Isla Mujeres – Haul Out

I had bought bottom paint in Costa Rica, but left without applying it, so I took the opportunity to have the job done at the Isla Mujeres Marina. This marina is located in the lagoon that nearly cuts Isla Mujeres in half. The lagoon is used as a hurricane hole and has several marinas and an anchorage. Isla Mujeres Marina is the largest and best equipped yard that I had seen since I left San Francisco Bay.

The Lagoon

Boats in the Lagoon	Marina Dock in the Lagoon
Resort on the Lagoon	Virago on the Hard on the Lagoon

People at the Yard

I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the facilities and unpleasantly surprised by the US scale prices.

Jose the Manager	Alex the Local Canvas Worker	Worker in Safety Gear

Modern Facilities

Virago Dwarfed by Travel Lift	Virago Safely on the Hard

Propeller Strut Looking OK

I only included this picture because the weld between the strut and cutlass bearing assembly was found to be severely corroded when we hauled Virago in Portland, Maine only two months later.

Isla Mujeres – Golf Cart Tours

Isla Mujeres is a true island only about five miles long and blessed with a mild climate. This makes touring by golf cart especially popular with tourists giving access to many areas that might not be exactly prime stand-alone destinations.  Here are some of these mildly interesting locations.

Golf Cart Touring

Sheri and Bill at the Snail House	Sarah at the Isla Mujeres Marina

The Malecon

Most Mexican seaside towns have a promenade along the waterfront called the Malecon. Usually they have the ocean on one side and businesses on the other heavily weighted to bars, restaurants, and gift shops. Isla Mujeres has a picturesque Malocon on the side facing the open ocean, but it is sadly lacking in businesses and therefore: pedestrians.

Malecon Looking North	Malecon Looking South

Zama Beach

  Zama Beach and Lounge is on the Cancun side of Isla Mujeres and offers a fine restaurant and swimming beach. One of our favorite sites was seeing a modest motor yacht (maybe 100 feet long) anchor off the Zama dock, send a launch to the dock, and pick up a take out order from Zama waiters. Very classy!

Harry, Sheri, and Bill at Zama Entrance	Paul on the Dock at Zama Beach
Elegant Water Feature as Entrance Bridge	Sheri at Pool and Bath House

Avalon Resort

The Northern end of Isla Mujeres is taken up by the Avalon Resort.

Causeway Entrance to Avalon	Ubiquitous Golf Carts at Avalon
Bill, Sheri, and Paul Tour Avalon	Seaside Massage Anyone?

Miscellaneous

 

Modern Ruins – A True Fixer Upper	Olivia Restaurant Door
Harry and Sheri on the Malecon	Sheri at the City Cemetary

Range of Vendors

On our tour we found a wide range of food vendors.

Fancy Mayan Coffee	No Frills Street Food in the Central Square

Isla Mujeres – Gringo Gulch

Every city that attracts tourists soon develops a sacrificial zone informally known as “gringo gulch”. Isla Mujeres’ population is concentrated into two villages about three miles apart. The Northern end has the ferry terminals and most of the tourist related businesses while the Southern area houses most of the Mexican population in a village called Colonia.  Being a mere three miles across the bay from Cancun, the Northern end developed such an area along pedestrian-friendly Avenue de Hildalgo. This is where most of the bars, restaurants, and gift shops are found.   We were there on Super Bowl Sunday and the street was packed while in April the crowds were much diminished.

Paul and Harry at North End of  Hidalgo	Bill at North End of Hildalgo
City Hall at South End of Hidalgo	Central Park at South End of Hidalgo
Typical Jewelry Store	Typical Mexican Kitsch Shop
Daughter Sarah at Roster	Sister Janice Enjoys '”Make Wood Fire Lasagna”

  Street theater is common on Avenue de Hidalgo such as dancers with torches—even a torch lit hula hoop!

Isla Mujeres – Marina Paraiso

As recorded in a previous post, Bill Eddy, Harry Reppert, Jim Graves and I arrived at Isla Mujeres on February 5th of 2011. We kept Virago at Marina Paraiso which is a Seven Seas Cruising Association port. I didn’t see that that distinction mattered much to us in practice, but must say the staff was very responsive to our needs and Virago’s needs. I have included a few pictures of the arrival and then a photo montage of the marina itself.  

Jim Graves Checking our Course	Harry Reppert Pointing Out Landfall at Is Mujeres
Luxury Resorts Line the Beaches	Motor Yacht Prince Abdul Aziz off Cancun

Lest we loose site of how far up the ladder of luxury goes, consider the yacht Prince Abdul Aziz. It belongs to the Saudi Royal Family and when she was built in 1984 was the biggest private yacht in the world. She is 482 feet long with a beam of 60 feet and a draft of 16 feet. She cruises at 22 knots and was designed to accommodate only 22 guests with such amenities as a main salon copied from the Titanic.

Speaking of a scale of luxuries: on Virago’s voyage we have visited about a dozen marinas. I believe i can speak for the entire crew when I say that Mene’s on Roatan was the least luxurious and the Acapulco Yacht Club was the most luxurious. Marina Paraiso was about average on the luxury scale and its rates were commensurate. Here are some picture of the required elements of a good marina.

Peaceful Harbor	Busy, Well Maintained Docks
Pleasant Office with Cruisers’ Lounge	Helpful Staff – Manager Tom
Gathering Spot	Bar or Cafe

        

Some features of a marina are not photogenic, but Marina Paraiso does have wifi, laundry service, shore-side heads, and showers. Regular spraying keeps insects at bay. The weather was hot and relatively dry with warm clear water. It is about a mile and a half from downtown on a busy street well served by local taxis.

We kept Virago at the Marina for about four months using it as a base for entertaining visiting friends and family. It is a likely stop on our planned trip back.

Ik Kil Cenote

A side trip from our tour of Chichen Itza took Marj, my sister Janice, and me to the prominent cenote or sink hole known as Ik Kil to the Mayans. As I mentioned in my account of Chichen Itza, the surrounding area is a geologic formation known as Karst. The land is characterized by its topsoil being supported upon a layer of porous limestone. This has the effect of allowing all rain water to quickly percolate through the topsoil and bedrock leaving the surface devoid of streams or lakes. In some places the bedrock will erode completely and collapse creating a deep sinkhole or cenote. So, even though the topsoil may be fertile and water easily found, farming is extremely labor intensive since water must to brought to the surface by human effort.  For instance Ik Kil is a relatively large cenote being about 200 feet in diameter with water over 120 feet deep, but its surface is 85 feet below ground level.  Keep in mind that the Mayans never developed the wheel and had no pack animals so the water had to be hand carried to the surface for irrigation. An additional drawback of Karst areas is the poor filtration of ground water that readily allows contamination of the water supply by human and animal wastes. These impediments heighten our appreciation for the accomplishments of a people who built and maintained a great civilization in the central Yucatan for centuries.

Today the cenote Ik Kil is a popular stop for tour busses on the way to Chichen Itza allowing a cool respite from the heat and even a quick dip. Some international diving competitions have even held events here.

   

View From the Top	On the Way Down
View From the First Gallery	View From the Bottom