I was glad to leave Barra Navidad on 12/13/02. The town was really nice but the anchorage was definitely not my favorite. Most of the other cruisers really enjoy the smooth waters of the lagoon anchorage. However, the water was brown, murky, and possibly crocodile-infested, which limited my ability to jump in for a swim.

Anxious to get to Zihuatanejo before the holidays, I decided to take on some crew. I met a few gung-ho British guys traveling around the world who seemed like they would make good crew. It turns out they made really great crew! We shoved off from Barra Navidad on Friday, December 13th, 2002. Zihuatanejo is 220 miles south of Barra Navidad, and during those 220 hours we were only able to sail 20 % of the way. Mexico in general has has a lot of windless miles. Even though we ended up motoring most off the way, the trip down was great.

We ended up seeing several turtles, caught several fish, and even had a marlin following Tramonto. Zihuatanejo is a beautiful harbor with two primary anchorages. I chose to anchor in the outer anchorage name La Ropa. It has the cleanest water and allows me to run my watermaker every couple of days. The down side is that it is a bit of a dingy ride into town. Zihuatanejo is different than any other place I've stopped so far. There is an incredibly well-organized cruisers network here and lots of opportunity to help the local community.

Since I arrived two weeks ago, I have been running non-stop. Almost as soon as I arrived, I heard about a local school that the cruising community helps out. My third day here, I hiked up the hill behind town to take a tour of the school. Escuela Primaria Federal Bilingue is situated on one of the highest hills surronding Zihuatanejo. I showed up on the last day of school before the holidays,so the kids were getting ready for their Christmas party and were all wound up.

Escuela Primaria Federal Bilingue is a school dedicated to helping Mexico's Indigenous children learn Spanish. About 60 tribal languages are still spoken throughout Mexico, the most common of which is Nahuatl (Na-whatl), the classic language of the Aztecs. About 12 percent of Zihuataneo's population is indigenous. Because they don't speak Spanish, they are not allowed into the Mexican schools and as a result are often given the lowest level jobs. It's common to find 3- and 4-year old children on the streets at midnight selling Chicklets gum. The school's primary purpose is to teach Spanish and help these students get into the public school system. I'm not sure I have ever met a group of more dedicated people. I can't even imagine teaching in a room built out of scrap lumber in the 95 degree heat of WINTER! I'm not sure that anyone could visit this school, meet the children, and not want to help in some way. I was told that over the next few days they would be building a new school room. I decided that given my limited financial resources, this would be the perfect way to help out.

The next morning, I put out a call on the VHF net asking other cruisers if they would like to help with the construction. As usual, I received an overwhelming response from all. The next day a group of us were hiking up the hill to begin the project. I had been told to expect the unexpected and, sure enough, things changed. Originally, I thought we would be building a retaining wall, but when we got there we found out it would be a roof instead. This was definitely one of the hardest jobs I've ever done. The process was simple but strenuous.

1. Mix concrete, shovel into 5 gallon bucket
2. Hoist bucket onto shoulder
3. Walk up shaking planks to top of roof
4. Walk across fully exposed rebar
5. Pour the bucket of concrete
6. Repeat steps 1-5

Returning to Tramonto after working, I found her surrounded by familiar boats. Brisa, who I had sailed with down the Baja coast, had just pulled in, along with Summer Breezes, and Water Dragon. I had expected to see Water Dragon, but seeing Brisa again was a nice surprise.

Christmas has come and gone and I didn't even really notice. For Christmas, a bunch of us got together and had a beach potluck. It's hard to even think about Christmas when it's 95 and sunny every day. As I write this, we are down to the last hours of 2002, and it is pretty exciting to think about what 2003 holds for me.

Now that I have the new autopilot, I plan to leave in the next few days. I will be traveling with Water Dragon and Jabberwocky. From here we are heading for Puerto Escondido, home of the Mexican Pipeline, which is a very famous surf spot. We will try and check out of Mexico here. Then, it's on to the bays north of Huatulco to wait for a weather window to cross the Gulf of Tehuanepec. It should be a five day passage from this point to Braillas, El Salvador. This is a mecca for boats who want to travel inland. The Marina here is very secure and fairly inexpensive. Given the high port fees in Guatemala, we have decided to leave our boats in Braillas and travel by bus to Guatemala for a few days. Afterwards, it's a quick hop down the coast to Costa Rica. It would be nice to explore some remote anchorages in Nicaragua, but at this point who knows if this is even possible.

The reality of cruising is that all plans are tentative. It is getting harder for me to reply to e-mail due to limited access, so don't worry if you haven't heard from me in a while. Thanks to everyone who has supported me in this trip, and especially to Cathy, without whom this trip wouldn't be possible. Have a great new year!

Take a look at the slideshow of Zihuatenejo!