True North February 9 to February 17: Road Trip to Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende

The trip back from Las Hadas to Barra de Navidad was truly delightful - sailing wing-on-wing for most of the way with a gentle 10-15 kt wind.  We did almost land a couple of fish, however they both got away.  We're just not expert at that fishing thing, yet!

Anne getting serious about fishing.

We found ourselves with an extra week to fill while in the Barra de Navidad area in early February. With almost unbearable humidity, a road trip inland and to a higher elevation had been speaking to us! And, to see something different from beach towns would be very appealing. Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende are two world heritage sites and within an hour of each other that had been recommended by another boater so off we went. We liked both! They proved to be culturally and visually interesting and fun. Located in the cooler, dry hills and just a 10 hour bus ride from Barra, it was worth the effort.  Note: The buses are as comfortable as first class airline seats but with no boarding hassles. Show up 15 minutes before departure with your ticket and board. Free WiFi, a simple lunch, movies, and spacious seats.

Guanajuato is quite picturesque, with colorful houses draping the hillsides.  It has a long history of gold and silver mining, so many of the roads into, out of, and through the hillsides are tunneled through solid rock.

Guanajuato hillside  and tunnel from our hotel

There are nine magnificent centuries-old churches, 22 museums, and many statues of historical significance. After taking a walking tour, we chose three museums to visit: Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Alhondiga de Granaditas, the site of the first battle of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810, and Ex Hacienda San Gabriel, a former hacienda with a spacious house full of traditional, beautifully carved furnishings from the 1700s surrounded by many kinds of gardens.

"Frida" and "Diego" at Diego Rivera museum

The Mirador offers a panoramic view of Guanajuato:

Guanajuato from El Mirador

The University of Guanajuato is located in the central district, adding to the vibrancy of the city, and the central district is completely walkable which gave us a chance to test our sea legs - we covered just about every street and hillside!

Street near our hotel

Our artsy little hotel, La Casa Azul, was quirky but pretty nice and only a 4-minute walk down a very narrow hill-street to the small Plaza La Paz, just opposite the magnificent Basilica from the 1700s, and another 2 minutes to the principal plaza, Jardin de la Union.

Jardin La Paz and the Basilica

Teatro Juarez sits at the head of the plaza. Student musicians and artists entertain along the streets. In the center of Jardin de la Union is a gazebo which frequently accommodates live orchestras or 20-piece bands for free concerts.

Brass band in Jardin Union

Mariachis stroll the square all day and evening, stopping at cafe tables to play. It's such a festive, artistic, authentic place! We happened to be there over Valentine's Day which dominated the day's activities. Students of all ages strolled the streets, flower vendors were on every corner, couples, friends and families were out for the evening along the square, listening to music. It was a hoppin' mix of local Mexico with turistas.

We took a bus for a day trip to San Miguel de Allende, an hour east of Guanajuato.  This attractive city has a very different, more upscale look and feel than Guanajuato. Where are all the rooftop wires and antennas?

Street scene, San Miguel

It is also picturesque and is Mexico's finest example of Spanish colonial architecture. There is a very ornate baroque-style church from the 1700s next to the main plaza,which is surrounded by narrow, hilly streets lined with colorful, neat, colonial houses and buildings.

Parroquia de San Miguel

A bull-ring (Plaza de Toro) is on the edge of the historic section, however it was not bull-fight season.

San Miguel from the Plaza de Toro

The main plaza was also filled with musicians like Guanajuato.

Mariachi band tuning up, San Miguel

Several thousand U.S. and Canadian expats live there, dominating the traditional local color. Traditions do exist, however. We saw two weddings celebrated with processions around the central plaza and got a taste of a festive local custom.

Wedding procession in San Miguel

It was a refreshing and welcome vacation from our vacation!

Street busker in Guanajuato

True North January 28 to February 8: Bahia Manzanillo

From Barra de Navidad it is a short 27 nm hop to our southernmost turn-around point: Las Hadas in Bahia Manzanillo was to be our southern terminus. Nice as Barra is, it is greatly freeing to be out on the open water again on clear, sunny days. Unfortunately, there was virtually no wind on this leg, so we motored the entire way.  It's hard to believe you can be out in the Pacific Ocean in conditions like Lake Washington on an August day!  However, we did catch a fish!  Unfortunately, we identified it as another skipjack, which is usually considered poor eating (as was our experience with our only other catch, another skipjack).  So we released the skipjack.

Anne lands the skipjack

As we neared Ensenada Carrizal, 20 nm miles from Barra and just outside the large Bahia Manzanillo, we spotted a whale breaching not far away. Once inside the small bay, there was only a small fishing panga. Soon, a humpback entered the bay, coming kind of close to us. The panga went right up to it while the whale lob-tailed, breached, spy-hopped and flipper-snapped. Great private show! It stayed for 10 minutes before leaving from the bay, panga close behind.

Humpback about to land on its back, Ensenada Carrizal

There is a large coral reef on the bay with some brilliantly colored tropical reef fish and we stayed the following morning to snorkel along the reef, hoping the whale would not return just then.

Our next stop - Bahia Santiago, the next bay past Carrazal, with a long golden sand beach that curves around to the point separating it from Bahia Manzanillo. We anchored at Playa Boquita and took the dinghy to shore to find the recommended ramada (the local name for palapa restaurant), El Rey. A few other ramadas operate near the dinghy landing but most of the beach is lined with large private homes all the way to the point.

Balloon vendor, Playa Boquita

One night was enough for Playa Boquita, so the next day we headed for our last stop in Bahia Manzanillo. Just around Punta Santiago is the Marina Las Hadas and anchorage, our goal and turn-around point, and a 20 minute bus ride from Manzanillo Centro. Hard to believe our southernmost point is here already! We anchored just outside the breakwater to the marina. Las Hadas Resort is striking with bright white Moorish style, arched buildings, small turrets, lovely palm trees, and a very distinctive three-story tower on top of the ridge.

True North in front of Las Hadas

A dinghy docking fee of 200 pesos/day (~$16) includes use of the beautiful tiled pool and towels.

"Our" pool at Las Hadas

Las Hadas is several miles outside of downtown Manzanillo.  Manzanillo itself has a very large commercial port - frequently a half dozen container ships are visible in the Bay, coming, going, and anchored. We took a couple of buses to get to Manzanillo Centro where the waterfront is filled with large ships and loading docks. A large blue sailfish sculpture in the waterfront park marks its place as the sailfish capital of the world.

The Manzanillo sailfish sculpture

We searched out the two mercados in the centro area, one filled with produce stalls and lunch counters on the top floor.

Manzanillo mercado

We stopped for barbacoa; however, the second mercado had only eating stalls and they appeared to be the far better choice. There isn't too much tourism in this working city.

Street scene, Manzanillo

Back at Las Hadas Resort, the sprawling, breezy lobby area had been filled with several large screens for watching the Superbowl: Seahawks vs Broncos! Superbowl Sundays are supposed to be ski days for us, but... On this occasion, we joined the others for what proved to be an exciting game, especially for us (former) Seattlites. Meanwhile, several Seattle boats had gone on to Zuihuatanejo to view the game together where they most likely raised the ceiling!

While in Las Hadas, we ran into Sea Otter and Antipodes and had several great get togethers with them.  One day, we all piled into Sea Otter and headed to the downtown Manzanillo anchorage and explored the town again.

Dinghy "dock", downtown Manzanillo

We used a dinghy dock at a restaurant, and then to be neighborly, had a round of margaritas at the restaurant when we returned.  After ordering, Julie went up to the bar to change her order to a "margarita tamarinda" instead of a "margarita normal".  Due to a curious misunderstanding, the bartender thought she said "camarone" instead of "tamarinda" and so we all had a delightful little shrimp on our margarita glass!

"Margarita Camarones", a new drink!

From Las Hadas, we headed back to Ensenada Carrizal for another day of snorkeling along with Sea Otter and Antipodes.

True North January 9 to January 27: Costalegre – Cabo Corrientes to Barra de Navidad

A few days back in La Cruz allowed us to pick up our mail, finally! We spent an enjoyable evening reading Christmas cards, then completing a few minor boat chores and anchoring out in the La Cruz anchorage before leaving for the overnight passage around Cabo Corrientes, which marks the beginning of the beautiful, more secluded coastline called Costalegre.

La Cruz anchorage

Along Costalegre, the water is noticeably warmer, the shores almost continuously lined with white sandy beaches and the next good anchorage a short distance from the previous one. Every time we are at sea we see whales and this first day out in Banderas Bay was no exception. Six humpbacks put on a long show!

We rounded Punta Corrientes in the afternoon under sail with almost 30 kts of wind and were far enough off the point to enjoy a grand sail around it. The wind died for an uneventful but beautiful night passage under a clear, starry sky.

Sunset sailing, past Cabo Corriente

We slowed down to delay our arrival into the bay until dawn to avoid fishing lines and found an ideal anchorage at Isla Passavera at 0815, just off the shore of the small town of Chamela. There were two other boats anchored there. We stayed two nights to snorkel, swim and fish in the clearest water. Three large jacks (we thought they were yellow-tailed tunas) circled the boat but we caught nothing - although we could see the fish dart away every time Gregg dropped a lure into the water!

Fishing unsuccessfully (as usual)!

Meanwhile, two sailboats dropped their anchors nearby at Isla Cocinas. We dinghied over to visit with the boaters and check out their beach.

True North from neighboring Isla Cocinas

Numerous rocky islands lie just off the shore from Chamela which do not offer safe anchorages. We passed them as we moved further SE along Coastalegre to Paraiso, a very small, picturesque anchorage fringed by two sandy beaches. We took the dinghy to the small, peaceful beachside hotel and found a few friendly amigos of the hotel owner who shared their cold cervezas with us. Back at the anchorage, two other sailboats passed through the small anchorage but there wasn't room for them to stay long...they missed a very rolly night, although we did deploy a stern anchor to keep the boat pointed into the swell.

Gregg readies the stern anchor in Paraiso

The next afternoon, we moved 20 nm further along the coast to Punta Hermanos and 'The Aquarium', a good snorkeling reef. We had expected to see some beachfront activity with colorful umbrellas, palapas, a few small hotels and other boaters, as described in our guidebook. Once ashore, we found instead nothing but a few vacant houses, some swimmers, and several armed guards! The guard we spoke with indicated that we were to stay on the beach side of the road because the opposite side was now private property. Signs posted along the road indicated the same thing. A local expat we talked with on the beach told us that in 2010, the local landowners were chased off their property by armed men, backed by a wealthy Mexican developer, with palapas burned or bulldozed. A google search supports this story. The locals from the nearby town of Revalsito are now allowed beach access again after three years of closure and the matter is waiting to be resolved in court. We were the only boat in the anchorage that night. The expat had assured us that cruisers in the anchorage had no problems being there. We stayed to snorkel in The Aquarium the next day and were joined by another Ha-Ha boat on the second night, French Curve, and three more boats. Nice to have their company nearby! The landscape in this little bay was striking with colorful blue-green hills as a backdrop and a long golden sand beach in the foreground. A pod of dolphins swam all around our boat and back and forth across the bay throughout the afternoon. Coming back from The Aquarium, one swam right between us!

One of "our" neighborhood dolphins.

On the second morning, another Ha-Ha boat sailed right up to us. It was Resolution. They had heard us check in on the morning roll call from Bahia Tenacatita just around the corner and came over to visit before heading on to their next stop. The cruisers' morning roll call operates from different locations all along the coast. A volunteer moderator asks for new arrivals, departures, then roll call, followed by medical emergencies, boat needs, and who has what to trade for “coconuts” (it's illegal for visiting cruisers to sell goods in Mexico). After that, cruisers can hail one another on VHF for further communication. So, that's how Resolution found us in the next bay. They had been at Bahia Tenacatita, our next stop and a very popular cruisers' destination.

Resolution rafted to True North

There were 23 boats anchored in Bahia Tenacatita when we arrived. We dinghied up to Harmony, belonging to “Mayor Rob”, self-elected, and long-term resident of Tenacatita, to introduce ourselves and to learn of the local activities. That evening there was a dinghy raft-up appetizer potluck, a first for us. Every dinghy tied up to another as we passed around our appetizers and introduced ourselves with a story to share with the group. These were almost all new boats and faces.

The Mayor's dinghy raft-up at Tenacatita

The morning cruisers' net announced the day's coming activities: group swim to shore at 1300, bocce ball on the beach, Mexican Train (that's dominoes) at the palapa. We opted to join French Curve on a buddy dinghy tour of the estuary. It's a long, narrow channel of a few miles which winds through mangroves with a few snowy egrets, blue herons, and some other birds unknown to us.

In the mangrove swamps with French Curve's dinghy ahead

Afterwards, we stopped at La Vena, the one palapa at Tenacatita to try it's specialty of the house, Rollo de Mar. This is not to be missed! It's a fish fillet wrapped around a mixture of shrimp or octopus and celery, rolled with bacon and topped with an almond sauce. Once tried, it's not easily forgotten.

The surf landings at Tenacatita are known to be rough. We survived a few wet landings and launchings until one afternoon launch, in which we thought we had timed the rollers well but instead crashed into a big one which lifted up the bow while Gregg, not quite inside yet, slid off the side and into the water. Quickly recovering, we tried to make it through the surf again, were tossed around some more but made it through. Unfortunately, Gregg's prescription sunglasses did not survive the unintentional dunking.

We moved across Tenacatita Bay along with French Curve to the anchorage in front of the colorful waterfont town of La Manzanilla. The setting is lush and tropical with a unique and charming mixture of small town quaintness and seaside tourism. During periods of light swell, the beach landing is similar or slightly more difficult than the landing at the main anchorage at Tenacatita back across the bay. The afternoon winds tend to build which can add to the surf so we were naturally on guard as we made our way to the beach, however it was quite tame compared to the dunking we received at Tenacatita! We found a good landing at the edge of the beachfront but among some smooth rocks, getting in and out safely. We toured the town together, first visiting the town's main attraction, a protected sanctuary at the edge of town filled with giant crocodiles!

Large cocodrilo in La Manzanilla

Lots of small tiendas selling fresh produce, dairy products and other food staples line the streets, plus many very inviting restaurants. The four of us came back for dinner at a popular local favorite, Restaurant Martin, under a palapa roof but high above the beach with an outstanding view of the ocean. Part of the fun of cruising is how easily friendships are made after sharing just a few activities together. That's how we came to know more of French Curve.

The anchorage at La Manzanilla in the distance

We buddied with French Curve to the “secret anchorage” of Cuastecomate for another gem of a small waterfront town with a snorkeling reef nearby. After a night there, we proceeded another 5 nm miles to Bahia de Navidad where we would spend the next week.

Surfing the Pacific waterfront at Barra

Barra de Navidad is quite the oasis in the middle of a relatively isolated coastline! There's a breakwater at the entrance to the marina and a long narrow sandbar beyond and next to the fuel dock at the entrance to the anchorage. The marina shares the beautiful grounds and amenities with the upscale Wyndham Grand Bay Resort.

Pool with water slides at the Wyndham

It was old home week for Ha-Ha'ers. Eight or so friend boats were there or would arrive a day later – Resolution, Unleashed, Sand Dollar, Appa, French Curve, L'Ange, R&R Kedger, Sea Otter. (Five of those are from Washington state!)

We had ample time to enjoy the pool and water slides together, take the pangas across the channel from the marina and resort to the town (“Barra”) to shop, eat or sit with a cold beverage. Every morniong, the French Bakery panga comes around to the marina, with truly delicious bread, croissants, quiche, and don't forget the jalapeno/cheese baguette!

Don't miss the jalapeno and cheese baguette!

While at the marina, we enjoyed watching a three day fishing tournament, with intense competition to catch the largest marlin, sailfish, and dorado.

The winning marlin  and dorado

The town of Barra is both lively and relaxing; a great cruisers' stop for rest, play, minor maintenance. There is a large selection of waterfront restaurants catering to the largely Canadian tourist trade, but intermixed with local "loncherias" and "cocina economicas" for the real local color.  Barra is also the last big stop before two bays a few hours away just outside of Manzanillo, and then the 200 nm stretch to “Z-town” (Zihautanejo).

Christmas 2013 and the New Year in La Cruz

December 23 - 31: Christmas and the New Year 2014, La Cruz

The day began with True North anchored in Chacala. We were up shortly after sunrise and on the water at 0735, following Unleashed and Winterhawk out of the bay, surrounded by misty green forested hills. They followed a course about a mile west of us and encountered numerous fishing lines along the way, each time letting us know via VHF of the hazards. We only crossed one line and followed the advice of another boater - put the boat in neutral and let the line slip along the underside of the boat, using the boat hook if necessary (it wasn't) to help it through. A dozen or more whales could be seen close to shore. One whale gave us a stellar show of repeated lob-tailing for a minute or so! It was a very calm day so we were only able to motor. We made a feeble attempt to fly the jib but the little wind we had didn't last, arrived at Marina La Cruz at 1500, and moved into our slip, 9B22.

Fish market, Marina La Cruz

We had reserved a week at the marina in La Cruz, a very laid-back town. Two days before Christmas and the town of La Cruz was totally quiet! Few people were in the plaza or on the streets. We walked to the church to see the interior which had been decorated with colorful, red cloths draped from the ceiling and a large nativity scene. There were a few open tiendas selling basics.Surprisingly, there were no farjolitas or luminarios on Christmas Eve as we had expected to see throughout Mexico. Every city in New Mexico celebrates Christmas that way! In fact, there were few Christmas decorations of any sort in La Cruz.  We joined merry cruisers on the dock for a Christmas Eve dock party, and then again on Christmas Day for a potluck Christmas dinner complete with turkey, ham and always good camaraderie. At least some of the boats celebrated with colorful lights. Excelente!

For its small size, La Cruz manages to pull together a surprising amount of live music at a couple of bar/restaurants on many evenings. For some daytime entertainment, the two towns of Suyalita and Bucerias are a short bus ride away, and the larger Puerto Vallarta in another direction. We took a crowded bus to Suyalita, expecting more of a small fishing village and found instead a larger town than La Cruz with about 10 square blocks of tourist shops, a pleasantly crowded beach full of vacationing sunbathers, and the usual colorful restauarnts lining the beach. We stopped for a cold beverage and to watch everything and bought a small rug for True North's salon.

Buying our new boat rug in Suyalita

On the way back to La Cruz, a bus transfer in Bucerias gave us enough time for a quick walk along the beach and waterfront. Back in La Cruz, we finally went out to the much regaled Philo's for their open mic night to find pretty good music by local oldtimers! The following night was New Year's Eve and we couldn't decide how to spend it. One option was the big YC dinner and band; another was the cruiser's dock party. We opted to go to town with other boaters to search for live music, not so good this time, then back for a special treat of Patty's campechana and an ale aged in oak bourbon barrels on Winterhawk, and finally the tail end of the dock party.

We also visited downtown Puerto Vallarta, strolled the Malacon, visited the shops, and had a liesurely lunch at a palapa on the beach.

Strolling musicians in Puerto Vallarta

January 1 – 6: Out and About in Banderas Bay

Exploring some of the well-known anchorages around Banderas Bay brought us first to Punta de Mita, just a few miles from La Cruz.

Evening at Punta de Mita

There were a dozen other boats anchored, including French Curve, and lots of water activity in the anchorage as the beach has several hotels. Dozens of pangas sped by throughout the day on the way to the nearby National Park islands, Las Tres Marietas, our next destination.

Campechana at Punta de Mita

We left Punta de Mita early in the morning to try to get a mooring buoy (we did) at Tres Marietas and to snorkel in the morning while the water would be most calm. Lots of colorful reef fish. By mid-morning, the pangas and huge, loaded, 200 passenger tour-boat cats from Puerto Vallarta arrived and unloaded tens of dozens of swimmers and snorkelers into the anchorage.

Big cats awfully close at Tres Marietas

Later in the day, we took the dinghy around to the east side of the island and another snorkeling spot. The surge picked up suddenly while we were out and pushed us across the shallow rocky surf, in and out a few times before we got safely to shore. Just as quickly the surge died and we got our dinghy ready to head out, waited for a calm surf line, then easily took off. Back at our boat, a couple of small private party yachts had anchored nearby with some upbeat Mexican music. The evening light was highlighting everything in magnificent color. The moment was divine! One of the pangas passing by slowed down to tell us they were concerned about us when they saw us earlier trying to get in to the beach over the rough surf. So were we!

One night on that mooring buoy was enough! The rocky shore looms nearby, coupled with big swells, making sleep less than peaceful. We sailed on to Yelapa, a village of colorful cafes and beach umbrellas along a golden sand beach at the south end of Banderas Bay. It is surrounded by thickly forrested hills and only accessible by boat.

Yelapa

We were greeted by a panga on entering who rented us a mooring buoy as there is only a narrow shelf in which to anchor in the otherwise deep bay. We walked the trail to a waterfall and along the river and mostly watched the watersports from our boat or from the beach. Our mooring buoy was temporary (for a lighter boat) and we were moved to another one just after dark. The second night on that buoy, we returned from an evening in the village to find the neighboring boat's outboard prop just about 2 feet from our hull! We powered up and set a stern anchor for a peaceful night. In the morning, we left for La Cruz to pick up our mail and do some boat chores over several days and then begin the next leg of our passage south around Punta Corrientes to Manzanillo.

Pinata party in Yelapa

True North December 17 to December 22: Crossing the Sea of Cortez, Isla Isabela, and Chacala

“What's on the other side? The other side!” An adventurous traveler must see it for himself.

This was the day many boats had been waiting for: calmer seas to make the crossing from La Paz to the Pacific coast of Mexico on the opposite shore of the Sea of Cortez. For us and two other Ha-Ha boats, Resolution and Sand Dollar, the initial goal would be Isla Isabela, a World Heritage Site full of seabirds and iguanas and with excellent snorkeling reefs, about 310 nm (~62 hours at 5 kts) from La Paz and 40 nm from the coastal town San Blas, our next planned stop. Isla Isabela is tricky because the anchorages are open to swells and have rocky bottoms which can make setting an anchor securely and later retrieving it from the crevices challenging. Plus, fishing nets and long lines surround the island for miles out offering another hazard by fouling propellers and rudders. We decided to at least pass by and check it out for calm seas and if it appeared too rough to stay, we would proceed to San Blas. Word from others on the mainland from a few days earlier was that the anchorages were too rolly to stay.

Perfect sailing across the Sea of Cortez

We sailed the first 31 hours in pure bliss with a perfect wind NNW 13 to 20 kts. Once set, we barely made sail adjustments. Resolution caught a fish the first morning and called to let us know it – our reputation for being unable to catch a fish was known to them! They dropped back while doing fish prep. We had our hand line out the entire day and didn't catch or see a single fish which means to date, no fish dinners had materialized while underway.

True North and Sand Dollar buddied the rest of the way, keeping within a few miles and VHF radio contact. Sand Dollar, from Seattle, has a unique history: the family bought their 40' older boat for a dollar, spent six years rebuilding it from the inside out, and now have their beautiful Sand Dollar, named by the kids: 14, 12 and 10, out for a year's adventure. It is a work of art and a labor of love. Lucky family, neat kids, and a great bonding experience.

The Sand Dollar kids

Our crossing coincided with a full moon. Such a welcome change to be able to see the water so well in all directions. We could see the La Paz Star, a huge freighter, coming towards us during the night and tried to raise them on the radio see if they were aware of us but to no avail. We changed our course to get out of their way and they passed just a quarter mile away! The following day and night, no other boats came anywhere close.

La Paz Star a little too close at night

It was calm with just a 3 kt wind so we motored. Meanwhile, the wildlife sightings had begun. Sand Dollar reported that a frigate landed on their anchor and stayed with them the whole night. This was still 100 miles from land! They also had a whale sighting just 150' from their boat. Dolphins swam with our boat and shortly later flocks of birds indicated that we were getting closer to Isla Isabela. About 30 nm from the island we saw what first looked like fishing buoys scattered throughout the water but they were turtles, dozens of them spread out over a wide area, many with birds catching a ride on their backs.

Seabird hitching a ride on a turtle

Then, finally, land ho! The fuzzy outlines of the distant islands appeared. We were anxious to arrive before dark! As we got closer, there were a couple of fishing boats. One directed us around his boat in order to avoid his fishing nets. Of the two anchorages at the island, we checked out the one at the south end first, a kind of gloomy looking place with just one sailboat. We then went to the east side, smaller anchorage to find eight boats and dropped our anchor at the north end with two tall rock pinnacles against a pink sky as the sun was setting, and two boats adorned with Christmas lights. Spectacular! We set the anchor at 1740 with a trip line for recovery insurance. We had completed a significant sea crossing safely.

East anchorage, Isla Isabela

December 20-23: Isla Isabella and Chacala

The first night in the anchorage was dead calm. In the morning we were anxious to check out the blue-footed boobies on the beach and hike the trail to the crater lake but the surf was a little rough for a safe beach landing. Instead we snorkeled over to the two rock pinnacles with the Sand Dollar kids. Lots of colorful tropical fish kept everyone easily entertained. Later in the morning, Resolution arrived. They had not been able to get to the anchorage before dark so they hove to in the perfectly calm sea offshore for the night to arrive by daylight. By afternoon, the surf had died enough that we made our break for shore. Gregg shuttled crews from Sand Dollar and Resolution to the beach with perfect timing through mild surf for each landing, losing no one overboard. It's tricky! Ashore, colonies of blue footed boobies walked the beach, some doing the mating dance, and others sitting on nests of blue eggs on the ground while their partners stood guard nearby. They are quite used to being around people and were unafraid of us.

Very blue-footed boobies!

We hiked the trail to Crater Lake, the caldera of an extinct volcano now filled with water, encountering yellow and green footed boobies and frigates along the way. Surf can change abruptly so even while ashore, we kept watch to make sure we would be able to leave before it became too rough

In the evening, Sand Dollar hosted Resolution and True North for drinks and dessert while discussing plans for the following day. Resolution would stay another night. Sand Dollar would proceed to San Blas to tour the crocodile estuary with another kid boat. We chose to go on to Chacala, just 55 nm away. Then we would all meet a couple of nights later at La Cruz. Lightning to the east lit the distant sky and a strong north wind gave us a very rolly second night at Isabela. Being open to the ocean, I got up several times during the night to check our position with respect to the landmarks and make sure we weren't dragging our anchor...we weren't!

We were up early, retrieved our anchor easily, and left Isla Isabel for Chacala at 0630, followed by five other sailboats leaving for San Blas. We raised the sails with a good 13 kt wind for several hours, then doused it when the wind died later. It was a relaxing day with many breaching whale sightings and pods of dolphins swimming alongside now and then. We constantly scanned the water for fishing lines and while we spotted the occasional float, there seemed to be no visible lines attached. We had our hand line over the stern rail and had been paying no attention to it when at last, fish ho! We caught a skipjack! Gregg promptly cleaned and filleted all 3 pounds of it for dinner.

Our first catch of the entire trip!

We arrived at Bahia Chacala about 1815 just after dark. There were two other sailboats in the anchorage, one without lights. Festive music from the palapas ashore was very inviting though we did not attempt to find the dinghy landing that night.

"Downtown" Chacala

Morning light made it easy to identify the two sailboats in the anchorage, Winterhawk and Unleashed. We hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving in La Paz. Rick from Winterhawk putt-putted over in his dinghy for a morning greeting and to catch up with each other's news. The previous night when we saw lightning in the distance from Isla Isabella, they were directly in a heavy rainstorm in the Matanchenga anchorage just outside of San Blas. Seeing Chacala in the daylight convinced us we needed to stay the day and another night to check it out.

Coconut vendor, Chacala

Plus, both Winterhawk and Unleashed would be staying. We rowed our dinghy to shore early in the day to walk the few streets of boldly colorful houses, small hotels and waterfront restaurants. A couple of mercados lined the main cobblestone road with good-looking produce and beautiful beadwork made by the Huichol Indians from nearby remote mountain villages. We found a place on the beach selling fresh pineapple, then stopped for a bite to eat.

Chacala's beautiful beach and palapas

Later in the day we met Winterhawk and Unleashed where they were watching a Seattle Seahawks game (ie, football). We joined in for some pizza and returned to our dinghies just as it was getting dark. We three boats would be leaving early the next morning for La Cruz.

Unleashed, True North, and Winterhawk in Chacala