Much (most) of our trip so far has included marina slips, probably 85%. Recently we have begun to anchor out as a rule. We just concluded 10 days at anchor in 4 different locations. We are now at the Club de Yachts in Acapulco. Honestly we are beginning to prefer anchorages, as the surge here is uncomfortable, and hard on the boat. What I wanted to share was an experience we had coming down to Acapulco. There was an anchorage, Caleta de Compos, where we tucked behind some rocks and secured a really nice location. The waves were predictable, wrapping around the rocks, into the cove and onto the beach. I'd guess we were maybe 300 yards from the shoreline and 100 yards to the rocks. Oh, note: It's really, really hard to judge distance on the water. Over and over I've been shocked just how much room there is between boats when I get on the dingy and motor away from Alanui. On the boat it looks like 50' to the other boat, but once away from the boat the distance becomes 300'. I guess in time I'll develop that skill to estimate the distance. Anyway, what I found very interesting was an occasional GOOD SIZE wave would wrap around the rocks. You would feel the boat begin to pull against the anchor rode and the bow would dip, then the whole boat would start to rise, perhaps 4 or 5 feet. As the wave rolled under the boat I'd look out the stern toward the beach and watch the wave continue to pile up to the point it would foam on top, then crash on the beach. I'd guess the wave was actually breaking about 200 yards aft of Alanui. Well after a day and a night of this I became reasonably comfortable that all was good and a "BIG ONE" wasn't going to come around the corner and break on us. The other experience we had was how much difference a stern anchor could make. We anchored in Zihuatanejo for almost a week. The SW swell would roll right into the anchorage and as soon as the wind switched from a sea breeze to an offshore breeze we laid beam to the seas, resulting in a very rolly experience, even with the floppper stopper out. So at 22:00 I decided to deploy the stern anchor. Having NEVER done this on Alanui I went about it very carefully. I put the spare anchor ( a large Fortress danforth) in the cockpit and pulled a hundred feet of spare anchor rode to the stern of the boat. I let out another 150 of chain off the bow and put the boat in reverse, pulling the catenary out of the chain. Then I shifted into N and ran to the stern to chuck the Fortress off the stern. Sure enough the catenary pulled us forward, as the boat started to slow I tightened down on the rode and the anchor stuck. The difference in comfort was immediate and dramatic. Two days later the anchor pulled free, and I reset it with a bit more scope, then it was fine. I reversed the procedure to pull the anchor in. Unsticking it from the bottom wasn't too hard, love that Fortress! Oh, also I didn't use any chain on the stern anchor as I was concerned pulling that up would be challenging. If I'd have been in a more demanding situation I would use 50' of chain on the end of the rode. So, we are off today for a 30 hour trip to Puerto Angel. We hope to spend a few nights there then head for Huatulco where we will cross the Gulf of Tehuantepec. We are not doing a "foot on the beach" crossing, but rather waiting for a good window and going straight across. We anticipate being at least 3 boats, perhaps 4. Then we leave Mexico and enter Guatemala. Oh, thanks to all of you that offered to crew from Panama to Key West. All told I had 8 people say they would like to participate. I have two friends from Seattle that are planning on participating, so I really lucked out. We will either do a 8 day delivery with no stops or stop in Roatan or Cancun. Got to run! Scott Bulger, Alanui, N40, Seattle WA Currently in Acapulco, leaving in the hour!