Off Cozumel

Reboot and Hobo II are headed south to Xcalak along the Mexican coast. We have been fighting adverse currents ever since Key west and today is no exception. Xcalak is at the south end of Mexico's Caribbean coast and where I will check out of Mexico. The current of the day is of course the Yucatan Channel current. Since I am not finding any current arrows on the chart south of Cozumel so hopefully it will moderate. The currents are strong, 2 to 3 knots is not unusual. The good news, I suppose, is that it will all be in my favor as I head back to Key West.
The Mexican coast reminds me a lot of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland which is weird. The similarity is that there are a very few good places to come into port. In NS and NF it was a rocky coast, here in Mexico it is a barrier reef. The coast seems to be almost continuous large resort developments. The major towns are just even larger clusters of big resort complexes.
The charts here (Mostly based on DMA charts) are a far cry from what one gets in the United States. Most nights the anchorage area is just a big blot of green on the chart with no depth markings at all. Without Freya Rauscher's guide I would be totally lost. My expectation is that local knowledge is the more common need as one ventures out of the US.
Jim and I decided to take a long shot and head direct to Xcalak rather than continuing our short jaunts down the coast. I think we both just want to get past the constant fighting with the current. Plus without natural harbors and no real desire to pay for overnight dockage it will be nice to get away from the rolly polly sleeping behind the reef.
XO is happy to have full run of the boat again since I am not at a dock. With the warm nights he does not cuddle for warmth but rather patrols the decks. During the daytime he comes back inside and sleeps with that look of contentment that only cats can have.