The Tehuantepec

From Wikipedia: The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and prior to the opening of the Panama Canal was a major shipping route known simply as the Tehuantepec Route. The name is taken from the town of Santo Domingo Tehuantepec in the state of Oaxaca, which in turn comes from the Nahuatl "tecuani-tepec" ("jaguar hill").

The narrowness of the isthmus and the gap in the Sierra Madre allow the trade winds from the Gulf of Mexico to blow through to the Pacific. Normally, these winds are not particularly strong, but periodically a surge of denser air originating from the North American continent will send strong winds through the Chivela Pass and out over the Gulf of Tehuantepec on the Pacific coast. This wind is known as the Tehuano.

Good morning! We left early yesterday morning after a wonderful, full day of Huatulco peace and craziness. We took the dinghy around the north corner to Bahia Organo, and it was gorgeous. The water was clear and calm, so the snorkeling was wonderful, and the sand was superb. The bays north and south of Bahia Santa Cruz are very beautiful, and, depending on the general weather off of the Tehuantepec, these bays offer some of the best we have seen in Mexico. Unfortunately there were gale winds just last week, so the clarity and calm had just begun by the weekend. We will return to Huatulco to spend some more quality time soaking in the beauty.

On our sail down the coast there were so many awesome deserted beaches and rock formations reminding us of what the Laguna coast must have looked like before the development. Surprisingly, the sailing has been great with gentle wind, and we hope this trend continues across the infamous Tehuantepec; often times you have no wind or gale force winds. Mandy is with us; hooray for good friends. We will let you know when we arrive in Puerto Madero (at the end of the Tehuantepec run, which usually takes about three days, depending on the conditions). Love to all, Suzi