After our Guadalajara trip, the presence of friends has
leavened the travails of our slow trek northward back to the Sea of
Cortez.
In Barra de Navidad our friends from Vancouver, Ron and
Shirley, booked a room for two nights at the Grand Hotel, allowing us to party
and partake of fine foods and pool-side service in swanky environs. Alice and Shirley enjoyed catch up gossip and
Greg & Ron a little of the local herb.
A few days later we dropped the hook in La Manzanilla and visited them again
on the beach and at their equally swanky rental house.
Also at Barra we again crossed paths with the always fun to
be around Ed & Linda, of One Fine Day. Watching a new boat pull into the
marina, we were a little surprised to see Peter and Eileen from Appleseeds, flying
a familiar RVYC burgee. It was nice talking over a beer and making connections to
all our common friends at the home club.
In PV, we rendezvoused with our Calgary/Canmore pals Al
& Kate, who joined us for a week on the boat travelling north to Mazatlán. The morning after their arrival in PV we sailed
out to weather in pleasant “rail down” conditions, heading out to the Las
Marietas islands located at the Northeastern point of Banderas Bay. Snorkeling there turned out to be a zero
visibility experience and we overnighted at nearby Punta Mita. There, walking
on the beach, we suddenly noticed our dear friend Leanne from Seattle who was dining
on a beach-front restaurant (what are the chances?).
Arriving the next day at Chacala,
swinging at anchor, happened to be Mo and Nick on Iolanthe. We had first ran into these two in December
at Isla Isabel and have since repeatedly run into each other here and there,
joining in various restaurant excursions and hoisting together a fair number of
drinks (measured as sailors sometimes do).
Mo, having recently parked her boat in Barra for the summer season, had
now joined Nick on his boat with their pal Jeanette and they were now heading
in the same direction as us.
The close environs of a small boat being what they are, we
were darned pleased to find Al & Kate to be not only tolerant of boatside
funkiness, but to also be adventuring souls with a simpatico disposition to
ours. We ventured with them next to
Matanchen Bay where Al & Kate panga’d with the crocs, and then onwards to
Isla Isabel for a visit with the birds.
On our first visit to this island in December we formed the
opinion that Isla Isabel is one of the earth’s grandest creations. Our second visit reinforced this
impression. In December, future baby
birds were mere proverbial gleams in each mating bird’s eyes. But by March they were a mix of eggs and fuzzy
hatchlings. Walking among the birds on Isla Isabel (mostly frigates and brown
and blue-footed boobies) it is wonderful to witness their naïve fearlessness of
deadly humans. Taking care to avoid
disturbing the nests as we walked the island trails we became naturalists
impromptu, observing this awesomely cruel but nevertheless fecund display of
birds in the wild.
The relationship between the frigates and the boobies is
almost bizarre. Without apparent rancour
they live together on the island and nest in the closest proximity. But boobies
are the better fishers and when a booby makes a catch, the frigates pounce:
swirling in an evil display of aerial dogfighting, 3 to 4 frigates dive and
peck mercilessly at the fleeing booby. If the frigates are successful in their
harassment the booby will regurgitate its catch into the water, to be
immediately seized by one of the lucky frigates. On shore sitting under a tree
we watched incredulously as a baby frigate stuck its long beak deep, deep down the
throat of its parent, making said parent then puke up a fish into its darling
child’s throat. We could not help but
think of these goods as stolen property and of another hungry (and soon
possibly dead) baby booby.
On board the boats, nearby humans were also behaving in the
strange way of their own animal kind, willingly sharing amongst themselves fermented
beverages and tasty morsels of food.
Being all of a common liberal tribe, no cudgels, axes, bullets or bombs
were required to make the peace.
Heading away to Mazatlán, Al ‘n Kate got to experience the
pleasures of night watches, fighting the nodding forces of sleepiness as we
motored forth on a boring flat sea. On
arrival we next spent a highly pleasant week hanging about in the company of Al
‘n Kate and also Al’s sister Sharon and her husband Rod.
But as the earth curves along its slow passage around the
sun, each day shows the fiery ball higher in the sky. Boaters in Mexico at this time of year begin
planning to head home for summer. Young
Mo had to head back to California to work and we joined her and Nick and
Jeanette for a little send-off dinner.
Alice ‘n Greg then made their passage from Mazatlan across
the sea to the Baja side. On the way
across there was a sparkling, moonless sky and hundreds of turtles, whales,
dolphins, flying fish and birds. And also
huge hunting predator boats called purse seiners, armed with a helicopter
flying overhead to spot the schooling fish and to direct rushing red speedboats
as they corral said fish into a great round net of mass death.
Ocean passages, with the vastness of space glowing in the
night sky above, always bring a sense of smallness to observing humans. On this passage we saw for the first time in
our lives the “green flash” at sunset. This made us happy, because it is a rare
event that we have unsuccessfully looked for during hundreds of previous sunsets.
We are now arrived on the Baja side of the sea in the lovely
anchorage of Ensenada del Muertos. On gentle waves we rock slightly, with a
cool northerly evening breeze blowing down our hatches. The stars above
shine. At least for now, our hearts
continue to beat. In the rough and
tumble we are not yet the eaten…
Provisioning for a sail north with friends.
Al and Kate join us in Puerto Vallarta.
Drinks on the beach at Chacala.
Greg and Al find a new friend. Alice refuses to bring her aboard as crew!
Catching fish.
Learning how to play Wizard.
Return to lovely Isla Isabel - Boobies, frigates, iguanas, and a University Research Team.
Al and Kate exploring Isla Isabel.
Yikes! Visit from the Mexican Navy. Each boat was questioned - too bad our Spanish is poor as we had few clues for a good answer.
Drinks onboard Anduril with Nick, Mo, Jeanette, Al, Kate, Greg and I.
Blue footed bobbies with young.
Trek to the abandoned frigate research station on Isla Isabel.
Temporary fish camp.
Too amazing! Herrman gull, nesting blue footed booby, and iguana together in one photo.
Love their eyes.
Enjoying Mazatlan with Sharon and Rod leading the way.
Sunset drinks on a Mazatlan rooftop.
Shrimp and beers for lunch. BYO Shrimp and they cook it the way you want.
Other friends - dolphins in Tenacitita.
Greg's biggest catch.
100s of turtles sighted in the crossing from Mazatlan to Los Muertos.
I love this cantina at Los Muertos.
Los Muertos beach.
Whoops! Gringo gets jeep stuck and locals rescue him.
