The Plan
Four Goals, Nine Phases
The original plan had a December departure and ran all the way to Cartagena via the Canal in one season. It now departs in early January after Christmas at home, and ends in Costa Rica. The Canal, San Blas and Cartagena move to Season 3. Crew legs flipped too — Felipe and Mike sail coastal Mexico in January instead of the offshore passage, and the 650 nm run to Costa Rica is single-handed.
Felipe and Mike aboard for Barra → Zihuatanejo, about 200 nm of coastal Mexico in the best conditions of the year. They fly into Manzanillo and home from Zihuatanejo. Land adventures are designed into the leg, not bolted on.
Time ashore in Zihuatanejo, then the short hop down to Acapulco — about 120 nm, daylight legs only, no overnight sailing. Comfort and experience over miles. Sequential with the crew leg, no overlap aboard.
Taxco from Zihuatanejo. Oaxaca either side of a Florida trip. San Cristóbal, Palenque and Sumidero Canyon while the bottom paint cures at Chiapas. Layover time was previously wasted — now it carries half the trip.
Puerto Madero → Costa Rica, about 650 nm in five days, single-handed. Direct beats coastal hopping: no crew flights to sync, no connection through Tapachula. Then park Irene in Costa Rica and end the season unhurried.
Phases at a Glance
Three months unattended means seized fittings. Through-hulls, sump pump, galley faucet, full through-hull inventory. Day trips to Guadalajara, Tequila, Colima.
Costalegre day-hops — Tenacatita, Chamela — then down to Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo. Crew in via ZLO, out via ZIH.
Time ashore in Zihuatanejo first, then a short coastal hop. Daylight only. She joins at ZIH and flies home from ACA. Exact dates still open.
Overnight inland from Zihuatanejo. Silver town in the Sierra Madre — Santa Prisca, the cobbled hill streets.
Overnight coastal legs. Stage at Marina Chahué. Surge marina — heavy chafe gear on every line, checked weekly.
Oaxaca part one, then Florida for USPSA and time with my father, then Oaxaca part two. Ten-plus days, unhurried.
Window-dependent inshore crossing to Marina Chiapas, then haul out. Chiapas inland while the paint cures — San Cristóbal, Palenque, Sumidero Canyon.
Puerto Madero → Costa Rica. Single-handed, built on the eight-day solo Baja run. Inshore of Guatemala and El Salvador.
Landfall, clear in, coastal Costa Rica, then park Irene. How much coast gets sailed depends on the endpoint marina decision.
Hard busy window the 10th through the 25th of every month. Every phase has to put Irene in a marina or a settled anchorage with good connectivity across it. Passages and crew legs go in the gaps — that is the whole reason the crew leg and the Melissa leg sit where they do.