We arrived at the end of the night off Cancun, before heading for the Isla Mujeres. I savored my breakfast whilst watching the lights of Cancun’s enormous hotels with their bold architecture. I kept the two reefs in, so we would arrive in daylight on this island which I didn’t know, with the uncertainty of finding correct buoyage to enter the interior of the reef protecting the anchorage area. We rounded a buoy very close to the big beach, then entered the bay. There were a few boats already anchored there. The next day, we set off boldly to attack the formalities, a visit to the port authority’s office here, a photocopy shop there, hi to the immigration, stop by the bank, then back to the first office, where we saw the harbor, health and agriculture authorities. It took us three hours, which apparently is a record, on this island where everyone is charming, relaxed, and patient, but also a bit disorganized and slow. We were to discover later that we still hadn’t visited the customs, and that we would have to make a return trip by ferry to Cancun to import the boat temporarily, but for the moment, hurray, everything was sorted. It was midday, there was a nice smell coming from the cantinas, we were hungry and thirsty, so: Tacos and Corona for everyone! The Isla Mujeres has a strange museum, the MUSA. In 2009, the artist Jason de Caires Taylor immersed his life-sized sculptures off Cancun, and they were to become the biggest underwater art attraction in the world. The MUSA (MUséo SubAquatico) forms an artificial reef, which the underwater life has colonized, substantially increasing the biomass.
Sandrine and Eric aboard Jingle
http://catamaran-jingle.blogspot.fr
