Back to La Paz

Well, we've changed our plans a little in the last week. Originally we were going to head north from Mazatlan and travel into the Sea on the mainland side, just to try something new. It is not the common thing to do - the anchorages are further apart and you are usually traveling straight into the wind. The advantage is that few others do it, so you have the place to yourself. The vast majority of cruisers jump to La Paz from Mazatlan and then head north on the Baja side of the Sea. So, the advantage of traveling north on the Baja side is that everyone else is doing it and you will get to be with your friends and make new ones. After a lot of debate, we've decided to follow the herd. We will cross over to the Baja side and go north from there. We are leaving Mazatlan in an hour and will be traveling with Sunbaby. The crossing will take around 40 hours to get to Bahia de los Muertos (the Bay of the Dead). Despite its name, it's a lovely place. It is a little south of La Paz. We will then spend a short time provisioning in La Paz and then head off into the Sea. I am so excited to finally be on the journey heading into the Sea of Cortez. It has been our goal since March of 2008 when we decided to pull the plug on the old life. What a year!

Laura

Dolphins and Whales and Shallow water, Oh My

Hello Everyone!
I just cannot believe all that has happened since I last wrote you. We left San Blas around 5:30 am on March 27th, since we had a long way to go. At one point on the way, we had to alter our course about 10 degrees so we could avoid a couple humpbacks that were having a grand time hurling themselves out of the water and splashing by slapping their flukes. We watched them for about 15 minutes, before our boat noise became enough to disturb them.

Our ultimate destination was Mazatlan, but there was this neat looking inlet about halfway up that we wanted to go look at. There is a little town there called Teacapan. Unfortunately neither of the cruiser guide books we had even mentioned it, so we didn’t have anything to go on except Google Earth images and the stories of one cruiser. The bay had a big fan-like approach, a very small bottleneck and then a very large bay, and even from space, you could see large breakers around the opening indicating very shallow water. There were no channel markers. But hey, isn’t that what’s so great about cats? They only draw 3 ½ feet.

So it’s 5:00 pm, the sun is setting, the wind is 10 to 15 knots, pretty good swell crashing through and we are looking at solid breakers in front of us. We start nosing in and get to 8 feet depth when suddenly the water explodes at our boat on the land side. Bottle nose dolphins! Jumping out of the water, five feet from the boat, some sort of hitting it. Were they warning us? Jack had already gone to his room saying to Patrick , “I am going to huddle up in to a ball on my bed.” And he left to do it! Just minutes earlier he had said to Patrick, "I wish I was your wife so I could yell at you!" Things were dicey looking. but the dolphins were my last straw. I was just saying to turn around when a fisher panga was nearing us and Patrick flagged it down. Patrick asked them if we could get in the bay, and then if they could show us the way. They said yes to both and promptly led us back out and around about ¼ mile to the real entrance. When we were safely in the harbor past the bottleneck, they pulled alongside and we gave them gifts of a couple Cemex T shirts and 300 pesos (about 20 bucks.) Judging from the look on their faces, we gave them a little too much of a tip, but Hey! We were happy with them!

We talked to a man in Teacapan who told us that about 2 cruiser boats show up in this harbor every year The town is very small, with loads of small fisher pangas and traditional fishing boats with paddles for the boatmen. We were a major curiosity in the town. In the morning, some fishermen called out to us (while we were sleeping) and they were heading off the work! Many drove very close to our boat to get a good look. The town is on an estuary and used to be very full of large fish and shrimp, but is a little fished out now. However, it is still a major source of seafood for surrounding towns. The estuary is very large and shallow. We anchored in about 9 feet, right on the town’s edge.

The next day we went wandering around town and lazing about. Then just at sunset, Jack and I were sitting together in the master bedroom, just hanging out and chatting. We became aware that we were hearing a high pitched squeal. It took me a moment and then I realized, “Those are dolphins we are hearing.” Jack didn’t believe me at first, but the noises continued. He ran out to the deck to try to catch sight of them, and found the whole pod circling our boat! Maybe twenty or thirty in the pod. I ran and got my camera but just seconds after starting the video the battery died. Isn’t that classic? But it let me just enjoy the show. They stayed for about 45 minutes, circling the boat, calling, and circling some more. When we were standing on deck, the dolphins started sending sonar clicks at the boat. When the sonar hit the boat it sounded like crackling and popping electricity and we could feel the vibrations through our feet. We could see them through the water, turning on their side to get a better look at the boat. They were just like the villagers, very interested in us and our boat! They were smaller than other dolphins we have seen, very dark with lighter colored bellies. We think they were Spinner dolphins. It was so amazing. They showed up when Patrick was gone to the store on the dinghy, but he returned shortly into their visit. The escorted him in to the boat and then played around his dinghy while he sat in it. There was at least one baby who was about 2 to 3 feet long. So cute!

If getting in to the estuary had been tense, getting out was a real nail biter. There was a new moon that was making extreme tides and when we woke up the next morning, we had never seen the tide that low. The trip to Mazatlan was going to be about 10 hours and we were hoping to make it to anchor by dark so we wanted to get going as soon as possible. By 8:30 the tide had risen 1 foot and water was rushing in, so we decided to make a break for it. Our draft is 3.5 and at one point, the depth meter read 3.6. I was sounding like the announcer from Wimbledon, calmly reading out the numbers - 4.2, 3.9. 3.6 - right behind Patrick. It was driving him nuts because he could read the numbers for himself, but it was better than me screaming. However, in the end, and with a little pointing from the panga fishermen, we were headed in the right direction and out the channel.

Almost as soon as we were out of the estuary we were treated to quite a performance by a little baby humpback and his mommy. He was practicing his breaching and he was good at it. He was about 12 feet long, and a perfect miniature humpback whale. It is so funny to see a tiny version. He would hurl himself almost completely out of the water and then slam down next to him mom. She would come up and breathe and then he would do it again. He lept about 15 or twenty times while we watched. They came very close to the boat, maybe within 300 feet.

On our trip back to Mazatlan we picked up a hitchhiker. A boobie landed on our solar panel while we were underway. He was very funny to watch while he learned how to cope with the motion of the boat through the waves, but once he was comfortable, he started preening and eventually settled down for a nice nap. He stayed with us for about four hours before he flew off, refreshed. We made it to Mazatlan just after twilight and anchored next to Sunbaby at Stone Island, just outside the Mazatlan harbor. It was so calm and such beautiful weather we stayed the next day at Stone Island before heading in to Marina El Cid yesterday. It was great to be back. As we were moving in to the channel some of the dock workers were calling out greetings and welcoming us back. As we were moving through to the fuel dock, we spotted Mama Bird at dock.

Last night, we threw a Marina Palmira get together with Sunbaby and Mama Bird. It was really fun to get together five months later after our first meeting. We were all so fresh and shiny new when we met, and now we all had some stories to tell. Everyone is doing great, having fun and making plans to head into the Sea. Can't wait.

Laura

42 years old and loving life!

My mid-life crisis has turned into a mid life joyfest. Nothing fancy, nothing ostentatious, just happiness and contentment. I celebrated yesterday by cleaning the boat top to bottom - I love order and cleanliness. Did five loads of laundry. Then baked myself a cherry pie from scratch. Had Bill and Sue from Sunbaby over to enjoy the pie and help us celebrate. They brought a lovely bottle of wine for a present and I insisted on opening it up for birthday toastings. It went very well with the pie, surprisingly enough! After that we all went off to a great local store for some clothes shopping and on to a fantastic dinner in a restaurant. Every birthday wish I could have has been answered. Every cruiser I meet says the same thing - "I am soooo lucky!" I think we all feel that way.

This morning when we woke up, Sunbaby had already left the dock, headed to Isla Isabel. Tomorrow we leave, headed north. Our eventual destination is Mazatlan, but first we are going to do a little exploring. There is a village north of here that is not mentioned in the cruiser's guide books, but it looks like it should have a good harbor for us to anchor in. Since we only draw 3 1/2 feet, we have a few more options than many other boats. We will stop on our way tomorrow to check it out and maybe stay for a night or two. After that, we head to Mazatlan to provision before going north. Mazatlan is the last large city we will visit in quite a while, so we will be stocking up on all those canned goods and products that Americans are familiar with, but Mexicans don't really use. You can have a lot of trouble finding them in the smaller towns, if you can find them at all.

Talk to you again from Marina El Cid, Mazatlan,
Laura

Jungle Tour in San Blas

We extended our time at Chacala a little longer than intended. That is the great part about not having anywhere to be for the next three to four years. The weather was fantastic, the beach clean, the surf good and the water warm. We were anchored about three hundred yards from the beach and every day we swam to the beach. We spent hours swimming, learning how to kayak in the surf, and boogie boarding. Every night we fell exhausted into bed. On our fourth day, we heard our old friends Sunbaby announce on the SSB Amigo net that they were traveling to Chacala that day. We had been planning to pull anchor, but quickly decided to stay. We hadn't seen them since December in La Paz. Their future plans were much like ours, - next day, San Blas and in a week or so, Mazatlan.

The following day, we both pulled anchor and moved to the brand new marina at San Blas. Now a quick note to the other cruisers who read this blog, San Blas marina is NICE. The cleanest, most upscale marina I have ever been in, anywhere. Marble counters in the shower/bathrooms! And Raul is just great. And right now there are just four cruiser boats in it! Do not believe the hype that is circulating in the cruiser's group. The channel is a piece of cake, just hug the red markers. We went in at low tide and the lowest reading we had was about 9 feet. There are not swarms of bugs as many think. For an hour at sunset and an hour of early dawn, there are a few no-see-ums, so close your hatches then. Otherwise there are no bugs to speak of. The marina is within walking distance to the town plaza. San Blas is a wonderful small Mexican town. Wonderful shops, great local crafts for sale at amazing prices, wonderful historical buildings, and a beautiful town plaza. San Blas has a lot to offer.

Today, Sunbaby's Bill and Sue and the Just a Minute crew took a guided jungle cruise on a panga out into the mangrove forest. We had been told to start out early and it was great advice. We were the first ones up the channel in the early morning calm and it was breathtaking. Once again, I was having a Marlin Perkins moment. We saw hundreds of birds - blue herons, green herons, broadbilled herons, a flamingo, white egrets, a type of cormorant, a black hawk, an eagle, and lots of jungle birds that I have no idea what they were. The air was alive with calls. We also saw various size crocs sunning, turtles, lots of fish in the crystal clear water, beautiful blooming lilies at the water's edge and bromelia hanging in the branches, and hanging termite colonies under the canopy of trees that reached across the channel from side to side. It was a very wonderful experience.

Isla Isabel

Isla Isabel was everything we had been hoping to find in Mexico. It is a small island, 42 nautical miles (about 50 land miles) from the mainland of Mexico. There is a small fishing village with about 20 cabins located on one bay, but otherwise uninhabited. The lower part of the island is covered in dense 6 - 10 foot tall trees, and the high ground is just rocks and grasses. The trees are covered in nesting frigate birds. The high rocky ground is strewn with nesting blue footed boobies. The noise of the calling birds is constant. Thousands of birds are circling overhead. When I was a kid growing up in Iowa, I watched Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins religiously. I loved seeing all the amazing places they went. And there I was, right in the middle of a Wild Kingdom episode. Honestly, I can’t describe the scene well enough to do it justice. Just picture me, Patrick and Jack walking alongside Marlin and you’ve got the idea.

We anchored off the island in 22’ deep water. We were nestled in beside the Monas and the island, right on the edge of a large breaking surf. Some ocean swells came through the anchorage, but the wind was mostly cut by the island. We happened on great weather for our three days, so we were mostly comfortable parked out in the ocean. Humpback whales love the island too and we often saw them (sometimes up close, sometimes far away). Patrick and Jack heard them singing one day when they were snorkeling. Another day we got to see a couple whales hurling themselves out of the water. It is a joyful sight.

Isla Isabel is an old volcano and the topography is very interesting. On the beach we anchored near, you could see where the old lava flow had hit the water. There were caves and bridges and lumps made up of the lava flow. The old flow created an interesting beach above water and a lot of interesting places underwater where the fish could hide. At least once every day we snorkeled in the rocks surrounding the little bay we were in. We saw amazing tropical fish and corals. At first we were interested in catching a langosta (lobster) but soon we stopped even trying to hunt and spent the whole time just looking at the fish and discovering the little caves and rock walls that surrounded the bay.

After three fantastic days, we decided to head for the mainland. Our weather window had been great, but we didn’t want to risk getting stuck out there in bad weather. It would not be very pleasant and it’s a long way to shelter. Jack and I are still struggling with occasional sea sickness. Neither one of us wants to push our luck. The medicine takes care of it, but then you sleep the rest of the day. Our motor in to the mainland (no breeze for the sails) was eventful with more whale sightings - humpbacks and another type I wasn’t sure which kind. We caught a few more fish trolling along, but no keepers.

We are now anchored at Chacala, a small bay just north of Puerto Vallarta. There are six boats anchored here with us. The bay is lined with palapa restaurants and is a quiet vacation place for Mexicans and tourists. It is very nice. We will stay here for a few days and then head north to San Blas which has a very protected harbor. We hear on the SSB that there will be a gale starting around Sunday out north of Hawaii that will cause high winds along the Mexican coast.
Laura

We're leaving the Dock!

Just a quick FYI. We are headed to Isla Isabel and will be out of internet contact for several days. Esteban, the security manager here (and also avid fisherman) tells us that there is a huge school of sailfish and marlin nine miles out traveling north on the surface, and we are hoping to see them up close and personal! Only Jack is interested in catching - and releasing- a marlin, we are hoping for a tuna or dorado, but we will catch, filet and release one of those. So we'll write again later when we have internet service in San Blas.

Laura

Finally Fixed!

We just got back into internet access last night. We were out of access since Sunday afternoon. We were at Malvina's Boatyard - the newest spa destination. It's close to the city dump, the city sewage treatment center, and several fish processing ships. Yummm.. You can taste the air. Meanwhile, if the wind is in the right direction, the fine, oily dust (also with a healthy sampling of paint particulates, and who knows how many toxic metals from all the sandblasting) wafts over you in clouds. It was lovely. At one point two nights ago, Patrick and I both woke up because the stench was so bad. We ended up staying on the boat with Rudy since a hotel room would be just one more expense in this expensive town. It was bad, but I still think we made the right decision. It would have been a little easier if we hadn't run out of water!

It sounds horrible I know, but it was really kind of funny. It makes me laugh thinking about it. When we got back last night, Patrick immediately took Rudy to the beach (poor dog was on the boat the whole time - no way to get him off when it's 15 feet in the air.) I immediately got out a heavy duty cleaner, bucket, hose, and a truck brush and went to work getting most of the dust washed off the boat. The water ran brown down the sides. Yuck. Even so, our boat is still a little dingy looking. It might require a hands-and-knees type of scrubbing.

So that is the latest. Finally, four months after we broke down, we are whole again. I don't quite believe it. We are going to stay here at El Cid for probably another five days while we try to clean the boat (the inside got very dusty too), do our laundry, provision foods, and in all ways prep for the next leg of our journey. There is an island south of here called Isla Isabel which is supposed to be like the Mexican Galapagos and we are going to go check that out.

Laura