Thomas's son Francisco went fishing with his dad today this is the one he caught. they were going after dorado but the only thing that was biting was Bonita they had 7 on the dock when they got back and said they released more than they kept.

JJ this one is for you-Pop took it on our walk to breakfast

On the south end of Isla Mujeres there is a Tortuga hatchery that releases around 3,000 turtle a season

These guys are everywhere Linda is starting to get used to them at first she would tell me to make it go away

Today we had breakfast at a little restaurant called Amigo's it was a great beginning before a tour of the island.

This is a view of the marina grounds from the palapa. We have seen Iguanas, land crabs, magnificent frigate birds, almond trees and much more. There is a constant breeze that keeps us cool and comfortable. Our dock mates are from all over the world. The first night we were here we went out to dinner with Thomas and his family and had a wonderful time. Last night we joined in a potluck dinner at the poolside. Everyone brought something to grill and a side dish. We all ate very well. After dinner we had live music. We highly recommend this stop to all our boater friends.

Thomas Boylen our new found friend at Marina Paraiso, has shown us world class hospitality. He entered the code to the internet on our computer and helped us clean it up. This palapa is where we do the internet thing, not bad. The view from here is terrific!

After a rest period at Contoy and unable to get a reasonable quote on a tow we set sail again with a destination of Isla Mujeres. 17 miles with no mechanical power and not knowing how we could sail in to the anchorage made us a little uneasy. as we approached the island we contacted a shrimp boat that was being delivered from Florida to jamaica with a fuel stop in isla mujeres they offered to throw us a line and help us in to the anchorage. As we got closer, Marina Paraiso called and told us they would come out and pull us to our slip. I am glad Bill recommended Marina Paraiso the first thing they did after tying our boat to the dock was to bring us both a beer. They said any time they had to tow somone in they always gave them a beer they figure they need it.

As we approached Mexico our drive shaft broke. We were 10 miles from the Isla Contoy lighthouse which was to be our first anchorage and our first sight of land in 5 days. We could just barely see the lighthouse low on the horizon, but with not ability to proceed except the sail power, what would have been a 2 hour trip took 14 hours. Stron winds and currents were on our nose and pushing us back so progress was slow. We tacked back and forth thur the night and reached the lighthouse anchorage about 2am on a moonless, foggy and dark night. It was our first time to set anchor from the sail and fortunately not as difficult as we had feared. We got there exhausted and relieved. This was the scene we awakened to the next morning. As it turns out Isla Contoy is a national park and bird sanctuary and for awhile a nice sanctaury for us.