not want to go up in anything more than that without more in place to make it easier...like maybe some mast steps or a better climbing set-up."
SV WHIRLWIND Mike, Maurisa, Russell, & Josea - Alajuela 48
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR ADVENTURES UNDERWAY
Send our editor your story to editor@oceanposse.com
Marquesas named UNESCO World Heritage Site
Marquesas named
UNESCO World Heritage Site
According to the World Heritage Convention, The Marquesan Islands were recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its "exceptional testimony to the territorial occupation of the Marquesas archipelago by a human civilization that arrived by sea around the year 1000 CE and developed on these isolated islands between the 10th and the 19th centuries. It is also a hotspot of biodiversity that combines irreplaceable and exceptionally well conserved marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Marked by sharp ridges, impressive peaks and cliffs rising abruptly above the ocean, the landscapes of the archipelago are unparalleled in these tropical latitudes. The archipelago is a major centre of endemism, home to rare and diverse flora, a diversity of emblematic marine species, and one of the most diverse seabird assemblages in the South Pacific. Virtually free from human exploitation, Marquesan waters are among the world’s last marine wilderness areas. The property also includes archaeological sites ranging from monumental dry-stone structures to lithic sculptures and engravings." https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1707
The ancient Marquesan anthropomorphic sculptures or tiki have received wide attention since they were first noted in 1595. Oral stories of their significance are difficult to come by as many have been lost. The Marquesan language has been all but lost to French in the islands although, presently there are many people trying to study it, use it, and keep it alive. Beginning in 1980's, there have been academic efforts to trace the history of Marquesan language, spirituality, and stone structures. Stylistically the Marquesan stone tiki followed certain social rules with similar characteristics to tattoos and material objects.
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE HUMPBACK WHALES MOVE TO THEIR BREEDING GROUNDS
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE HUMPBACK WHALES
MOVE TO THEIR BREEDING GROUNDS
It is the austral winter in the Southern Hemisphere right now which means that the Southern Hemisphere humpback whale populations have moved from their feeding grounds along the Antarctic coast to their more northerly breeding grounds. In the South Pacific, that means that humpbacks can be seen and heard in their low latitude breeding grounds where they will mate and calve. Humpback Whales breed around oceanic islands, offshore seamounts, and reef systems.
Where to find Southern Hemisphere Humpback whales this time of year:
- Oceania in the South Pacific islands of French Polynesia, Samoa, Vanuatu, Fiji, Niue, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Tonga, and Norfolk Island.
- The Pacific coasts of Central and South America as far north as northern Costa Rica to Ecuador including the Galapagos, and the Pacific Panamanian Islands.
- The Atlantic coastal waters off Brazil around 23 (degrees) S
- Southwestern and Southeastern Africa
- Northwestern and Northeastern Australia
According to Mark Carwardine’s HANDBOOK OF WHALES, DOLPHINS, AND PORPOISES OF THE WORLD: “Humpbacks that feed in widely separated regions in the summer gather together and mix in the same breeding grounds (increasing the chances of finding each other and promoting genetic diversity).” Like sea turtles there is a strong loyalty to natal breeding grounds. Mother -Calf pairs generally stay close to one another and prefer shallower water. They may or may not have another whale with them. Other groups of whales are usually made up of a female whale and a dominant ‘escort’ and perhaps other hopeful ‘escort - contenders’.
The demonstrative behaviors of humpback whales make are very distinct. Both males and females of all ages breech, dive, tail waggle and smack, and flipper wave and slap. They can be seen doing this on their own or in larger groups. Both males and females can vocalize for communications and the Singing Humpbacks are usually lone males. Their songs can travel great distances (tens of Kilometers) in the ocean to be heard underwater and through the hull of vessels. The songs are shared among large groups of whales and evolve. They have been described as everything from haunting to beautiful.
Up until the mid-1950’s the humpback whale as a species was depleted by 95% in the whaling days and today, their biggest threat is entanglement in fishing gear. Other threats include noise pollution, ship strikes, oil and gas development, and coastal habitat disturbance/destruction. Thankfully, global humpback whale populations have recovered significantly with the ending of commercial whaling and despite current threats this majestic whale is thriving.
WHAT IS ZULIP AND HOW THE POSSE USES IT
WHAT IS ZULIP & HOW THE POSSE USES IT
What is Zulip?
Zulip is a communication platform that the Posse began using in Season 7. This post is a refresher on what Zulip is and how to use it.
Zulip is an open-source group chat app that organizes conversations by topic. This structure makes it easy to follow discussions and read one conversation at a time without the chaos of traditional chat tools. It allows multiple conversations to happen simultaneously in an organized way and spreads them over time.
How to Log In
If you're an Ocean Posse member and need a Zulip account, email chat@oceanposse.com to request an invitation. Once you have your login:
- On a web browser, go to https://chat.oceanposse.com and log in.
- Download the desktop application for your PC.
- On mobile (Apple/Android), download the Zulip app from your app store, register chat.oceanposse.com as your server, and log in with your username and password.
Main Concepts: Topics and Streams
Zulip organizes conversations with topics, like lightweight email subjects. All messages with the same topic are shown as conversation threads, making it easy to follow one conversation at a time. Topics allow for multiple conversations to happen simultaneously without interruptions, and everyone can respond at their own pace.
Streams are groupings of topics that define who sees a message. You need to subscribe to a stream to see its conversations by clicking the plus sign at the bottom of the stream list and selecting the ones that interest you. Our streams are divided into:
- Location-based: For countries and regions, such as Mexico-Pacific, Columbia, Panama, Jamaica, etc.
- Subject-based: For example, Weather, Boats with Kids, Awards, etc.
- General-purpose: VHF16 for important, time-sensitive updates, and VHF68 for general conversation and non-critical information sharing.
Navigating Conversations
To find posts of interest, you can:
- Click on 'Recent Conversations' in the left navigation panel to see all topics across your subscribed streams.
- Click on a stream name to see all conversations in that stream or select individual topics.
- Use the search icon to find specific posts, filtering by stream and topic name if needed.
How to Post
To write a post:
- Choose the stream your message should go to (e.g., a geographical region like Columbia or a subject-specific stream like Weather). If unsure, use the VHF68 stream.
- Pick an existing topic name or type in a new one. You can post a message without a topic.
- Type your message and press 'Send'.
Don't worry about mistakes; messages can be moved between topics and streams if needed.
More info
- Please at least read this documentation page from Zulip: Getting started with Zulip | Zulip help enter
- Last season we recorded an overview of how to use Zulip: PANAMA POSSE - the inner workings of ZULIP
- Zulip for communities
THANK YOU MACIEK FOR DETAILING ZULIP SO MORE MEMBERS CAN USE IT WELL!
SY QUE VENDRA 🇺🇸 Olena & Maciek – Outbound 46’
ANCHORAGE RECONNAISANCE BY DINGHY
ANCHORAGE RECONNAISANCE BY DINGHY
PAYS OFF
MV MARTINI shares some of their best practices with us:
We’ve made it a habit if possible to take our tender and scope out anchorages if possible before bringing Martini in. This time it saved us. We found a huge rock submerged just below the surface at mid tide, and NOT on the chart. So if you’re heading south and want to stop at the anchorage between Playa Tulemar and Punta Quepos please add this note to your navigation software.
This rock has since been added to Navionics and marked as a hazard for all mariners to be aware of.
MV MARTINI Bryan & Mary - Nordhaven 63
THANK YOU FOR HELPING KEEP FELLOW MARINERS AND THEIR VESSELS SAFE!
BOCAS DEL TORO BEACH CLEAN UP
BOCAS DEL TORO BEACH CLEAN UP
Report from Maison de Sante:
We had a nice group of Posse boats and local residents here in Bocas Del Toro, Panama who came out this morning for clean up on Red Frog beach. Many pounds of plastic garbage was collected 😊. The strangest items collected included a bicycle mud flap, a scuba purge valve, and a diaper🤢. Some people had to leave early so not everyone is pictured. Stay tuned for a future date where we can ALL participate in beach clean up wherever you are located!
SY BISOU 🇦🇺 Robin and Tad - Fountaine Pajot 44′ & SY MAISON DE SANTÉ 🇺🇸 Nicole & Keenan - Cal 46'
THANK YOU FOR BEING STEWARDS OF OUR ENVIRONMENT!
MUST SEE: LEVUKA, FIJI
MUST SEE: LEVUKA, FIJI 
THE ORIGINAL GUNKHOLES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC
Levuka is a town on the eastern coast of the Fijian Island of Ovalau. Up until 1877, it was the capital of Fiji. Currently, this strangely haunted town has a population of about 5,000. It is the economic hub of the largest of 24 settlements on the Island. Levuka was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 2013, in recognition of the port town's exceptional testimony to the late colonial port towns in the Pacific Ocean.
The modern town of Levuka was founded around 1820 by European settlers and traders as the first modern town in the Fiji Islands. Levuka quickly became an important port and trading post in the Pacific. A disparate band of settlers made up Levuka's population- traders, missionaries, shipwrights, speculators, vagabonds, and even respectable businessmen. Much of Levuka’s unique heritage is in its wooden architecture (highly vulnerable to fire).
The South Pacific's first Masonic Lodge was built in 1913 and housed the Freemasons that were established in Levuka by Alexander Barrack in 1875. There is much controversy about the Masonic fraternity in Fiji. The dominant traditional Christian faiths consider the Masons to be devil-worshippers. The Masonic Lodge was burned down in the 2000 Fiji coup d'etat. The Lodge contained priceless historical artifacts and records of Levuka's history dating back to 1875. The arsonists have yet to be identified and prosecuted.
GOOD NAUTICAL: BAIE MARQUISIENNE
GOOD NAUTICAL: BAIE MARQUISIENNE
Nuku Hiva, Marquesas
8°54.8555'S, 140°13.4389'W
Baie Marquesienne is on the western facing side of the island of Nuku Hiva. The Trade Winds generally blow from the East or SE; the swell is similar so this anchorage is generally in the lee of the island making the anchorage very calm and surprisingly dry. Since the water is calm, the clarity is pretty good too and there is a nice spot to snorkel on the N side of the anchorage. I saw sharks, dolphins, and lots of very colorful fish among large boulders and small bits of coral here and there. The bay is surrounded by rocky hillsides that appear to be dry with patches of green vegetation where wild goats roam and bleat all day long. A valley winds up into a steep canyon.
The head of the bay is a rather steep too so landing is not really an option. We have four people onboard and were fortunate to have two that wanted to stay onboard and two that wanted to explore. So, we got dropped off on the beach, brought a radio, some water, and headed off into the wild. There is no marked trail to follow but there are waterways (some dry, some running, some rushing) that we followed up and up and up...until we could not go up any more. As we travelled up the valley we found an oasis and a waterfall, wild pigs and goats, many different flowering trees and plenty of shade to stay cool.
https://goodnautical.com/french-polynesia/anchorage/anse-uea-bai-marquisienne
