Sea of Cortez, Baja, Mexico

Location:  Puerto Escondido, Sea of Cortez, Baja, Mexico

Wow!  We have heard a lot of good things from other cruisers about the Sea of Cortez.  Now we understand why. Here on the Baja side, there are numerous attractive anchorages to choose from, depending on what you want to do and what direction the wind is blowing.  The sea life is abundant.  We have seen blue whales, dolphins, sea lions, and stingrays along with seabirds, songbirds and fish.  We’ve hiked, swam, snorkeled, fished, explored beaches, and small Mexican towns, all in the short time that we’ve been here.  The weather is pleasant - warm during the days (70s / low 80s) and cool at night (60s).  The scenery is desert – arid with plants and cacti that don’t require much water; colorful cliffs with layers of reds, ochres, browns, blacks (obsidian), grays and whites that change as the light of day changes; white sand beaches, rocky beaches and beaches covered with shells.  We started at Isla San Francisco after crossing from Topolobampo on the mainland and subsequently worked our way as far north as Santa Rosalia.  Now we are headed south towards La Paz and Cabo San Lucas.

So, onto the details and the photos…

Seabiscuit at anchor, Isla San Francisco with the
mountains of the Baja peninsula in the back ground

 

Our first stop on the Baja side was Isla San Francisco (Feb. 27^th), about 45 miles north of La Paz.  We anchored on the west side of the island.  We took the dinghy to shore and hiked up the ridge toward the south side of the island and then back down to the beach on the east side.  We saw a huge osprey nest along with a collection of driftwood, shells and bird and fish bones.  Then we hiked back across a salt flat to the dinghy and the boat.

Hiking, Isla San Francisco

Our next stop was Bahia Amortajada (on the southwest side of Isla San Jose) where we anchored for a few hours, took a dinghy ride through the mangroves and had lunch.  Because of the mangroves, the cruising guide reports that the no-see-ums are thick around dusk, so we didn’t want to stay here for the night.  After lunch, we heaved anchor, cruised north to Mangle Solo (on the northwest side of Isla San Jose) and dropped the hook.  We hopped into the water to scrub some of the slime off the boat bottom and then swam into shore to inspect the beach.  

Heron near the mangroves at Bahia Amortajada with
a cordon cactus forest in the back ground

It was raining when we woke up the next morning, so we moved north and anchored up at Punta San Marte (on the Baja peninsula).  It started drizzling again as the sun was setting so we sat up on monkey island and watched as a double rainbow appeared.

Punta San Marte

Double rainbow, Punta San Marte

We usually check the weather each morning and the wind was supposed to blow from the north for the next few days so we pulled into Puerto Escondido (March 4^th), a protected harbor on the Baja peninsula, to wait out the wind.  While there we did boat chores, laundry and took advantage of the internet.  The town of Loreto is about 15 miles north, so one day we decided to go into town to get some groceries.  Puerto Escondido was somebody’s dream resort.  They built a nice marina building and dock space for about 10 boats.  There are wide, landscaped streets and you can see the lot lines platted out.  Somewhere along the way, they lost their funding as there are many uncompleted construction projects and derelict abandoned buildings.  The bay used to be filled with mooring balls for visiting yachts, but most of them have disappeared or are unmaintained.  Now there are some new private docks being put in, the mini-mart at the marina recently reopened and a new restaurant in the marina building opened while we were there.  There are a lot of RVers camped nearby and between them and the boaters, they have formed a small community.  So… the afternoon before we planned to go into Loreto, I stopped at the afternoon social circle to ask the best way to get to town.  The responses were not very encouraging; there is no local taxi service and the buses are unreliable.  Sometimes you can catch a ride with someone headed that way but demand is high and resources are slim.  The next morning, we decided to walk the mile out to Hwy 1 to try and catch a bus.  We wait about 45 minutes and no buses came along.  A local family, who had been fishing at Escondido, stopped and picked us up.  They asked if we were waiting for a bus and then laughed when we told them yes.  They dropped us off in the center of town.  We wandered around, had a cup of coffee, stopped at the church, walked along the waterfront, had some lunch and, after we confirmed that we could get a taxi ride back to Escondido, did our grocery shopping. 

The mission in Loreto

A pig roasting for a street festival in Loreto

Loreto is a nice friendly town – small enough to be walkable but with amenities to support tourism along with the local community.  It was established in 1697 by a group of Jesuit missionaries and was the location of the first mission of the Californias.  Above the entrance to the church it says “Cabeza y Madre de las Misiones de Baja y Alta California” (Head and Mother of the Missions of Lower and Upper California).  Loreto used to be the state capital of region but in 1829 it was hit by a hurricane and the capital was moved to La Paz.  Today it seems to be a center for outdoor tourist activities including kayaking and whale watching.

The next morning we docked and filled up our fresh water tank, then cruised out of the Puerto Escondido harbor.  As we were leaving, we witnessed blue whales spouting from all around the boat.  We got out into deep water and cut the engine so that we could drift and watch them feed.  

A blue whale spouting outside Puerto Escondido harbor

The vertebrae of a blue whale as it dives back underwater 

We anchored up in Puerto Ballandra (on the west side of Isla Carmen) mid-afternoon.

Monday morning, we packed a picnic lunch and hiked up an arroyo to an old cistern.  Then a dinghy ride out to the entrance of the bay to see the whales and an afternoon swim.  Tuesday we moved north about 8 miles to the south side of Isla Coronados.  After lunch, we went ashore for a hike and made our way up to the top of island, an extinct volcano – elevation 928 feet. 

Hiking on Isla Carmen

Oyster catcher, Puerto Ballandra, Isla Carmen

Wednesday (March 11^th), we heaved anchor and headed north to San Juanico.  The seas were a little lumpy, especially after all of the calm weather we have had.  We anchored up just before lunch. S/V ‘Quick’, some sailboaters we met in Escondido, called us on the radio as we arrived and offered to share some local knowledge with us.  We met them on the beach later that afternoon and walked to a small farm where they make goat cheese and sell fresh veggies right out of the garden.  It’s amazing to see a prosperous farm like that carved out of the desert.  They used drip irrigation to water and compost to build their soil and to fertilize.  We bought fresh beets, onions, goat cheese, garlic and cilantro. 

A group of dolphins

Goats at the farm near San Juanico

The next day we went ashore for a hike along the beach and up a ridge line.  The colors and shapes of the rocks and hills are spectacular, especially as the light changes and different colors become dominant.  The bioluminescence here is amazing – we sprayed water from our hose into the sea water around us and it lit up like a fireworks finale.

Rock formations at San Juanico

Rock formations at San Juanico

Friday (March 13) we headed north into Bahia Concepcion, a large, narrow bay protected on the east by a peninsula almost 25 miles long and on the west by Baja.  We anchored near Playa Santispac where the beach was filled with RVers.  We spotted two small restaurants ashore so decided to eat at Armando’s tonight and then try Anna’s Saturday night.  Once we got settled at Armando’s we discovered that they are having a pig roast on Sunday, so we decided to stay an extra day in the anchorage for that.  The food at both restaurants turned out to be mediocre (including the pig roast) but it was nice to get off the boat for a few meals.  We also did some beach walking and dinghy exploring before heading to our next destination, Santa Rosalia.

Armando's restaurant, Playa Santispac, Bahia Concepcion

Dave, exploring in the dinghy, Bahia Concepcion

Santa Rosalia is our northernmost destination for this side of the Sea of Cortez.  It is an old copper mining town and we’ve been told that the mine has recently re-opened.  Most of the buildings in town are of French design and were built to house employees of the original French company that operated the mine. They are built out of wood that was shipped in from Canada and the Pacific Northwest by the same ships that carried the copper out of the town.  We docked at the marina inside the town’s harbor for a few days, explored the town, tried out a few restaurants and did some boat chores.

A crucible from the old copper smelter, Santa Rosalia.

The church in Santa Rosalia, designed by Eiffel
(i.e. the same guy who designed the Eiffel Tower
in Paris).

Thursday (March 19^th), we left Santa Rosalia in the morning and headed south to anchor near Punta Chivato.  Along the shoreline, there are several nice houses, a dirt landing strip, airplane hangars and what looks like a desert version of a nine-hole golf course (nothing green, only red flags marking each hole) along with an abandoned resort hotel.  We took the dinghy ashore to walk along the beach and through the resort.  The shells along the beach were amazing; just about every size, shape and color you could imagine – cowry, oyster, clam, conch, whelks, etc.

A great shelling beach, Punto Chivato.

Dolphins riding the bow wake.

A sea lion at rest

We heaved anchor Saturday morning (March 21^st) and headed south back to the anchorage at San Juanico.  So far, it is one of our favorites.  We stayed for a few days and hiked up the road to a different, larger farm and bought some fresh vegetables.  The water is super clear and we saw groups of rays swimming back and forth, rays jumping, and dolphins and sea lions chasing fish.  

A lone ray, San Juanico

A group of rays, San Juanico

Tuesday morning (March 24^th) we continued south and anchored on the west side of Isla Coronados.  We launched the dinghy, got out our snorkeling gear and headed over to the rocks near the beach. 

Today (March 25^th), we cruised to Loreto for some groceries.  Loreto is a fair weather anchorage with no protection from north, south or east winds.  Most boats wanting to re-provision anchor near the town in the morning, do their shopping and then get underway again before the afternoon winds pick-up.  We anchored outside the town’s breakwater which encloses a small harbor used for shallow draft fishing pangas.  A medium-size cruise ship ‘Safari Endeavor’ was also anchored outside; the crew was busy ferrying the cruise passengers into town on the ship’s zodiacs.  We dinghied into the harbor, walked to the grocery store, bought our supplies, took a taxi back to the harbor, dinghied back out to the boat, heaved anchor and headed south to Puerto Escondido.  We’ll stay the night here, use the fast internet, do a load of laundry, load water and then head south again in the morning.

Statue of sea lions on the breakwater, Loreto.

The main walking street in Loreto with the
mission bell tower in the back ground

The Farm and back to cruising

Location:  Isla San Francisco, Baja, Mexico

We spent about three weeks on the farm in Alabama and did lots of fun things and of course, some farm chores.  My friend from college, Jennie, came to visit for Super Bowl weekend.  She thought she might like to try hunting, so when we got to the farm from the airport, Dave had set up a shooting range so she could get a feel for the rifle.  She took a couple of shots and hit the target, so we headed off into the woods to wait for the deer to come out.  We stayed out until just before dark, didn’t see anything and headed back to the cabin for supper.  It was scheduled to rain on Sunday so we took a walk through the woods and around the green fields in the morning and then settled in for snacks, cards and the big game.  Very good game until the very end – what was Seattle thinking?  

Sunrise on the farm (photo taken from the cabin front porch)

Moving old tractor tires

Monday was project day.  We made a run into town to pick up some drainage pipe for the road project we are going to do later in the year.  Then Jennie and I gathered the stuff we needed to make two coat racks for the mud room.  Dave showed us how to set-up and use the router and we got to work while he headed into the woods to hunt.  Tuesday was Jennie’s last day on the farm, so we mounted the coat racks to the wall and got to work fixing the kitchen faucet then headed to Amazing Grace, the local restaurant, for some lunch – good southern down home cooking.  We stopped at the hardware store and bought a maul so Dave could split wood and then Jennie and I headed to the airport in Pensacola.

B and Jennie working on the coat racks

Jennie and B in front of the Sweet Pea Farm sign

Dave suited up to go into the woods

Our next project was to take down the old rotted oak tree next to the house.  Dave did the climbing and chain sawing and I used the tractor to pull the limbs away from the cabin roof.  Friends Tom and Sandy from Maryland came to visit for the weekend.  They recently purchased a house in Pensacola so are only about two hours away from the farm.  They arrived Friday afternoon.  We went for a walk in the woods and then headed back to the cabin to cook up the fresh shrimp they had brought with them.  Saturday morning we went on another trek through the woods and then headed to Amazing Grace for lunch.  Neighbors Donnie and Judy came over to visit so we had a good story telling session on the porch.

Taking down the oak tree near the cabin

Driving Big Red around in the woods

Tuesday my mom, Louise, flew in for a visit.  We put her straight to work cleaning the inside of the RV trailer, burning the pines on the east side of the property and then cleaning the outside of the trailer. We did our final chores and left the farm on Sunday, February 15^th.  First stop Biloxi to try and win our money back from the trip over.  Dave had a great night playing pai gow poker.  The next morning we went over to the IP casino – where we had good luck playing three card poker and then tried the Palace casino – where we had good luck playing craps.  We hit the road and headed for our next stop Casino Coushatta.  We did good at the craps table before heading to Houston for trips to the vet, doctor appointments, hair cuts and a meeting with our financial advisors.  We took Mom to the airport Wednesday morning for her flight to Tucson to visit her sister (my Aunt Margaret).  Wednesday afternoon we headed to Austin for one last visit with the grandkids before heading back to the boat. 

Bubby (Benjamin) and Maggie eating supper

B and Maggie coloring

Friday morning we drove from Austin to Las Cruces, NM.  Saturday we drove to Tucson and had dinner with my aunt and uncle, cousins and Mom.  Sunday we took Mom to the Tucson airport for her trip home and then visited the Tucson casinos.  Not much action on a Sunday morning so we did some last chance shopping and called it a day. 

Monday morning we loaded up the car and the cats for the drive into Mexico and back to the boat.  No problems crossing the border.  They do a red light (stop) / green light (go) system for inspection.  We got the red light, but the inspector did a cursory inspection and waved us through.  All visitors to Mexico have to stop at Kilometer21.  They issue tourist cards, vehicle permits, Mexico liability insurance and everything else you will need while visiting Mexico.  Since we had a Mexico rental car, all we needed were new tourist cards so we were in and out fairly quickly.  We stopped in Hermosillo for gas and lunch at a taco stand and then continued the drive to Topolobampo.  We arrived just after sunset.  The boat was still floating and all looked good aboard.  We unloaded the car and walked into town for supper.  The next morning we drove into Los Mochis to get groceries, then returned the rental car and rode the bus back to Topolobampo. 

Osprey nest near the marina in Topolobampo

Dave doing boat chores - changing a Separ fuel filter

Wednesday we went into town and bought 6 kilograms (12 pounds) of large fresh shrimp and worked on boat chores so that we could leave the marina on Thursday.  We got underway Thursday about noon and cruised out the channel to Isla Santa Maria for the night.  Friday morning we got under way early for our cruise across the Sea of Cortez to the Baja side.  We are now anchored in a cove near Isla San Francisco, about 45 miles north of La Paz.

Looking at Topolobampo through our rear view mirror

Blue-footed boobie flying with us on the way out of the harbor

Topolobampo, 10,000 miles and Grandkids

Location:  Gantt, AL (Dave and B), Topolobampo (Seabiscuit)

We finally left Mazatlan on Christmas day.  For the few days before, we finished doing maintenance work including changing the hull zincs.  They hadn't been changed since we were in the shipyard in Alabama in spring of 2013 and it was time.  We took on 430 gallons of fuel on Christmas eve and then left the marina to spend the night out at the Stone Island anchorage.  The weather predicted for Christmas day was clear and calm so a good day to travel.  Our destination was Topolobampo, a small town about 220 miles north, still on the mainland Mexico side of the Sea of Cortez.  We left the anchorage about 7:00 a.m.  If we averaged 7.5 kts we would arrive in Topolobampo about 12 noon on the 26th.  As noted in the photo below, the seas were very calm.  In the middle of the night, we traveled through an area with a lot of small fishing boats.  We could see them on the radar and could see the flashing lights on some of their fishing gear but most of them have no lights on their boats and we couldn't pick them out of the darkness.  Early in the morning, we surpassed 10,000 miles of travel on the boat.  Dave and my friend Jennie had reset the triplog to 0 shortly after we bought her, so rolling over 10,000 miles was quite an achievement  (Ok, this doesn't sound like much if you are driving a car, most people average over 10,000 miles a year... But think about how long it would take to travel that far at less than 10 miles an hour...)

New hull zinc compared to the ones we replaced.
The forward zincs had much less material
remaining than the aft zincs.

Sunset on Christmas day on the journey
to Topolobampo.  The seas were so calm
they were like a mill pond.

The town of Topolobampo is about 12 miles up a marked channel.  We arrived at the channel entrance about 10:00 a.m. and, rather than going all the way into town, we decided to drop the anchor near a small island, Isla Santa Maria, just north of the channel.  We dropped the hook and settled in for a relaxing afternoon.  The wind was projected to blow over the next few days so we stayed in the anchorage until the 30th, relaxing, doing a few boat chores, taking the dinghy to the beach and walking along the sand dunes and watching the birds.  Except for one afternoon when a sport fishing boat pulled in to avoid the wind and waves, we were the only boat anchored in the area.

On the 30th, we pulled up anchor at about 9:30 a.m. and headed north towards Guaymas/San Carlos.  Another relatively uneventful overnight trip, 186 miles, 24.7 hours.  We  pulled into San Carlos Bay and dropped the anchor.

Sea lions resting on a buoy, Topolobampo channel.

Brown boobies diving for fish outside the
entrance of the channel.

Dolphins playing.

Sunrise near Guaymas / San Carlos Bay.

Our plan was to stay at anchor for a day and then move into one of the marinas in the area where we planned to leave the boat while we made a trip to the U.S.  We had talked to the folks at Marina San Carlos while we are at anchor near Topolobampo.  They told us they didn't have any space, but a boat was supposed to leave on the 31st and then we could have their slip.  We called the marina after we were anchored up and they said the boat was still in the slip, the marina office would be closed for New Year's Day and we should call again on Friday.  We took the dinghy into the marina Thursday morning to check things out.  Most everything was closed, but we had some lunch at a dockside restaurant and then went back out to the boat.

Rock, shaped like an Indian chief head, on the
south side of the entrance to San Carlos Bay.

Friday morning we called the marina again and still no space.  We called the other marina in the area and they also didn't have a space big enough for our boat.  We could see a few empty slips from where we were anchored so we took the dinghy into the marina to ask them about those spaces.  We were told that those spaces were being repaired and wouldn't be available for another two weeks.  Now, like Jesus, Joseph and Mary, we were searching for a space to stay because there was no room at the inn.  We called the marina back in Topolobampo to see if they had space for us.  They said they did, so we made the decision to head back south.

We left early the next morning to do another overnight back to Topolobampo.  As we were preparing to heave up the anchor, we watched a catamaran, Kat2Fold depart the bay.  Mid-morning, we came up on a fleet of shrimping trawlers, traveling in generally the same direction at about the same speed as us.  We turned on the radar to do some radar practice while it was daylight and we could actually see the targets.  The seas were a little rough and we did some rocking and rolling along the way.  We reached the channel entrance just as the sun was rising and were tied up in the marina by 8:30 a.m.  

The marina is fairly new, built in 2012 with about 40 slips with plans to expand to 150 slips.  Most of the boats there are sport fishers or power pleasure boats.  Later the same day, Kat2Fold pulled in.  We went down the dock to meet and greet Brian and he told us he had some trouble on the voyage down from San Carlos and thought his boat was going to fall apart.  His boat is a very unique design.  It is a catamaran designed to fold up so that it can be moved on a trailer.  Brian is from Idaho and earns his sailing money building straw bale houses during the summer so that he can cruise on his boat during the winter.

About 4:30 we wandered into town to check out the activity and look for a good place to have a cold beer.  Sunday is a busy family day in a lot of Mexican towns and Topolobampo is no exception.  We walked along the water front, looked at all the treats the street vendors were offering and bought a yellow sundress for our granddaughter.  Then we stopped at a small restaurant and had beer and shrimp for supper.  The next day we road the bus into Los Mochis to pick up our rental car for the drive to the U.S.  We prepared the boat to leave it unattended - defrosted the frig and freezer, cleaned, closed the sea chests, and showed Eduardo, the daytime security guy at the marina, what to do if the bilge alarm goes off.  He also agreed to wash the topsides and clean the bottom while we were away.

We hit the road early Tuesday morning for the drive to the U.S.  We reached the border at Nogales (Arizona) about 3:00 p.m. and crossed with no issues.  We drove into Tucson, bought some beers and checked into our hotel for the night.  The next day, we went over to my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Fritz's house for supper, pizza and beer.  My cousin Barbara was in town from California and my Uncle Jim and Aunt Donna from South Dakota are spending the winter in the area so we got to see everyone.

B, Uncle Jim, Cousin Barbara, Aunt Margaret, Uncle Fritz, Dave

Dave hitchhiking.  We ran out of gas between
Fort Stockton and Ozona, TX.  Where were
the signs saying 150 miles to the next gas station?

 The next day we drove to Fort Stockton and spent the night.  The following day we traveled to Austin to spend time with Ben, Cat and the grandkids.  We spent 10 days there, going to the park, the children's museum, the zoo, taking walks around the neighborhood and spending a lot of quality time visiting and playing.

Maggie at Saturday gymnastics.

Dave with Bubby and Maggie, going
into Cabela's to look at the animals and fish.

Catherine and Maggie at The Thinkery
(The Austin Children's Museum)

Then the rest of the drive to the farm.  We stopped at Casino Coushatta and met up with friends Sheila and Joe.  Nobody won any money.  Next a stop in Biloxi.  The casinos there were also stingy and we didn't win anything.  Finally, the farm where we are now.  We have been busy with farm chores, hunting, walking the woods, etc.  More on that in the next blog.

Fishing in Mazatlan

Location:  Mazatlan, Mexico

Hola!  

We finally departed Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday, November 19th.  We left the marina mid-morning and headed to the south part of Banderas Bay and the small town of Yelapa.  There are no marinas there and the shore line drops of quickly, so anchoring is not easy.  As we turned into the small bay close to Yelapa, a local fisherman in a panga, Richard, came out to greet us and ask if we wanted a mooring.  We said yes, so he led us close to shore and hooked up our mooring line.  He also offered to give us a ride from the boat to the beach later and offered to guide us to his family's restaurant, Gloria's, for supper.   We couldn't refuse and told him we would call him on the radio when we were ready to go ashore.  We set about getting comfortable and putting on our suits to swim around the boat, when a young couple paddled up in a kayak.  They asked to come aboard, so we got out a few cold ones and took them up to monkey island to chat.  He was a local, who worked in Canada summers and came back to Yelapa to help with the family business during the winters (tourist season).  He filled us in on some of the local history and culture and gave us a few ideas on what to see while we were there.  She was studying midwifery in the Denver area.  It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

Later, we radioed Richard and he came out in his panga to pick us up.  We docked at the local fisherman's dock and wound our way through the maze of streets and people's backyards to get to Gloria's.  We were a little leery about how the food was going to be, as we were the only people in the restaurant and it was difficult to find.  I ordered shrimp and Dave ordered steak and it turned out to be an excellent meal.  Our waiter asked us if we were going to stay for the parade the next day.  We told him no as we planned to leave early morning and head to the next anchorage.  He talked us into staying.

The next morning, Richard gave us a ride to the beach and we settled in for breakfast at a beachfront restaurant and to watch the parade celebrating the Mexican Revolution.  All of the town's school children participated with the littlest ones dressed up as Pancho Villa and his wife Maria Luz Corral; the older children marched in costumes, school uniforms or gym clothes and performed traditional dances, twirled batons or built human pyramids.  There was even a queen of the parade.  We were glad we stayed.

Pancho Villa and Maria Luz Corral

Queen of the parade

Children in traditional dress dancing

Pyramids on the beach

We finally left Yelapa about noon and cruised for about an hour to a snorkeling site called Los Arcos (the arches).  We anchored near the large rocks and snorkeled from the boat through the arched caves.  The visibility was ok (not great) and we saw a few colorful fish.  From there we continued across to the northern side of Banderas Bay and anchored near Punta Mita. We saw our first humpback whales of the season but didn't get close enough to take any good pictures.

Seabiscuit on a mooring near Yelapa

A rhinoceros beetle on the beach.

From Punta Mita, we sailed north to Chacala, another small village on the beach.  We anchored in the small cove near town and took the dinghy into town for some cold beer and supper.  The next day we took our boogie boards into the beach and did some snorkeling and surfing and had beer and supper at a different beach restaurant.

We left Chacala early the next morning and headed north and west to Isla Isabela.  Isla Isabela is located about 15 miles offshore and is sometimes called the Galapagos of Mexico.  It is a small island inhabited by thousands of birds - mostly brown boobies, blue-footed boobies, frigate birds and red-billed tropical birds.  There is also a fishing camp where local fisherman live, bring in their catch, clean them and prepare them to go to market.  We anchored in a cove on the south side of the island, enjoyed a nice meal on the boat and watched the sunset.

Sunset at Isla Isabela

 

The next morning we took the dinghy to the island and hiked to Crater Lake and then to the north side of the island.  The birds seems unafraid; we were able to get close enough to take pictures of their mating behavior and of them sitting on their nests.

Male frigate birds, inflating their pouches and trying to
impress the females.

Blue-footed boobies nesting on a cliff face.

Fisherman's camp.

We went back out to the boat for lunch and then spent the afternoon snorkeling among the rocks near the island.  The water was super clear and there was an abundance of brightly colored tropical fish along with barracuda and others.  This was some of the best snorkeling we've had since we left the San Blas Islands of Panama.  We went back to the boat satisfied with a good nature day and planned to stay another day in order to do some more snorkeling.  But...  during the night, the wind picked up and changed direction and we found ourselves uncomfortably close to the boat anchored next to us.  With the change in the wind, the swell increased and we decided not to stay the extra day.  We picked up the hook and headed north towards Mazatlan.

The distance from Isla Isabela to the Mazatlan marinas is about 95 miles, or 13+ hours for us.  We knew we were going to arrive after dark and decided that rather than go straight to the marina, we would anchor just south of town near Stone Island.  We dropped the hook there just after sunset.  The next day we spent relaxing at anchor and doing a few boat chores.  The next day we traveled the additional 12 miles to the marina El Cid and tied up at the dock just after noon.  Marina El Cid is a very nice marina with 3 docks for visiting boats and a fourth dock where they keep their fishing fleet and catamarans for day trips.  We have access to all of the amenities at the resort and have been spending plenty of time enjoying the pools and giant jacuzzi.

Dave's friend Bob joined us here on Saturday December 6th for a week of fishing and relaxation.  Sunday we rode the bus to a local street market and did some shopping for produce.  Early Monday morning, we left the marina for a day of fishing.  Bob caught (and we released) a nice striped marlin, 100-150 pounds, and a few bonita.  

Striped marlin close to the boat.

Bob reeling in the fish.

Getting ready to release the marlin.

Dave on the swim platform removing the hook.

We anchored out at Stone Island and spent the afternoon snorkeling around Isla Cardones.  The next morning, we headed back out to the fishing grounds.  We fished most of the day with no luck, but then caught a nice dorado at the end of the day.  We headed back into the marina, tied up and ate yummy fresh fish for dinner.

Dave bringing the dorado on board.

Bob with the dorado.

 

We took the day off on Wednesday and went to the pool and did a few boat chores.  Wednesday night we went downtown and had dinner at a restaurant located in an old cistern.  The meal wasn't very good but the decor was interesting.  Thursday morning we rented a car and drove into the mountains to the deserted mining town of Copala.  There isn't much left there; the church is in disrepair and there is only one restaurant in town.  We ate lunch on the restaurant veranda.  Very tasty food and we know it was cooked fresh for us.  After lunch we were greeted by the owner, Alejandro.  He is also an artist and makes masks out of cowhides, lamb hides, pigskins and fish skins.  He opened up his mask store/museum and showed us his work.  It was very interesting and unique; we purchased a mask for the boat.

Dave and B in front of a mural near the Copala town square

Alejandro (the mask artist) and B

 

Friday we went back out fishing for the day.  We saw a huge pod of spinner dolphins playing, jumping, leaping and spinning.  We caught and released a few bonita but nothing very exciting.  We came back into the marina just before sunset, showered and went up to the bar for the marina Christmas party.  Free beer and margaritas along with munchies.

Spinner Dolphins playing in the bow wake

Saturday we did a few boat chores, went to the pool and then headed downtown to Plaza Machado for happy hour.  On the weekends, they close the streets around Plaza Machado.  The restaurants around the square put out their tables and chairs.  Local artists and vendors set-up their stands and hock their wares.  We had a few cold beers and then walked a few blocks to Topolo for a nice seafood dinner.  Very good quality and excellent service.

Cathedral - Downtown Mazatlan

Sunday morning we did a few more boat chores and then put Bob into a taxi to the airport.  All in all a good visit. Since then Dave and I have been doing more boat chores and maintenance.  We are waiting for the wind to settle down some before we head north again, probably early next week.

Next stop, Topolobampo.
Happy Holidays to everyone!