February 23, 2014

Our arrival in Puerto Chiapas after crossing the dreaded Gulf of Tehuantepec was rather anti-climactic. After navigating around a couple of dense rain squalls I went to bed when Jan came topside around 7 am to relieve me from my all night watch. By 10 am I was again up as we approached the harbor. The channel was partially blocked off by a large ship that was dreading the channel on one side and a large tug boat was repositioning a green channel marker on the other. Jan guided Maiatla through the maze that was the channel as I ran dock lines and set the fenders in preparation for docking.  

Fortunately the channel was wide and well-marked as we had no trouble finding the small waterway that would lead deeper into what could best be  best described as a muddy marsh.

After passing several shrimp boats that stunk so bad that we had to hold our breaths, we turned the corner to enter what would prove to be a new and modern marina.  

The facility is less than two years old and has three sets of beautiful concrete docks with water and hydro. As we approached we could see three marina employees running down to the docks to tale our lines. The marina manager called the harbor master and the navy for us to report our arrival. Within an hour were filling out papers with the pair of officers that eagerly accept the cold coke that I offered. Jan was complaining that it was hot here. I had already decided that it was warm but when I saw these two Mexican locals sweating profusely, I decided that Jan had every right to complain. It was damned hot.

It looked like a nice place to stay for a while but there would be no swimming in the harbor as we did in Hualtuco. The nearby fish processing plant left a scum on the surface of the water and if that wasn’t enough to deter us, there were crocs. But neither of these things seemed to deter the locals from wading in, swimming or fishing. Oh well, guess we are just spoiled. We planned to stay here for a week or so with an eye for leaving Maiatla here for the summer as we were looking at returning to Canada in 3 or 4 weeks’ time. We would check out the town that was 30 kilometers away, do some shopping and perhaps make a few trips across the border into Guatemala. There were already some cruising friends here and we were looking forward to meeting new people that were like us , headings south…..or staying here for the summer.

commercial docks next to the shrippers

The stinky shrippers

The harbour fuel dock

Jan at our dock in Chiapas

The marina office and restaurant

The final waterway into the marina

The marina tennis courts

The marina docks

The office and marina travel lift for hauling out boats