The Tehuantepec and into Chiapas – Slow Dancers Voyage

The advice given to us about the Tehuantepec was to go completely around the Gulf and “keep one foot on the beach”. OK…..here we go. This gulf is where all of the Mexican hurricanes start. A notorious place. However, the waters and sea life were beautiful!

We had very moderate winds and medium waves. We tried to stay within 1/2 to a mile from shore. All combined, it was a great crossing.

As we got to Chiapas, we were quickly surrounded by huge ships and a busy harbor. We were to ask permission from the Port Captain, in Spanish, to enter the harbor. Ken practiced and had the whole spiel down, but after three times asking the question and getting no response, the English speaking marina manager told us to come ahead. First was getting into the narrow breakwater, then passing a huge dredging ship on it’s port side. We then turned down an even narrower canal that was also quite shallow. We turned around to see a 120 foot yacht close on our heels. Now where is that marina??

Rounding another corner, we saw our oasis! The beautiful Marina Chiapas. We were assisted into our slip by two very helpful dock hands and told to stay on the boat as we were going to be inspected. Huh??

In a matter of minutes, we were joined by 5 military guys from different agencies, carrying guns and with a drug sniffing dog. None of them spoke English, so we put on our best poco Espanol faces and invited them aboard. They searched the boat, filled out paperwork and asked us questions. Painless after the initial shock. We get to do it all over again upon departure. It was April 9, 2019, 22 months into our journey and our last stop in Mexico.