My Dear PUP Friends, This email comes to you from Jicaral cove, about 8 miles west of Huatulco, our jumping off point to cross the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Our lat/lon is 15 41.756N/96 13.495W. The Rains guide suggests this is an anchorage appropriate only day use only, but Paloma has spent three wonderful nights here and say it's paradise! We are only an hour or so from the marina where we will leave the boat and go inland for a 3 day visit to Oaxaca. The anchorage is small, currently occupied by Paloma (43 Nordhavn), Alanui (40 Nordhavn) and a Fully Involved (40something Island Packet S/V). The cove is part of a park system, they have areas or coral roped off to prevent anchoring and killing it. It's open to the South, but the seas are very calm so the roll is manageable. I just experienced a great accomplishment, which may sound trivial to some, but is significant for me. As some of you know I embarked on this trip with a paralyzed diaphragm, which hampers my ability to breathe very well, especially in water. I was able to breathe with a SCUBA tank, as long as I kept my head below my lungs, so the air would rise into them and assist inflating them. Well several days ago I went in the water to see if I could breathe with the snorkel gear we bought before leaving San Diego. Within about 5 minutes I was feeling like I was falling behind the curve of breathing, so I returned to the boat, (honestly in a bit of a panic). There is something about the feeling you can't catch your breath that raises your anxiety very quickly. Today I decided to try wearing a life vest to see if raising my lungs slightly would do the trick. Well sure enough, I found that using a life jacket (offshore type, lots of flotation) I was able to breathe very satisfactorily. Marian and I went for a 30 minute swim in the coral and saw some of the best tropical seascape we have ever seen! It was marvelous! I hope over time I can increase my ability to breathe, to the point I don't need the life jacket, but this was really great, as you can imagine how much I'd be missing by not being comfortable in the water. Tomorrow we will continue to Marina Chahue and go inland. We have decided not to drag a foot on the beach, but rather wait for a good weather window and then go straight across the Gulf of Tehuantepec. I think we will be at least 3 boats, perhaps 4. It's 225miles, which will take a day and 8 hours to cross at 7 knots. We won't go unless Bob Jones at OMNI and Enrique at Chahue agree it's good. Then it's on to Guatemala and the rest of our journey. Thanks to those of you who have written, as soon as I get to an internet enabled site I'll reply individually. Take care! Scott Bulger, Alanui, N40II, Seattle WA