Breaking free of Paradise Village was difficult. It’s hard to leave the sweet life with a hose at the dock, flush toilets, long hot showers and the resort pools. But there are more adventures to be had. We had one last night in Bandaras bay at Punta de Mita before heading out early the next morning for a day at sea heading toward San Blas.
On the way Roy caught another Sierra (Spanish Mackerel).
Another new experience was little squid. Every morning we would find squid here and there on Makai but the worst part is they inked when they hit the deck. One morning I found one had somehow jumped in the window to our bathroom and landed behind my toilet. That’s just crazy!
This anchorage was sought out for surf. Eric and Matt headed toward the waves.
Meanwhile we had girl-fest with Little Pet Shops on Makai.
The San Blas area is our last glimpse of Mainland Mexico. The water was murky and cold, and the no-see-ums were voracious. We had two great days with our friends on Yolo and Tarapin, but we had to get out of town to avoid the bugs.
We make all kinds of delicious meals on Makai. Today Roy made chocolate chip cookies and Marie made Mac and Cheese, so Eric made himself a sandwich with fresh bollios, a little mayo and (ewww) Mac and Cheese and cookies. To wash it all down we dug a cold cerveza out of the frost on the refrigerator.
Next stop is Isla Isabela. This little island is a 40 mile ride for us, about 15 miles directly off shore, and 90 miles from the big port of Mazatlan. It was the home of a research station, but is now uninhabited. A Frigate Bird and Blue Footed Boobie refuge here makes the sky an entertaining sight but the best part is clear water for the first time since Makai was in the Bahamas. Yolo, Tarapin and Makai had the place to ourselves with a few fishing pangas anchored around the reefs.
Due to my concerns for Topaz getting sick from the cloudy mainland water, she hasn’t been able to swim off the boat for quite a few weeks. She was happy to get back to her old routine in this beautiful water.
While Isabela is not a park or preserve, it sure does look like one. We saw more fish here than anywhere we’ve been anywhere!
The rocky reefs had sea fans and small patches of coral, but the number of fish was amazing. Huge schools of several different species of fish everywhere.
I’m sorry that I don’t know the names of all the schools we saw, but I was most impressed by these little fish with a white spot near their tails. From a distance they tricked my eyes looking like squid. Another cool school of fish was the long skinny body of the houndfish, and then there was this awesome school of hundreds of two foot long, silver jacks.
We all took a 30 minute dinghy ride around the island. This is one of the many places that deserves a week or more to explore but you can never get that much time because the weather is bound to change driving all the boats out of the exposed anchorage seeking shelter from the wind and waves.
Marie spends plenty of time in her room digging though her belongings coming out with new combinations regularly.
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I went to give Topaz a haircut but the clippers weren’t working. Eric, the fixer guy, did this and that with them and then suggested I try a few hair on the back of his neck to see if they work. Oops, they worked alright and I carved a huge swath of hair off the back of his head, better keep going.
Marie, on the other hand, had been playing with pin curls, braids and twists.
In Puerto Vallarta, Roy got a spear gun for his early birthday present. He’s been anxious to try it out and Isabela is loaded with fish. After struggling for two days to get the loading, aiming and shooting technique with this weapon, he finally figured it out. His first fish was a hawkfish which was cheating because this guy just sat there in the rocks asking to be made into fish tacos. We later learned that in some areas they’ve been wiped out because of how easy it is to spear them. Oops, we won’t shoot one of these again, but it did make a great meal.
Next Roy took the challenge of the free swimming Pompano. The waters at Isabela are a bit deeper than we experienced in the Bahamas, but Roy has had a lot of practice and was able to toss three pompano in the bucket today. Luckily we have friends to share with because the fish is always best when cooked up the same day.
The next kid activity is a SCUBA dive.
Eric, Roy and Marie are just getting over a horrible cold with sinus congestion being a show stopper for divers. Marie had a bit of a struggle to clear her ears in the beginning but after getting it worked out we had a great dive. The girls did a great job sticking together and exploring.
Since the water is a bit deeper than we’re used to, I didn’t want to take our camera down. It’s only rated for 40 feet, not exactly a SCUBA camera, but Eric swam over the top of us taking photos from the surface. Check out his reflection in one of our air bubbles.
Our time in the marinas allowed quite a bit of growth on the hull and barnacles on unprotected areas like the prop shaft.
We would have loved to stay a few more days but the Sea of Cortez in calling and the 300 mile crossing is predicted to be glassy with no wind so we better go. In Mexico the weather conditions are either nasty wind and waves coming from the north, which we can’t use to sail north with anyway, or no wind, so we better go.
These calm weather windows are enjoyable passages. After several days of friends and activities, it’s nice to relax and read.
Marie dug out her old Halloween Costumes and toys.
Our anchor had trapped more squid on the two night passage. Now we’re in La Paz, Baja California South with Sea of Cortez adventures ahead of us.
