It is only because of to the scheduling but I like the fact that we arrive at this port at a decent time; just after breakfast. No reason to get up early and hoping that the pilot has not overslept; no we can first get the early morning work out of the way and then approach the port and be docked just before coffee time. It cannot be more pleasant. It also means that the pilot is up and about as even if he overslept, he would still be around woken up by the sun and the whole port community, who needs him to get the ship in. Pilotage is compulsory here, as is in most other places, and I need the man because he communicates with the linemen so the ropes go on those bollards that we want. We have sometimes great challenges as in some ports the linesmen put the mooring rope on the nearest bollard so they do not have to walk any further. The nearest bollard is not always the best one, as we like the ropes to run long, so they can take the strain of the ships weight in the best way. Here in Mexico the pilot directs the linesmen and that is really handy. I wish it would be the same in the rest of the world. So by the time we arrived, the pilot was bobbing up and down in his pilot boat and 45 minutes later we were safely docked at the cruise ship pier. 

This morning we were amazed with amount of wild life that we were seeing while sailing in. Dense shoals of small fish, moving around in such tight groups that the uppermost ones were pushed out of the water. For a moment we thought that the dolphins were having a go at them with a bubble-feeding operation but there were no larger fish to be seen. But the little fish were everywhere. Then the whole bay was full of turtles and to top things off, near the dock there was an amazing amount of jelly fish. The standard white kind about a foot in diameter. I have seen much larger variations over here, silently “pulsing” by with a fully stretched length of 3 to 4 feet and multi colored, but not today. Still it was uncertain where this sudden influx of wild life was coming from as the weather and the currents have been very steady during the last few days. According to the pilot, “the fish comes and goes” but why and when he did not know either. We also found out this morning that Hualtalco has a port control. That was a new one to us, so either they have upgraded in the port or there is some joker out there who is acting as one. We were the only ship in today and that gave them the chance to assign us a berth. 50% chance that they would have it right as there are only two docks. Based on my last docking preference they most likely gambled on the same and indicated the East side. However this time I wanted the West side. Or better said, the chief officer wanted it for maintenance purposes. Today was such beautiful weather, no wind, no rain, no current that I could even have docked upside down and still it would have been safe…………..sort of. Still I stick to my Hualtalco rule where possible and dock nose out, just in case something does happen.

However during the whole day nothing happened apart from the fact that it got quite warm with the temperatures topping 93oF. Still most guests ventured ashore and quite a few were observed sitting outside the café’s and pubs just inside the resort. That is only 5 minute walk so even if you do not decided to venture inland it is still a nice diversion just to stroll off the pier. With the uncertain state of affairs in Mexico and the issues with the drug cartels in the larger cities we have a high presence of military. When coming in we had two navy patrols going with us and they were also there when we left. For the rest of the day, they were either at anchor next to us, or taking their toys out for another spin in open waters. The pier is guarded by about 10 or 12 sailors in nice white uniforms but with very purposeful looking guns. Although they are officially guarding the pier, their main purpose seems to be to have photos taken with our guests. At least such a photo forms a genuine postcard from Huatalco. In the shops you can buy the same sunset photo as you can buy in Acapulco with only the text being different. A photo with a real Mexican “tar” is then a nice change.

At 5 pm. We sailed away, heading east for our next port of call Puerto Chiapas, also in Mexico. We have to cross the Gulfo de Tehuantepec again but the weather forecast gives only 15 knots of wind. If I add 20 knots to that as a correction factor then it should not blow more than 35 knots. We will still prepare the ship for a windy night but I think that it will not be as windy as last time.