SATURDAY, JANUARY 12 – THURSDAY, JANUARY 24th, 2008 – La Paz to Mazatlan
We returned to La Paz and Mystic Moon on January 12th and found her to be in good condition. Richard and Jane did an outstanding job watching over her in our absence. Thanks, guys!! The first week, we spent doing all the boat projects we had left behind.
First on the list was the watermaker. Hector had checked it while we were gone and had informed us that it was working again. I have no idea whose watermaker he checked, but it couldn’t have been ours because ours was still not making any water. John got a hold of Mary at Horizon and immediately ordered a new ETD to be shipped into La Paz. Aaargggg! We had brought many new parts with us, and had no trouble getting through customs at the airport, so we had hoped that if we included our Temporary Import Permit number, we could get our watermaker through as well. Yes, yes…..silly us. Our part ended up in Guadalajara, where customs was demanding duty before they would release it. With Liliana at Costa Baja acting in our behalf, we finally got it shipped to La Paz – after paying the ransom, er I mean extortion fee, um, I mean duty and storage fee to the tune of $700US. (Can you believe they charged us a STORAGE fee???!!!) We will NOT make that mistake again!
Which brings up another issue we found – while we were gone, someone took the top two sections of our SSB antenna – we have no idea why, but sure enough, the bimini had been unzipped and we had but a nubbin of an antenna. So now the big dilemma becomes how to get the stupid thing shipped down into Mexico.
In the meantime, John got the carbourator on the Honda rebuilt, so Moonshadow is ready to go. We also got the new element installed for Direct TV Caribbean, so we should have TV service throughout Mexico and Central America. Jake Maizel was kind enough to take us around in his car to all the stores we needed to go to in order to reprovision. And, we opened up our water tanks and cleaned them out. All in all, we spent an exhausting but fruitful week in La Paz. We did manage to get in a great dinner with the Wendstroms at Three Virgins and another with the Maizels at
We finally pulled away from the docks on January 20th, in the company of the Wendstroms on Rediscovery II. We anchored in Los Muertos for the night, leaving early the next morning to cross the Sea of Cortez. We had an outstanding overnight passage, with fair winds, calm seas, and a full moon, and arrived in Mazatlan at 0830 on the 22nd. Les and Rose on Voyager were there to take our lines, and Rose had prepared a delicious breakfast for the 6 of us. We had a great time catching up with them.
Mazatlan is an interesting city, particularly the old city, and we spent the next few days exploring there. Les’s family was there at their condo, and it was really neat to visit with them. The marina is nice, but there is a fair amount of surge at the docks.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25,th 2008 – Mazatlan to Isla Isabella
Voyager and Mystic Moon left the docks at Mazatlan at 0430. We were headed to Isla Isabella, which is sort of out in the middle of nowhere, and we wanted to be sure and arrive before dark. Jane was out in the cockpit of Rediscovery II, waving goodbye, as she and Richard are staying in Mazatlan for Carnival. As I mentioned, there is a fair amount of current that comes into the El Cid Marina and there were some good sized swells at the mouth, but John just cranked it up and powered through.
It turned out to be a warm and pleasant day, although a little hazy. We saw very few other boats, but did have a pod of Pantropic Spotted Dolphins come play in the bow wake. We also saw quite a few large turtles.
By 1545, we could see the island in the distance – mainly because there were so many birds circling over it – thousands and thousands of frigate birds, circling on the thermals above the island. We spotted a couple of whales on approach, but they gave us the tail and dove deep. There were no boats in the Eastern anchorage, so we putted around looking for a good spot. It took us a while, as we’d be in 30 feet of water and then come up to 10’ in a few seconds. Finally on the third try, we found our spot and anchored in 25’ water. Les and Rose got their boat settled in for the evening, launched their dinghy, and joined us aboard Mystic Moon for dinner. It felt really good to be cruising again!!
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26th, 2008 – Isla Isabella
After a leisurely breakfast, we made a lunch to take ashore and launched Moonshadow – we were anxious to try her and her new dinghy wheels out. Rounding the corner, we came up in the southern anchorage. There were no cruising boats in there, but the fishing pangas were all lined up on shore getting ready to go out. Les and Rose led the charge and we followed, slipping in between the pangas, whose bows were anchored out and sterns were tied to shore. We struggled with the wheels, but finally got them down, and pulled Moonshadow on shore.
The shacks of the panga village were lined up behind the pangas, and were, well, quite colorful. Guys were busy repairing and folding nets, and it was all rather interesting. But really, the reason to be here was the birds! We made our way up the hill and immediately ran into the nesting frigate birds. Many of the males had their bright red balloon-like necks extended, trying to attract a mate. Lots of the nests had white, fluffy chicks in them – and they were everywhere! Their nests are built in the low lying trees, so were above eye level. There appeared to be chicks of all ages and stages. The juvenile birds looked very much like eagles, with their white heads and sharp beaks. On up the hill, we encountered iguanas sunning themselves and then the booby birds. Booby birds nest on the ground, and several had built nests right on the trail – we literally had to step around them, as they did not move. We saw two kinds of boobies – the blue-footed booby, whose feet are a startling neon blue and the brown booby, whose feet are more of a lime green color. It was impossible to know how many birds there were. Between the ones nesting and the ones soaring overhead in the sky, perhaps millions….or maybe tens of millions??? I really have no idea, but it was incredible and truly a treat to experience this. Some have referred to Isla Isabella as a “mini-Galapagos”, and I can see why. From up on the hill, we could also see the two whales blowing just off the island. It was remarkable day!
We ate our lunch on the beach, watching the fisherman work, and decided we’d stay another day and return tomorrow to take the hike up the other side and to the lake. Trying to get our dinghy relaunched, we discovered that the wheels weren’t set right, and one of them had settled into very soft sand. As we were working it out, the aluminum strut on the wheel snapped. With Les and Rose’s help, we were able to get the dinghy back in the water, but sheesh! were we bummed! The wheels are under warranty, but again, the issue is shipping stuff in Mexico. Les suggested just having one fabricated, so maybe that’s what we’ll end up doing.
Dinner was on Voyager, where we had a delicious meal of pork tenderloin and a great end to a really special day!
SUNDAY, JANUARY 27th, 2008 – Isla Isabella
We slept in this morning, but did go back to the island by late morning. Since we couldn’t beach the dinghy, we put out a stern anchor and took the bow line to shore to tie off. John got a little wet getting in, but at least we felt like the boat would be okay. One of the pangas was unloading their catch, and Les asked them if we could buy some fish. It looked like red snapper, so we requested quatro pescado, and the fisherman proceeded to put 8 of the gutted fish into Les’ cooler. We tried to pay him for the fish, but he wouldn’t accept any money. I had a bag of candy in my backpack, so offered him that in exchange and he took it. Les and John went to find ice amongst the huts, and there again, we were offered ice, but they wouldn’t accept any payment.
Leaving the cooler in the dinghy, we hiked up the other side of the mountain and on to the top of the hill where we could see our boats at anchor. Several other boats had come in, and were anchored with us. The whales were still spouting in the distance, and we encountered more nesting birds, although not as many as were on the other side. Hiking back down, we came across an area in the forest that had been cultivated with bananas, pineapples, and coconuts. There were stalks of bananas on the plants, so we guessed the fisherman took them from time to time.
Further in, we found Crater Lake, which is volcanic in origin and a very bright green. There didn’t seem to be much life on it, but there were a few ducks swimming around, so I guess it wasn’t too toxic, although the rim of the lake was lined with a white, powdery residue.
Deciding to go back to Voyager for lunch, we found our dinghy just at the tide line, and easily launched it into the water. After lunch, Les filleted the fish, and there was quite a gathering of birds around the cockpit waiting for the scraps. It was fun to watch the interaction and fishing style of the various species – from brown pelicans and Heerman’s gulls, to the frigates and boobies.
After lunch, we returned to our boat and rested a bit before showering. Looking out through the porthole in the head, I saw the whales off our starboard side, breaching, and landing back in the water with a huge splash! The Dobbe’s and John said they put on quite a show very near to our boats before I saw them. Very cool!!! For dinner, Rose brought over her new cast iron skillet and we cooked up the fish on Mystic Moon’s grill, making some of the best fish tacos we’ve ever made! Life is awesome!!