Category: 2008 – 2009 Mazatlan – Revilligegedos Islands – Central Mexico – Central America – Costa Rica to Galapagos Islands Blog

Dear F&F,
December 19, 2008

Today is Friday. We arrived at San Benedicto Island 2 days ago. On our 2nd dive today all our dreams came true.

Jeronimo Jara drives the panga for the \”live aboard\” dive boat, \”Solmar V\”. He came over this morning to introduce himself & offer information about the dive sites here. He helped us to identify land references to locate a site called \”The Canyon\” and the underwater pinnacles that we could anchor our dinghy on. We had already been invited by \”Nautilus Explorer\’s\” dive master, Sten to join their group at 7:45 am; they too were very helpful with local knowledge and had taken us to a site yesterday called \”The Boiler\”. We had some concerns about how the commercial dive operators would feel about us, but have found both boats to be very kind & willing to share information freely.

We were thrilled to see our first hammerhead sharks on the early dive. They swam fairly deep along a ridge. Not close enough for Scott to get any good video footage. But we saw 5 or 6 and were really jazzed. Still waiting for a manta ray!

After a snack, filling tanks & checking email we went out for our 2nd dive of the day. Jeronimo guided us to anchor in a good place along the ridge. We swam out watching for hammerheads swimming in the canyon as we had in the morning. We saw a few in the distance. It was overcast & they blend in with the blue/grey water in the distance. You really have to keep a sharp lookout. We had been down to 80 feet deep for about 20 minutes and decided it was time to start swimming back to our anchor. That\’s when I saw it: our very first manta ray. Scott quickly focused his video camera as the animal swam toward us. I was so thrilled just to be seeing one, I held very still as not to scare it away. It swam right to me, looking at me. We had learned that they do not let everyone approach them. They must choose you; like what they see in your eyes. I smiled. My eyes wide open.

Then everything we learned from Terry Kennedy this past summer came to me: Approach from below, pet the belly. (Feels like sandpaper!) Slowly swim on top up from behind. Cup your hands gently & hold on for the ride of your life. I did it! It let me! It seemed to like it! I felt like I was in one of Terry\’s videos. Actually I was in Scott\’s video! He caught the entire encounter on tape beautifully.

The manta could have spun out from under me, swam deep or gotten rid of me in any number of ways. But it actually seemed quite happy to let me hang on. Like another remora. (Remora fish attach themselves to mantas & sharks. Getting a free ride & food remnants. This one had 2 which is classic.) I was mesmerized. I didn\’t know or care where it flew me. I was riding a manta ray! And before I knew it, we were right by our dinghy\’s anchor again. Terry had told us that they are very smart & will not take a diver too deep and will return you to where you got on. All true. It would have carried me longer & further, but alas, I was running low on air & thought it wise to dismount after my 5 minute ride. I patted it with gratitude and blew kisses as it swam away. And then it turned back as if wondering why I got off.  It swam near us as we raised our anchor & swam to our dinghy.

Amazing. Wondrous. Words cannot do it justice. This is the moment that we have dreamt about. We are still pinching ourselves & in awe that we had this experience. Scott\’s 10 minute video needs little editing. I am sorry you will have to wait until we get internet access to view it. But it is spectacular.

WE WILL POST THIS VIDEO AS SOON AS WE GET BACK TO THE MAINLAND OF MEXICO IN FEBRAURY.

And we have only just begun� Was this a one time event? Will this manta be our new best friend? Will we see more? We are so happy for this day. This one experience makes our whole year in Mexico worthwhile. And if we had not met Terry in the Sea of Cortez this summer, we would not have decided to come here. It was his stories & his videos that inspired us to venture to these off the beaten path islands. We have him to thank for teaching us about \”adventure diving\”. We got all the right gear & took to heart everything he taught us. Thank you Terry for this gift, for sharing your knowledge and your mantas with us.

We understand & respect that the commercial dive operators discourage their divers from approaching the animals. They hare 20 people & it would be overwhelming. We are 2. \”Our manta\” approached us. This is why we got our own boat to do our own program. The commercial boats go to 3 islands in a week. We will stay right here 2 weeks or more and then visit Soccoro which is known for spectacular sharks and manta encounters as well. Stay tuned for more exciting tales from s/v \”Beach House\” in the coming month.

Scott & Cindy
(aka Manta Rider)

Dear F&F,
December 18, 2008

It is difficult without exact GPS waypoints to know where a good dive spot is versus a nothing spot. The commercial dive boat, \”Nautilus Explorer\” had showed up in the evening & we dinghied over to say hi & get some local knowledge. Owner of Reefseekers Dive Company (Ken Kurtis), in Los Angeles, had taken a group with this boat last April. We introduced ourselves knew some crews names & could relay his greetings. Everyone working on Nautilus Explorer was very friendly & invited us to follow them to their next dive site. So we did. It was a rough 30 minute ride (due to 3-4 foot swells) in our dinghy to a site called \”The Boiler\”. It was worth it to tag along with this boat that knows the area so well. We tied our dinghy off to their big boat & dove in.

The water temp was 80 & very clear. There is an underwater pinnacle & very interesting terrain of stacked rocks that is home to many fish. We saw our first Mexican sharks! Three white tipped reef sharks. We did not try to scare them away with our shark shields (worn, but turned off) as these are not a dangerous type. Two were resting side by side on the bottom & 1 swimming slowly along the rock. It was so great to be in the water again. The charter boat has about 20 divers onboard. They gave us bread & fruit in the morning & cookies in the afternoon. Very kind & much appreciated. A good first outing.

There are 2 commercial boats that bring new batches of divers to 3 islands of the Revillagegidos every 8 days. They spend 2 days here at San Benedicto, 2 days at Socorro (where we\’ll head in a few weeks) and 2 days at Roca Partida which we will not go to with our boat. It does not have an area we would feel safe to anchor our boat while diving. Although we understand it has a great variety of sharks, whales, and mantas, so a favorite with the commercial boat customers.

This is the first day I\’ve felt like I could read & write & even now it is a bit challenging because the boat is moving a lot. I didn\’t sleep too well again. I have to get used to the motion at anchor again.

Scott will take the video underwater tomorrow. We will go with the other boat to a site just a 5 minute dinghy ride from where \”Beach House\” is anchored called, \”The Canyon\”. They said they saw 2 manta rays there this morning. We are very excited to see the mantas. You have no way of knowing from the surface of the water what is underneath. Last night we turned on our stern (back of boat) underwater lights to see what fish would be attracted – quite a few mid size fish, but no sharks or mantas.

I made banana muffins because all my bananas got ripe at once. I think I could have left the onions & potatoes out of the fridge & should have put in the mangos & tomatoes; still learning. There is another private sailboat planning to come here, but they will not arrive for a week.

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,
December 15-17, 2008

The distance to our destination was such that no matter how we calculated our possible speed & distance we would be underway 2 days & 2 nights in order to time a daylight arrival. Going to an island unknown to us, it is only prudent seamanship. Before exiting the marina, we took the time to calibrate our autopilot & main navigation system compasses to be more synchronized & accurate.
There was only 5 knots of wind but we knew as soon as we were abeam of Cabo Falso off Cabo San Lucas, we would get more breeze & pick up speed. It tried our patience some to slog along so slowly under sail. We have been used to motoring a lot in Mexico since there is frequently not enough wind to sail. Or it is strong & coming from the wrong direction. Anyway, we were motivated to conserve our fuel so we sailed at an embarrassingly slow 3-4 knots for about 3 hours. Then we decided to just get going & motored on 1 engine for 2 hours. Then a beautiful breeze came up off our starboard beam and we really got going.

We did 4 hour watches timed to have Scott awake during the radio nets. The first night he talked to two ships on VHF radio that we saw crossing RIGHT in front of us. We really like the AIS (automatic identification system) that shows us these ships on our navigation screen long before they can be viewed by eye.

Despite my scopolamine patch I, became motion sick if I tried to read or write. Sea legs: no problem. Sea head & stomach: not so good. So I just enjoyed the sky, ocean & Sirius radio. I drank hot tea, cocoa & thought of fun snacks I could eat to reward myself for the passing of an hour. Scott has only rare seasickness in very boisterous seas. So he occupied himself with reading & writing emails, both personal & for requested weather reports.

The 2nd night we deliberately slowed down, sailing with the main up only, to insure a daylight arrival.
Overall we had fine conditions and a very comfortable trip. The only incident was a loud thumping noise on the starboard side as if something was hitting the boat. We weren\’t sure if we had hit something or if our newly rebuilt starboard transmission was having some sort of problem. We did several \”back downs\” to see if we could shake whatever we might have caught on our sail drive or dagger board. Eventually all seemed well. We ran the motor for an hour just to make sure.

Our second day and night were very slow, but by design we covered the last 1/3rd of the trip (total 249 miles. We could see Isla San Benedicto in the dark 20 miles away. It was Land Ho! Isla San Benedicto is a dormant volcano which last erupted in 1952. The most recent eruption created about an additional 20% of the islands land mass and looks just like the Hawaiian lava fields. This island chain is on the \”Rim of Fire\” which goes around the entire Pacific Ocean. The island looks like the moon – volcanic, no vegetation. There are quite a few booby birds which look cartoonish. The weather is ideal: mid 80s day & mid 70s night. The water is 80 degrees!

After a 2 hour nap we did an under the boat dive to check what our anchor was set in and see what we could see. It was just sand, 45 feet deep, we didn\’t see much, a few boring fish. We took it easy, just settling in. My brain & body decided I should still keep watch, so I was awake most of midnight to 3 am. Scott snored away peacefully. It takes me a while to get over these passages. We are eager to discover all the wonders that are in store for us here. Late that night, the commercial live aboard dive boat, \”Nautilus Explorer\” arrived outside the anchorage. We had spoken with them on the radio two days before and they told us they would be back here soon. We were anxious to find the manta rays and hammerhead sharks!

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,
December 12-13, 2008

We were happy that the windlass worked flawlessly as we upped the anchor at 6 am. It was still dark, with dawn coming about 40 minutes later. We took 3 hour shifts being on watch, although we were both awake most of the day. The 175 mile trip took us about 24 hours, timed for a daylight arrival.

We stayed, in this two year old marina, 2 nights in February so were familiar with the entry. They now had power at most docks & now sell diesel. We puttered around until the fuel station opened then tanked up. We hold 115 gallons in each tank, one port one starboard. We also filled all 8 of our 5 gallon jugs. For scuba diving, we use our compressor to fill tanks. We have to run the generator to use the compressor, desalinate water & charge our batteries for lights, laptops & general household usage. The generator takes diesel. Since we hope to stay out at the Revillagegidos a month or longer, and there are no facilities there, we want to be topped off.

When the office opened we radioed to get our slip assignment. Since we stayed here last, they installed power supply to most docks, which is nice. A WiFi connection is available on the boat. All the luxuries of a full service marina. And for the price of $100 per night you expect that.

We had been in email contact with Ken Williams of m/v \”Sans Souci\” & knew he lives part time in a house in this area. We enjoyed his visit onboard \”Beach House\”, meeting him in person for the first time. He recommended a restaurant in town so we treated ourselves to dinner out. I have found dining out at \”nice\” restaurants to be overpriced & disappointing 80% of the time. Unfortunately this was one of those ventures that was just ok. Local, simple food is generally a better choice. I did enjoy strolling around town seeing the Christmas lights & ornaments. Being the week before most people\’s Christmas vacation, the street & shops were very quiet. A sign of the North American economic slow down.

Food shopping is a 3 part event.

Part 1 Gathering:
The next day we taxied to my favorite Mexican grocery store, \”Mega\”. We had done a pretty major shopping for staples 2 weeks prior in Mazatlan, but spent another $500 here. Now I was stocking up on produce, bread, tortillas, and other perishables.

Part 2 Get it Onboard
It takes several trips to transfer the many, many bags of food from the taxi, to dock carts, carefully go down the ramp, happy for a rising tide (low tide = steep downhill ramp). Push the carts way down to the end where we are tied (always at an end because catamarans are so wide). Then schlep it all onboard, taking care to throw out in the dock trash cans all cardboard packaging (with potential cockroach eggs hidden in the seams).

Part 3 Processing & Stowing
This to me is the most exhausting part. Probably because I am already exhausted from Parts 1 & 2.. Meats: I want to vacuum bag & freeze. This requires de-boning and creating the proper portion size. Cans: marked so the content is easily viewed from the top & the bought date. All older cans have to be taken out & the new ones stowed deepest so my supply is rotated. I am always so proud & amazed at how much my pantry will hold. We definitely will not starve.

Finally ready to set sail for the Revillagigedos!….

Scott & Cindy