After spending many delightful weeks here in La Cruz, it is time to head north. The weather is warming up and hopefully the Sea of Cortez is doing the same. Our weather window, as they call it when the winds are lighter for heading into them here, is from Friday through next week, so we decided to start our journey northward. We had planned to leave around 1:00 p.m., but as things go our plans changed. First there was an 80' yacht that needed help docking, then there were the friends on El Tiburon with their Vizsla Sparky, (my best friend) who invited us for a send off refreshment. So, around 6:00 p.m. we left the dock and headed towards Punta de Mita to anchor for the night.
We spent a lovely night anchored at Punta de Mita, after arriving just after dark. In the morning, Leif woke me up and we headed out early for Matanchen Bay. We rounded the corner for the last time and headed up the coast. After a day of motoring and then sailing, we arrived in Matanchen Bay around 4 p.m. and immediately closed the ports, hatches and put up bug screens. It has been widely reported that the he he ne’s and mosquitoes are really bad here at dusk and sunrise. I HATE bugs, so we took every precaution, and alas, awoke in the a.m. with not a single bite. Of course we never left our boat. San Blas was just around the corner, and it would have been great to see the town and fort, but the bugs are reported to be terrible and we have two friends who have contracted dengue fever from there. So, as the sun rose, out we went towards Isla Isabela where the frigate and blue footed boobies nest. As usual, the wind was on the nose the entire way out to the island, and we needed to arrive in daylight, so we motored much of the day. The island was wind blown and inhabited only by a few fishermen with pangas as well as the millions of birds circling overhead. There was one other yacht there, a trawler from the Channel Islands, named Godzilla. We searched the anchorages and found that the best place was right next to them, on a rocky bottom in around 18’ of water. As it turned out, they left, and two other sailboats joined us for the night. We spent an unrestful night worried about our anchor, as the bottom is rock with a little sand on it. I stayed up for several hours, then Leif did the same. Finally we figured it was safe and nodded off together. We awoke to a glorious day, beautiful sun, frigate birds, tropic birds and blue footed boobies circling overhead by the thousands. Of course you know what that means, lots of debris...
We quickly blew up the inflatable kayak and paddled ashore, only to be met by the naturalists who told us not to land there, but to go around to the fish camp. Well, the fish camp was a ways away, and we paddled back to the boat, tied up the kayak, and blew up the dinghy, put the motor on and motored over to the fish camp. I was a bit adamant that we get ashore, as this is where blue footed boobies and frigate birds nest, and they aren't afraid as there are very few visitors. It was worth the wait, as they were, real blue feet on the boobies and the frigate birds blowing up their neck skins to be mucho macho. Amazing. And amazing amount of guano. The fish camp was filled with fishermen who seem to live there, and fish locally around the island, laying out nets each night. We were encircled last night, so it was a good thing we didn't have to leave.
We hiked up to the top of the island, which is a volcanic crater naturally filled with water. Quite prehistoric looking, and weird trees that looked like lime trees but weren't. There were lizards and iguanas around as well to fill out the critter list. Everywhere there were bird nests, in every tree, in the tufts of grass on the ground, and under rocks, and the swooping of the frigate birds was felt and heard as they went by, sounding like a small plane. They are really enormous birds, with 4" beaks or so up close.
As we left to head back to the boat, we motored around a couple of incredible rock sculptures bursting up through the shallow water and covered with blue footed and brown boobies. These pinnacles were really unique to look at, and pictures don't show their true magnificence.
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| La Cruz Yacht Club |
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| Punta de Mita Sunrise |
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| Isla Isabel boobies |
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| Las Monas |
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| Blue footed boobie chick |
The afternoon was absolutely gorgeous, and I hated to leave, but the wind was picking up and it was time to head for Mazatlan. We pulled up our anchor, with it's tethering ball, and sailed out into 20 knot winds for a speedy trip northward through the night to Isla Chivos and Isla Cardones near the mouth of Mazatlan Harbor. We arrived around 9:30 a.m. and set the hook, had a bite to eat, and crashed for a nap. Waking up around 3:00p.m. we discovered it was cold! Water 60 degrees, air 75. Nothing like La Cruz so far, hopefully this will pass and it'll warm up.
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