The Rest of Mexico

We stayed in Zijuatenejo for four nights, did a bit of shopping, fueled up, and generally lazing about. When the first of May showed up, the government and all the banks shut down for May day, and the lead into cinco de mayo began. We headed out for Acapulco on the first breezy afternoon and were rewarded with a nice sail for about 12 hours. We wandered into Acapulco in the middle of the next day. We went into Bahia Puerto Marques, next bay down and anchored close to the new marina project in one of the calmest anchorages to date. No surge reached us at all. The next day a few jet skis and some banana boats showed up, but still a pretty nice spot. We were able to take a taxi from the beach to buy fuel  and groceries. By Friday, it was obvious that the Cinco deMayo frenzy was building, so we opted for a two night passage to Bahias de Huatulco to pass the mayhem at sea. A pretty easy passage brought us into Bahia de Sacrificios right as planned.
We got anchored and Joan went for a swim. Unfortunately, a bunch of jelly fish were already enjoying the clear water, yielding some nasty stings for her. Sigh, one of the last fabled paradises and we can't go in the water.
Moved to the town of Huatulco the next day and filled the fuel tanks again. The only spot to anchor near the fuel dock was pretty packed with fishing boats, so we kept an ear open for bumps in the night as the wind shifted. I got up a couple of times to find us within a boat length of a 40' sport fisher. The next morning I checked the wind foecast and we were lookig at three days of settled weather to cross the dreaded bay of Tehuantepec, famous for howling gales as weather fronts from the north are funneled across the narrow isthmus. A nice breeze came up, beam on, so we sailed along at wind speed in 5 to 7 knots and smooth seas fot the next 20 hours. These were perfect conditions for easy passagemaking, and it was a treat.
We had to motor for the next 24 hrs. As the same light breezes came from dead astern, which is too light to keep the sails filled as we try to move ahead of it.
We got to Puerto Madiera mid morning, and went into the port to find the marina. This marina is too new to be on any charts and they weren't answering the radio. We found an uncharted channel snaking off to the southeast and sure enough, the marina appeared at the end. A guy motioned us to slip, helped us get tied up, and intrduced us to the representatves from the navy, port captain, and customs, along with a german shepherd to come sniff Bob. Quite a production, but very courteous and professional. This is the final frontier with Guatemala about 15 miles south. It's hot, remote, and relatively secure, not too hard to go to town, and a very cheap place to leave the boat. We want to visit the colonial city of San Cristobal de las Casas in the mountains for a few days to escape the heat, and head back to the USA for a few months to sort it all out.