Photos and text of the sailing voyages of Ketch 22
The three intrepid sailors (myself, Rick Canter and Tom Charron ) left Puerto Vallarta and arrived in Zihuatenejo around December 20, 2007. After 3 weeks at sea, Tom and Rick promptly got a hotel in town, whilst I stayed aboard. The three of us had a few days as tourists in Zihuatanejo before Naty flew down from San Jose California to meet us. Life was good for us all, as we became land tourists for a while. Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa were at our beck and call for a few brief days while waiting for Naty to fly in from "cold country". After her arrival, it was the four of us for a brief spell, then Tom and Rick flew home, although Rick was coming back in a couple weeks.
Naty and I spent a couple weeks enjoying the fruits of Zihuatanejo, of which there were many. Unfortunately though, a couple days prior to her departure, I had dinner at the wrong restaurant and developed a wicked case of Montezuma's Revenge . Not being my usual level headed self, and seemingly unable to make it clear to Naty just how dreadful I felt, she was in tears as I loaded her into a cab so she could fly home, while I made preparations for the next leg which was to take Ketch 22 and crew to Barillas El Salvador with another crew change. The route was to take us directly through the center of the Gulfo De Tehuantepec, a notoriously treacherous body of water, made famous for it's extreme high winds and wave action. True to it's reputation, just prior to Huatulco, we experienced force 9 winds on the Beaufort scale. Something I'd rather not repeat anytime soon.
A brief stop to celebrate the new year found us at Club De Yates (Acapulco Yacht Club) in a really crowded anchorage. Amazingly, given the crowd, they gave me a 50% discount on a 2 day stay because I was a member of Oakland YC at the time and I asked for a reciprocal arrangement from one club to another. We had a great time at a not too unreasonable (about $60 USD/day with discount) price.
The three of us headed south by bus. We took a local bus into San Salvador, and then a Greyhound type bus to Costa Rica. We made a stop in Managua and Grenada that was memorable for several reasons. John split in northern Costa Rica to get a ride on another yacht, but Rick and I continued to San Jose and ultimately Golfito by air . In late January, 2008, I flew home to California from San Jose Costa Rica, and Rick stayed around for a while longer and met up with his wife Ellen who flew down to meet him from the other San Jose.
After John left, Rick and I continued on into San Jose where we tried to get a hotel without auctioning our first born in the process. We were moderately successful, both in San Jose and a few days later in Golfito, where we managed to share a room for $20 USD ($10 each) at the Tierra Mar. We took no pictures (no camera), so you'll have to click HERE to view the shots of the cruise from Barillas El Salvador to Golfito Costa Rica.
Para sailor nearly snags my mast
A cliff diver
30 knots, approaching the Tehuantepec.
At 35 knots, the grill lid 
Could of used a reef in main and mizzen
