By way of the sea

By Charlie Mayers S/V Gypsy Star

There are times life doesn't happen the way you planned it to happen and that isn't always a bad thing. So it was with us this year when we discovered Progreso and the astonishing Yucatan.

My name is Charlie and my wife's name is Ollie. We are sailors growing old in our sixties but refusing to grow up. Our plan was to sail our 37 ft. Pacific Seacraft sailboat Gypsy Star on a six month voyage starting in Port Aransas, Texas with our first port of call Isla Mujeres. From there we would sail south into the Caribbean returning home when it was no longer fun or we'd run out of cruising funds. Progreso was an after thought, planning to go there on the way home if time permitted.

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Fate changed our plans on the sixth day of our voyage when we ran into bad weather, high wind and seas that caused us to loose our main sail. We still had our two head sails plus our diesel engine until we lost the engine while transferring fuel from our deck cans into the main fuel tank when a large wave hit the boat pouring a massive amount of sea water into our main tank which immediately shut our engine down.

This forced us to have to hand pump all the contaminated fuel out of the main tank and into the empty deck cans. When the tank was empty we then had to change the fuel filters and then using WD40 in the air intake we got the engine running again just after mid-night. This was done while being hoved-to on a sea anchor in heavy seas.

We then feel into a deep sleep waking up at 8 AM to make contact with our friends Carl and Kim on S/V Querencia and Doug on S/V Christina via Single Side Band radio.

When we made contact with them at our pre-scheduled time, they told us bad weather was coming and that we needed to get to Progreso to get out of the way. We had been thinking about going into Progreso to repair the sail plus we knew that without the sail, we didn't have enough fuel to motor to Isla Mujeres.

Progreso was the perfect place to head to wind wise and now time wise. Carl also told us he would contact some of his friends in Progreso and let them know we were heading that way. As it turned out, Carl and Kim's friends were Juan Manuel and Judy Abbott Mier y Teran, publisher and editor of Yucatan Today and Manuel Jose Gutierrez Ramos, owner of Marina Paraiso in Progreso.

So, after nine day at sea and simultaneously with a cold front, we arrived outside of the jetties to hear Manuel's voice over the radio saying Welcome to Progreso. He was waiting for us in his boat inside the jetties and escorted us to Marina Paraiso. We were given royal treatment by Manuel, his family and staff. They took care of our every need and more.

It was not long before Juan Manuel showed up in his dinghy checking to see if we were alright, inviting us to dinner and informing us of Judy doing e-mail reports to our friends including some back in Texas.

At first, we planned to repair our boat and rest up for a couple of days and be on our way to Isla Mujeres, but fate plus a little karma again changed our plans. Manuel had given us a copy of Yucatan Today and after reading about all the places and things to see we decided to rent a car and stay longer which we are both very glad we did. After we started driving around we began to uncover wondrous treasures and in a short time acquired a king's ransom of memories, good times and new friends. We were invited to the Yucatan Yacht and Sail Club meeting in Merida and to a picnic at Marina Paraiso where we had delicious fried fish and enjoyed meeting sailors of the Yucatan. We also found a neat little hotel in Progreso named Yakunah where we stayed and watched the Super Bowl. The owners, a Dutch couple Gerben and Elke Hartskeerl made sure our stay was a good one.

Ollie and I have been very fortunate to have had a taste of the quaint villages, Mayan temples, Spanish missions, historical and modern Merida, fantastic restaurants and the friendly, happy people of the Yucatan. To us it is amazing to see what the Mayans accomplished as well as the Spanish and the influence they both still have and always will on the Yucatan. It is impossible to see all there is to see in a few short weeks, but God willing, we will return. But for sure, the warm and loving impression so freely given by so many people we met will stay in our memories and hearts forever, Viva Progreso! Viva Yucatan! Viva Mexico!

To read more about sailing in the Yucatan read our Progreso Marinas article.

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