Category: 2008 April Blog

Dear F&F;,

2008 April 28

Isla Isabella – The Birds

It was a 10 minute dinghy ride with “wet landing” and steep, soft sand. It
was a strain for Scott to pull up the heavy dinghy out of the water above
the tidal zone. The many fishermen were occupied with their work and did not
pay much attention to us. We asked if where we left the dinghy was ok, not
in their way, and received a quick “si”. There was a trail map board and
some information about the various nesting birds, all in Spanish. One
dilapidated cement building, many iguanas and hundreds of soaring frigate
birds. We fumbled along and by 9:30 am I was already hot, dusty & regretting
that we did not get a much earlier start on this tour. But, since I am not
likely to ever go ashore again at Isla Isabella, I suck it up & trudge on.

We first come to the frigate bird nesting area. We are used to seeing them
soaring high with a striking resemblance to Batman. Up close the adults look
a bit more like vultures, but with longer necks. The males have a red sack
at the throat that they can puff up when trying to lure a female. It seems
that the luring is over because there are pretty big fledglings sitting in
nests on branches of 10 foot high trees. Can’t tell you what type of tree,
other than at this time of year there are no leaves, just dry sticks. The
baby frigates look like a goofy cartoon version of a bald eagle. They seem
so big to still not be able to fly. The downy fluff on their heads is in
various stages of molt as they mature. The trail goes right through & under
the trees with the nests and none of the birds seem especially bothered by
us.

Our chart indicated “stinky lagoon” and indeed we hike to a pea green
sulphur smelling pond; the remnant of the volcano that formed the island. No
birds seen right there, the water undrinkable due to its sulphur content. We
pass through a stand of banana trees which we were warned are home to the
brown recluse spider which can inflict a skin rotting bite. We steer clear.

After an hours walk to the far side of the island, we arrived at the shore
where our boat is anchored. Here we come upon the boobie birds. The
blue-footed boobies are easy to identify. We suspect the males are the
primary guards and distracters for the fledglings. And they do a valiant job
of it. Sometimes there was no easy route around a boobie that stood his
ground in the middle of the path. In the face of 6’4” tall Scott, these 1
foot short birds were extremely brave and vocal. We did our best to respect
their territory and give them space.

We also saw some boobies that have yellow feet. We meet 2 students from
Mexico’s National University, counting banding and taking other stats on
booby fledglings. The ones we describe as yellow-foot boobies have
distinctive darker head and white chest coloration that look somewhat like a
nun’s habit. They tell us there are azul (blue), rosa (red) and marron
(brown) footed boobies on this island. Lucia and Juan Carlos were friendly
and informative. See photograph of them holding a fledgling being banded.
They have been on this desolate island studying the birds for 4 months! Such
dedication. They confirm that there is no “loop” to the trail & we have to
retrace our steps to return to the dinghy. We are hot & dusty when we
finally make it back from our 3 hour hike. But we are happy that we took the
opportunity to see this unique place.

Having seen it, we must decide when to move on. We decide to move that
evening before sundown.

Reason A) Due to the many fish/lobster traps around the anchorage we want to
exit in daylight.

Reason B) There is usually less wind and swell at night (the prevailing
directions is opposite where we are trying to go, so it will be another
motor passage).

Reason C) We want to arrive at our destination of Mazatlan in daylight since
we have never been there and the harbor entrance looks a bit tricky per the
charts & cruising guides.

Reason D) It is easier to see boats at night than during the day (assuming
they display their navigation lights). Most boats making this passage would
be lit up. There is no reason for a small fishing panga to be out there.

Calculation: 93 mile trip, average speed 6.5 knots = 14 hour passage. So we
leave at 6:30 pm. Just after another sailboat dropped anchor beside us. They
teased, hoping they didn’t “chase us away from the anchorage”. We told them
of our plan to have an overnight passage to Mazatlan. They had just arrived
from Puerto Vallarta.

Passage Notes: It had been 2 ½ months since we’d done an all night trip. I
took the first watch. Scott rested, but didn’t sleep. Scott took the 10 pm –
2 am watch. I slept off & on. He had 1 power boat on a reciprocal course
within ¼ mile.

I took the 2:00 – 6:00 am watch. I had a large fishing boat overtake me on
port (left side) within 1/8th mile. The radar is worth its weight in gold
during these encounters. You can see the lights of the other boat so far
away & cannot accurately determine their distance. Having another vessel
come at you will keep you awake. The radar is very accurate for showing
their distance. I sighted the flashing white navigation light for Mazatlan
from 30 miles away. The stars were fabulous, but I was happy to have the ¼
moon keep me company too. It helps you see the horizon distinct from the
sky.

I also reward myself with treats to help me make it through the watch. After
the first hour: half a mango. After 2 hours a bowl of cereal with vanilla
yogurt. At the third hour I have full attention on this vessel overtaking
us. With a half hour to go, I brush my teeth, write my log entry and eagerly
await Scott getting up to take over at 6 am.

I tried to just stay awake until we entered the harbor but couldn’t keep
upright for that last 2 hrs, so flopped down after making breakfast. With
the sun in our face, the harbor entrance was not obvious until we were quite
close. We know better than to rely sole on our electronic charts because
they are up to 1 mile off. This is because modern GPS is so accurate and
most of the chart surveys were done long before the advent of GPS. Some of
the surveys are catching up, but too slowly as far as we’re concerned.
Indeed, once again the chart plotter, (like a fancy version of a cars
navigation system), showed our boat “going over land” as we entered the
marina. We tied up on the end of A dock as we were instructed by email when
we made our reservation. We ended up moving down a few slips so that our
power cord could reach a power outlet.

No manana time today: Within 3 hours we have:

A) Checked in with the harbor master

B) Turned in & received back clean; 1 load of laundry (our sheets &
towels were getting groady)

C) Turned the air conditioner on, closed all the hatches & had 2 guys
wash (all the bird droppings off) the boat & Oxyclean the teak.

We are still woozy from our “all nighter” but pleased to be here & think it
was a good decision

Tomorrow morning, Bob of Total Yachts will meet with Scott regarding our
transmission oil leak problem & potential solution. Thursday morning Norma
will come & help Cindy clean the interior.

Due to our state of fatigue, we may or may not venture off the boat today. In
Mexico, there is always manana……Bienvenidos Mazatlan!

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F;,

2008 April 27

Isla Isabella – Enroute Challenges & Snorkeling

I suppose our early morning on Saturday, to go on the Jungle Cruise,
contributed to our being wide awake at 530 am on Sunday. We knew it would be
about a 6 ½ hour motor from Matenchen Bay (San Blas) to Isla Isabella. So
there was no particular need to get this early of a start. But on the other
hand, we were already up, so why not get going? We had our incoming \”track\”
to follow out that we knew was safe passage on our chart plotter (LCD screen
with charts of everywhere we go). So we didn\’t necessarily need to wait for
sunrise. So we weighed anchor (pulled it up) and off we went.

I was down in our cabin making the bed when I felt Scott make a sharp right
turn and the engines forcefully thrown in reverse. I scurried out to the
cockpit to see what brought us to an abrupt halt. In the pre-dawn light,
Scott had sighted a long fishing net out of a panga just at the last minute.
Running over a fishing net would really ruin our whole day. Not to mention
do serious damage to the boat. We are in their territory & the fishermen
are often very casual with their work and often do not light their boats or
floats. If it had not been for Scott\’s keen lookout and quick reaction it
would have been a mess for us and the fisherman. This is one of the many
reasons we maintain a 24 hour watch at all times.

With that hazard behind us, the sun up and breakfast eaten, it was time to
hang up the wet laundry. Our European combomatic washer/dryer washes great.
Drying not so great. But we have lines strung up in the cockpit & create our
own wind when motoring, so it dries quickly.

The second problem of the day happened when I was on watch and Scott was on
the radio trying to check into the Amigo Net.

(Explanation: This is one of Mexico\’s many networks for boating
communication. The nets you will hear me talk about have names like: Amigo,
Sonrisa, Picante, Chubasco, Southbound, etc. The net controller, person in
charge – running the net, asks for check-ins. A legendary character named
Don Anderson transmits weather reports from Oxnard, California. He devotes
many hours per day and provides regional weather reports for Mexico, by
area, and will take individual questions. Boaters report the weather where
they are so that other boaters can get the on-site report. Boats can relay
messages to each other. If someone needs assistance they can ask for it.
When we are at a dock we don\’t always check in, but when we are \”at sea\” we
always try to. Sometimes they can\’t hear us, or we can\’t hear them, but that
is another topic…)

Anyway…suddenly Scott could not transmit. He pushed the mike button to talk
& nadda, zip, nothin.

Poor guy sinks into the pit of despair. It is very discouraging that boating
equipment is so prone to failure. We have had problems with our ham/single
side band (combo unit) radio before and it was one of the many items that we
thought we had worked the bugs out of. But alas, here it goes poof again. We
can still hear the net, but they cannot hear us. And we also can no longer
connect to Winlink our \”at sea\” email communication. Cannot send. Cannot
receive.

But, do not fear. Being that Scott was a Boy Scout, we have a back up plan.
We are able (for $1.10/minute) to use our Iridium satellite phone to send &
receive emails. And that is what we will have to use until we A) Get to a
dock where we have an internet connection & can use our gmail accounts. B)
Troubleshoot the radio / tuner failure which Scott at this point believes
involves being shipped back to the manufacturer in Washington state. The
joys of boating continue.

On a happy note, we are motoring into 2-3 foot swell and I am not seasick
and I do not have a scopalomine patch on. However the no-see-ums saw me just
fine at our last anchorage & I am covered chest, back & arms with red
bites. Thankfully Benadryl staves off the itching.

When we arrive at Isla Isabella we anchor in the recommended area per the
cruising guides near 2 rocks called Islotes Las Monas (little mannequins).
The island is a convenient stop on the passage from San Blas to Mazatlan and
is a bird sanctuary. No one lives here except for seasonal fishermen who
camp in primitive shacks onshore. And students counting, banding and
studying the various nesting birds and fledglings.

Thirty-some years ago, Jacques Cousteau and National Geographic filmed the
\”pristine underwater habitat\”. We know better than to get our hopes up too
high because we can see that the water clarity is still poor. But it is not
as bad as most places, so we jump in with snorkeling gear and our shark
shields.

ASIDE: Shark shields are a device we strap around our ankle that delivers an
electrical impulse that repels sharks. For really neat video demo see:
http://www.sharkshield.com There are tiger & bull sharks in Mexico. We think it
would be really lame to get bit by a shark so wear these gizmos every time
we get in the water. I had a hard time bonding with it because it shocked me
like a TENS unit when the antenna hit my leg. But Scott emailed the
manufacturers in Australia & they suggested a keeper loop to my fin to help
the 7 foot x ¾ inch antenna to trail better. Works like a charm.

There were tropical fish and hard coral. It was exciting to see the
potential. However, it was (yet again) disappointing to only have about 6
feet of visibility. The water temperature was a comfy 79 degrees.

The only boat at the anchorage, we took it easy the rest of the day,
deciding to go ashore the next morning. The pangas put out traps all around
us, but since we weren\’t trying to leave it was not problem. They picked
them up in the morning. We suspect they were to catch lobster, but not sure.

Read the next post to read about the islands BIRDS.
Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F;,

26 April 2008
San Blas & Matenchen Bay, Mexico – 2 days, 2 nights

The 23 mile run to our destination of Matenchen Bay was fairly uneventful. No dolphins, no whales. Just cruised up the coast to the tunes on Sirius radio.

Matenchen Bay is a very large bay – about 1 mile across & mile deep, providing nearly 5 miles of beach. There were no other boats when we arrived. After making sure the anchor was holding, we took the 10 minute dinghy ride to shore. It is a \”wet landing\” onto a sandy beach. Scott gets his exercise pulling the 250 lb dinghy up out of the surf zone. There are many palapa restaurants (thatched roofs on top of corner support poles).

Friends Emmy & Erik from sailboat Nataraja had told us not to miss the jungle cruise here. We have done this in Magdelena Bay & Tenacatita Bay in our own dinghy. Here, you must go by hired panga because there is no easy access to the river from the bay.

We met Antonio who helped Scott pull the dinghy right up to his palapa restaurant & assured us its security while we walked to the office to reserve the jungle cruise for today. We ask him how far it is to the office. \”About 1 kilometer\”. We proceed on a \”death march\”. This is the term author Suzanne Knecht uses in her book \”Night Watch\” to describe walks in foreign lands that are hot, dusty, seemingly endless & with unknown endpoint. After 15 minutes, we ask another person along the way how far
it is to the jungle cruise office. It is one of the main tourist attractions so they all know what we are talking about. Again we are told, \”One kilometer\”. Discouraged that we do not seem to be making headway, we trudge on. Feeling stupido because Antonio had offered us a ride in his truck. Note to self: when a local offers you a ride – take it.

We finally reach the brightly painted office & make a reservation for the first tour of the day: 7 a.m. Emmy & Erik said it was important to go first in order to see the most birds & animals out in the cool of the morning. The price of the trip was for the boat, no matter how many people. No problem, it was reasonable, including a tour of a crocodile reservation, and an opportunity to swim in the river. We hoped that these were completely separate events

We took a taxi from that office into town about 6 kilometers. As we get in we ask the driver, \”How much is the cost to take us into town?\” He answered, \”10 pesos\”. This is about $1 US dollar. Such a deal. When he stops to let us out & Scott hands him 15 pesos, to include a tip, he says \”10 pesos per person\”. If it sounds like too good of a deal it probably is. No problem, well worth not having had to continue the death march.

We walk by the Navy base & can’t help but wonder what sort of enemy would dare sneak up on the helmeted young men in fatigues with automatic weapons hiding behind a pile of sandbags. I know that our military bases have the same exact posturing. But in this sleepy surfing town with palm trees and warm breezes it seemed especially out of place.

Downtown is under reconstruction. As usual, the cathedral is in the center of town with an adjacent \”zocolo\” (plaza square, place to meet & hang out). I am captivated by the smoky fragrance of a grilled chicken stand. This inspires a search for the tortilleria – 30 steaming hot tortillas for 80 cents. Voila! Dinner to go. We stop at a pharmacia to buy bug repellent. Besides the jungle tour & surfing, San Blas is famous for its \”jejenes\”, known elsewhere as no-see-ums. They are biting flies that
leave an itchy red bump. We walk by several \”flea bag\” motels. The main land visitors are young surfers on a budget, so nothing fancy has been built here.

The taxi driver that drove us back to our dinghy agreed to meet us in the same place at 630 a.m. We sat & had a limonade con agua minerale at Antonio’s restaurant.

Back on Beach House, we immensely enjoyed our dinner of chicken & tortillas. A jet skier zoomed around our boat twice before sunset. He was probably just admiring our pretty boat, but we read in the cruising guides that there is a history of theft problems here. We have locks for all our hatches. It is a bit of an ordeal to put on the 12 stainless locks (some with bars), & secure them with 12 separate padlocks. This secures both engine rooms, the sail locker, 2 compartments of dive gear, the scuba
compressor, safety gear, and the large starboard forward compartment that stows lots & lots of other stuff that we would be upset if stolen. In addition, we lock our 5 large hatches from the inside of the boat and our sliding door with a key. As someone once said \”We don’t want to give an honest man the opportunity to go astray.\”

We have an early to bed night. We spray the mostly citronella smelling bug repellent on us because it was impossible to keep out all the flying critters going in & out of the salon during the evening. A beautiful 130 foot power boat, m/v Antares joined us overnight at the anchorage.

The alarm rings at 5:15 a.m. After coffee, cereal & double checking all the locks, we get in the dinghy & ride to shore. The dawn just begins so we can remove our head lamps as we jump in the shallow water & pull the dinghy to safety. We switch from \”wet landing\” attire (shorts, water shoes) to long pants, socks & shoes. More bug spray.
A taxi pulls up right on time at 6:30 a.m. It is not the same driver as yesterday so we are reluctant to get in & wonder if we should wait for our guy. In our fumbling Spanish we determine that Gustavo had sent Vicente for us. We are always so happy & somewhat surprised when things work out just right.

Only 2 wandering dogs greeted us at the Jungle Cruise Tour office. But we were nearly 20 minutes early for the 7 a.m. tour. A man across the street wandered over & told us \”a la siete\”. Esta bien. We knew we were early & didn’t mind waiting. Exactly at 7, the man walked back across the street, another man arrived by car & a teenager arrived on motorcycle. We were in the panga with the teenager & on our way by 7:10 a.m. I was cold so wrapped myself in a towel, but kept telling myself to just soak
in that cold feeling, knowing I would appreciate it later in the day.

This was definitely the king of the jungle cruises. Our driver knew exactly where to stop & point out birds, turtles and crocodiles. It was about 45 minutes of beautiful mangroves. More wide & open than the covered canopy at Tenacatita. The flora changed from mangroves to what I can only describe as bulrushes. And in another area dense thickets of ferns. Very tranquil & lovely. Even the easily missed eyes of the crocodiles lurking just below the surface gave a deceptive sense of calm. When we approached
they scurried back to hide with surprising speed & agility.

Our driver stayed in the panga & had us get out for our own tour of the crocodile farm. There were 10 pairs, each in a separate pen. Scott got some great photos through the chain link fence. They would hold absolutely still, some with their mouth wide open, a tourist thrilling pose. Without any warning some lunged at the fence, reminding us how dangerous these prehistoric creatures are. The workers told us they feed the crocodiles live chickens or fish on Thursday. Only once a week. We were glad
it was only Saturday. They must really be cranky & vicious by Wednesday. Even the enclosure full of juveniles conjured images of being gnawed on at the ankles

There were a few other pens: parrots, an owl, some type of wild boar, coatamundis and deer. We spent about half an hour at this reserve & noticed as we exited a 10 foot free-ranging croc across the river. We eagerly stepped into the safety of the panga. We declined the opportunity to swim in a fenced off portion of the river. Somehow the murky green water & thought of crocs on the other side of the fence reduced the appeal of a morning swim in the river.
Even more animals were visible on the return trip. River Turtles on the rocks, birds on branches, crocs on logs – all sunning themselves.

As it was only 9:30 a.m. the walk back to the dinghy was not a death march. Although when Antonio stopped in his truck we did not decline & hopped in the back. We were entertained on the short ride by 2 adorable teething puppies.

We picked a beach side table at Antonio’s restaurant & ordered huevos rancheros. Yum! We learned from him about the area, and as Scott suspected, learned it is a surfers paradise in the summer. There is a very shallow bay with uniformly nice sandy bottom that contributes to some amazing waves. According to Antonio (who is a surfer), waves are from 3-12 feet and ride able for over a 1000 yards. Where waves are breaking is not a good place to anchor your boat. But surf season is also hurricane season
so there would not be many boats coming through then. Scott is itching to ride some waves, but we are happy to have the flat water at the anchorage now.

My sensation of feeling cold had switched to hot by noon, so I jumped off the back of the boat to cool off. Scott hangs the shark shield off the dive ladder & I stay near its protection as I exercise wearing my aqua jogger. It is not pleasant to swim because you can’t see a darn thing in the pea soup ocean, but I still enjoy being in the 80 degree water. It will be very depressing if the Sea of Cortez has this poor of visibility. But hope springs eternal for decent, if not great, diving opportunities
there this summer.

With our early arisal, it was easy to join in the siesta tradition. I’ve been since then writing this description. It is nearly time for happy hour. The \”jejenes\” are happy to see me sitting outside, so I will soon move in & zip up the screen door. Scott is listening to one of the ham radio nets, with headphones, thank you.

Tomorrow we will get an early start to our next stop – Isla Isabella, a Mexican bird and underwater sanctuary visited by Jacques Cousteau over 30 years ago.

Dear F&F;,

26 April 2008
San Blas & Matenchen Bay, Mexico – 2 days, 2 nights

The 23 mile run to our destination of Matenchen Bay was fairly uneventful. No dolphins, no whales. Just cruised up the coast to the tunes on Sirius radio.

Matenchen Bay is a very large bay – about 1 mile across & mile deep, providing nearly 5 miles of beach. There were no other boats when we arrived. After making sure the anchor was holding, we took the 10 minute dinghy ride to shore. It is a \”wet landing\” onto a sandy beach. Scott gets his exercise pulling the 250 lb dinghy up out of the surf zone. There are many palapa restaurants (thatched roofs on top of corner support poles).

Friends Emmy & Erik from sailboat Nataraja had told us not to miss the jungle cruise here. We have done this in Magdelena Bay & Tenacatita Bay in our own dinghy. Here, you must go by hired panga because there is no easy access to the river from the bay.

We met Antonio who helped Scott pull the dinghy right up to his palapa restaurant & assured us its security while we walked to the office to reserve the jungle cruise for today. We ask him how far it is to the office. \”About 1 kilometer\”. We proceed on a \”death march\”. This is the term author Suzanne Knecht uses in her book \”Night Watch\” to describe walks in foreign lands that are hot, dusty, seemingly endless & with unknown endpoint. After 15 minutes, we ask another person along the way how far
it is to the jungle cruise office. It is one of the main tourist attractions so they all know what we are talking about. Again we are told, \”One kilometer\”. Discouraged that we do not seem to be making headway, we trudge on. Feeling stupido because Antonio had offered us a ride in his truck. Note to self: when a local offers you a ride – take it.

We finally reach the brightly painted office & make a reservation for the first tour of the day: 7 a.m. Emmy & Erik said it was important to go first in order to see the most birds & animals out in the cool of the morning. The price of the trip was for the boat, no matter how many people. No problem, it was reasonable, including a tour of a crocodile reservation, and an opportunity to swim in the river. We hoped that these were completely separate events

We took a taxi from that office into town about 6 kilometers. As we get in we ask the driver, \”How much is the cost to take us into town?\” He answered, \”10 pesos\”. This is about $1 US dollar. Such a deal. When he stops to let us out & Scott hands him 15 pesos, to include a tip, he says \”10 pesos per person\”. If it sounds like too good of a deal it probably is. No problem, well worth not having had to continue the death march.

We walk by the Navy base & can’t help but wonder what sort of enemy would dare sneak up on the helmeted young men in fatigues with automatic weapons hiding behind a pile of sandbags. I know that our military bases have the same exact posturing. But in this sleepy surfing town with palm trees and warm breezes it seemed especially out of place.

Downtown is under reconstruction. As usual, the cathedral is in the center of town with an adjacent \”zocolo\” (plaza square, place to meet & hang out). I am captivated by the smoky fragrance of a grilled chicken stand. This inspires a search for the tortilleria – 30 steaming hot tortillas for 80 cents. Voila! Dinner to go. We stop at a pharmacia to buy bug repellent. Besides the jungle tour & surfing, San Blas is famous for its \”jejenes\”, known elsewhere as no-see-ums. They are biting flies that
leave an itchy red bump. We walk by several \”flea bag\” motels. The main land visitors are young surfers on a budget, so nothing fancy has been built here.

The taxi driver that drove us back to our dinghy agreed to meet us in the same place at 630 a.m. We sat & had a limonade con agua minerale at Antonio’s restaurant.

Back on Beach House, we immensely enjoyed our dinner of chicken & tortillas. A jet skier zoomed around our boat twice before sunset. He was probably just admiring our pretty boat, but we read in the cruising guides that there is a history of theft problems here. We have locks for all our hatches. It is a bit of an ordeal to put on the 12 stainless locks (some with bars), & secure them with 12 separate padlocks. This secures both engine rooms, the sail locker, 2 compartments of dive gear, the scuba
compressor, safety gear, and the large starboard forward compartment that stows lots & lots of other stuff that we would be upset if stolen. In addition, we lock our 5 large hatches from the inside of the boat and our sliding door with a key. As someone once said \”We don’t want to give an honest man the opportunity to go astray.\”

We have an early to bed night. We spray the mostly citronella smelling bug repellent on us because it was impossible to keep out all the flying critters going in & out of the salon during the evening. A beautiful 130 foot power boat, m/v Antares joined us overnight at the anchorage.

The alarm rings at 5:15 a.m. After coffee, cereal & double checking all the locks, we get in the dinghy & ride to shore. The dawn just begins so we can remove our head lamps as we jump in the shallow water & pull the dinghy to safety. We switch from \”wet landing\” attire (shorts, water shoes) to long pants, socks & shoes. More bug spray.
A taxi pulls up right on time at 6:30 a.m. It is not the same driver as yesterday so we are reluctant to get in & wonder if we should wait for our guy. In our fumbling Spanish we determine that Gustavo had sent Vicente for us. We are always so happy & somewhat surprised when things work out just right.

Only 2 wandering dogs greeted us at the Jungle Cruise Tour office. But we were nearly 20 minutes early for the 7 a.m. tour. A man across the street wandered over & told us \”a la siete\”. Esta bien. We knew we were early & didn’t mind waiting. Exactly at 7, the man walked back across the street, another man arrived by car & a teenager arrived on motorcycle. We were in the panga with the teenager & on our way by 7:10 a.m. I was cold so wrapped myself in a towel, but kept telling myself to just soak
in that cold feeling, knowing I would appreciate it later in the day.

This was definitely the king of the jungle cruises. Our driver knew exactly where to stop & point out birds, turtles and crocodiles. It was about 45 minutes of beautiful mangroves. More wide & open than the covered canopy at Tenacatita. The flora changed from mangroves to what I can only describe as bulrushes. And in another area dense thickets of ferns. Very tranquil & lovely. Even the easily missed eyes of the crocodiles lurking just below the surface gave a deceptive sense of calm. When we approached
they scurried back to hide with surprising speed & agility.

Our driver stayed in the panga & had us get out for our own tour of the crocodile farm. There were 10 pairs, each in a separate pen. Scott got some great photos through the chain link fence. They would hold absolutely still, some with their mouth wide open, a tourist thrilling pose. Without any warning some lunged at the fence, reminding us how dangerous these prehistoric creatures are. The workers told us they feed the crocodiles live chickens or fish on Thursday. Only once a week. We were glad
it was only Saturday. They must really be cranky & vicious by Wednesday. Even the enclosure full of juveniles conjured images of being gnawed on at the ankles

There were a few other pens: parrots, an owl, some type of wild boar, coatamundis and deer. We spent about half an hour at this reserve & noticed as we exited a 10 foot free-ranging croc across the river. We eagerly stepped into the safety of the panga. We declined the opportunity to swim in a fenced off portion of the river. Somehow the murky green water & thought of crocs on the other side of the fence reduced the appeal of a morning swim in the river.
Even more animals were visible on the return trip. River Turtles on the rocks, birds on branches, crocs on logs – all sunning themselves.

As it was only 9:30 a.m. the walk back to the dinghy was not a death march. Although when Antonio stopped in his truck we did not decline & hopped in the back. We were entertained on the short ride by 2 adorable teething puppies.

We picked a beach side table at Antonio’s restaurant & ordered huevos rancheros. Yum! We learned from him about the area, and as Scott suspected, learned it is a surfers paradise in the summer. There is a very shallow bay with uniformly nice sandy bottom that contributes to some amazing waves. According to Antonio (who is a surfer), waves are from 3-12 feet and ride able for over a 1000 yards. Where waves are breaking is not a good place to anchor your boat. But surf season is also hurricane season
so there would not be many boats coming through then. Scott is itching to ride some waves, but we are happy to have the flat water at the anchorage now.

My sensation of feeling cold had switched to hot by noon, so I jumped off the back of the boat to cool off. Scott hangs the shark shield off the dive ladder & I stay near its protection as I exercise wearing my aqua jogger. It is not pleasant to swim because you can’t see a darn thing in the pea soup ocean, but I still enjoy being in the 80 degree water. It will be very depressing if the Sea of Cortez has this poor of visibility. But hope springs eternal for decent, if not great, diving opportunities
there this summer.

With our early arisal, it was easy to join in the siesta tradition. I’ve been since then writing this description. It is nearly time for happy hour. The \”jejenes\” are happy to see me sitting outside, so I will soon move in & zip up the screen door. Scott is listening to one of the ham radio nets, with headphones, thank you.

Tomorrow we will get an early start to our next stop – Isla Isabella, a Mexican bird and underwater sanctuary visited by Jacques Cousteau over 30 years ago.

Dear F&F,
(This post is a little out of order and we will catch up on the previous ones soon).
A Whole Different Day

I slept pretty well, most of the night with just a sheet. Pulled on the blanket only in the early morning. We were up before dawn wanting to make some distance before potential afternoon wind in the wrong direction kicked up. The sunrise was beautiful. Large dolphins appeared on cue.

As we motored up the coast we came upon a bunch of fishing boats. They were very active, zooming around with their lines out. Tons of birds flew & dove in the area. We could see lots of splashing to indicate fish activity, but no idea what type. Tuna maybe. There was another group of power boats further north, also actively fishing. Maybe there is a tournament or something going on.

The coastline is more green than we\’d seen down south. With binoculars we could see not just palm trees but other leafy trees that looked to have more delicate bright green leaves. Very pretty. Interesting scenery all the way. We were motoring because the wind was 8 knots on the nose. Kept us comfortable under the bimini shade, even as the temperature climbed to 85 degrees.

It was a banner day for sea life. We had dolphin sightings a few times. Lots of small brown mobula rays. And we almost ran over a really really big manta ray. It must have had a 12-15 ft wing span. We thought he would dive deeper as we approached, but he stayed at the surface, so we threw the engines into reverse not to run it over, then neutral just in case we made contact. It seems he did dive deep at the last minute because we didn\’t see him again.

We pulled into a bay with 2 small islands where we could have anchored for the night. The larger island with better protection had a guano smell on the downwind (aka leeward or lee) side where there is protection from the sea. And there were about 50 people swimming & enjoying the beach on this island. Festive, but we were not in the mood to be with a big crowd, so decided to continue on towards Chacala.

As we neared Chacala (about 45 miles north of last night\’s anchorage at Punta de Mita) we saw tell-tail (spelling error intentional) splashing & spouting. We headed off course towards what was sure to be whales. We were rewarded for our curiousity with the best mama & baby whale show ever. This baby was determined to let Scott get some great photos. He jumped. He twirled. He splashed. He spy-hopped. Over & over & over again. Mama would come in between baby & our boat sometimes & we thought she might steer him away from us, but she seemed to tolerate, if not necessarily approve of his performance. We were amazed & enthralled. I steered the boat at a speed to keep pace & kept a safe distance (for us, as well as not wanting to encroach on their movement). We were thrilled & Scott shot 160 photos: 40% are keepers. 10% are stunning. We stayed with them for almost 45 mins. Spectacular!

When we bid farewell to our gentle friends and noticed we were a few miles past our intended anchorage. We turned back & took a tour of the bay at Chacala. It was certainly calm & safe. Some interesting homes on the shore and a panga dock where you might have a \”dry landing\” with the dinghy.

But we decided to check out a \”secret spot\” just south, recommended by the Harbor Master at Paradise Village Marina. It is a hidden cove with just enough room for Beach House to anchor bow (front) & stern (back). I was in the water within minutes of having secured the anchors. Scott joined me with his shark shield & we proceeded to wipe down both hulls of their slime coat. The water temperature was a lovely 80 degrees. No wet suit needed. We have 200 feet of waterline to wipe down: inside & outside of both hulls. It\’s a good workout. The visibility is still only about 5 ft. But at least the murky color is green instead of rusty brown (as it had been down at Las Hadas).

Dinner, beer, photo show & sunset. Life is good.

KIT,
Scott & Cindy