Isla Isabella and Chacala

We left Mazatlan late January 10th for an overnight sail 86 miles to arrive at Isla Isabella.  We sailed until 0400 then motored until we arrived at 9am January 11th.  We started sighting whales frolicking along the way.  We kept our distance.

Isla Isabella
Isla Isabella is a national park and bird sanctuary.  There's not much vegetation, and the anchorage is a  collapsed caldera.  The bay is small and the swells seem to roll in gently until they hit the rocks and explode in spray and foam.  Too bad we didn't take any photos.

It is a very small anchorage with known rocks, so with great care we dropped the hook over a patch of sand in 20 ft and spent the night.  Far from any town, the stars were brilliant, with the crashing surf invisible in the darkness.  A panga fished around us late into the evening, sometimes with a light, sometimes not.  It was eerry.

It was a rolly night, so we decided to press on to Chacala, where surely there was more protection from the swells.  (Ha!  fat chance)


Chacala
The next day, we sailed a few hours to Chacala, "the postcard".  A beautiful, palm fringed bay, a small quiet village, with a few hotels and beach bars...   Aaahhhh.  BUT, with bigger swells and crashing surf.  Since we didn't bother with a stern anchor, the wind often put us sideways to the swells, so we rolled even more than Isla Isabella.  But it was so beautiful, we stayed a second night.

By now, the water is very warm, so swimming off the boat is nice,.  However, swimming next to the boat the swells start looking a lot bigger.

This is it!  At last!

 

      Jarana in the background

Well, as it turned out, Chacala rolled even more that Isla Isabella and we were always cross ways to the swell.

More from Matazlan\

We spent 12 days in Mazatlan. There's a lot to see.  Here are some photos:

colorful buildings

 pangas

 men with hats

 culture and history

nightlife

 friendly people

Onward to our next adventure....

Happy New Year from Mazatlan

We had one of our best sails ever across the Sea of Cortez, a 32 hour, broad reach in 12-20kts under a full moon!  It was awesome.   In our enthusiasm, we arrived in Mazatlan late December 30th!  It was breezy and there was a goodly swell running.  Fortunately, the approach is wide open.  So with great care, we found the tiny entrance to El Cid and Marina Mazatlan.

We got a warm reception from Gilberto, the night security manager at Marina Mazatlan.  He liked our boat's name Jarana, which is a guitar from Veracruz, his home town.

There was a great New Years Eve potluck on the dock and we met a lot of folks.  It was a lot of fun.

Kathi: El Cid is the hero in the Spanish classic novel, El Cid.  I remember it as an incredibly boring book I had to read in college Spanish class.  I wonder why they named a hotel after him.   It's right up there with Candide, by Andre Gide, that we had to read in high school French class.  Did anybody else have to suffer through that stuff?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Posted by Bill


Thursday December 10th

As we sailed up to the anchorage at Isla San Francisco, the wind backed and we had to tack.  A short while later we tacked again and rolled up the jib.  Soon we found a nice spot in the anchorage and shot up head to wind. As the boat coasted to a stop, I dropped the main and Kathy started paying out the anchor.  For the first time on the trip, we had successfully sailed into an anchorage.  It wouldn't be the last time.  Once the boat was cleaned up and seemed to be secure, I jumped in the water, pulled on my swim mask and ducked my head under the water.  My worst fears were confirmed; the Max-prop was completely gone: blades, hub, nut, keeper, everything - completely gone.

Rewind a few days sooner.  While we waited for the dinghy and the canvas work, we kept busy around town.  On Sunday, they held a paella fest where about 14 teams competed for best tasting paella and best presentation.  We felt compelled to help with the taste testing.

Finally, we received our new hard bottomed dinghy and had mounted the wheels and got it ready for action.  The canvas work finished the next day, so it was time to get out of town for a while.  Our plans were to head north and work our way up to Puerto Escondito then return to La Paz for Christmas.  We got a late start but managed to get into our anchorage on Isla Espiritu Santo before dark.  The next morning we headed North for Isla San Francisco and had a nice sail in about 15 knots of wind.  As we approached the anchorage the wind started going light, so we rolled up the jib and put the engine in gear.  After a few seconds, the engine stopped pushing, surged ahead momentarily, then stopped altogether. I stuck my head down in the bilge and determined that the shaft was still attached and turning (and there were no leaks!), so it had to be a prop problem.  Thus we found ourselves sailing into an anchorage for the first time.

Kathy had an electronic copy of 48 North and found an email address for PYI.  We sent a Sailmail off to PYI and to an importer in San Diego.  Miraculously, everyone answered promptly and by the next morning a new prop was on the way to La Paz.

As the prop would take a week to arrive, we decided to press on, so Friday morning we pulled up the hook and made the short trip up to San Evaristo.  This wasn't a very comfortable anchorage and destinations further North seemed a little out of range without the security of engine propulsion, so after lunch we headed back to Isla San Francisco.  In retrospect this turned out to be a good decision because the wind came up quite a bit over the next two days, and Isla San Francisco was well protected.  We spent the next couple days exploring the Island, cooking up a fish one of the other cruising boats gave us, and having drinks with Dick, Sue and their guests on Mentor one evening.  Below, you can see the new dinghy with the wheels already installed and put to use.

After a total of four nights there, we headed south back to Partida Cove, which lies between Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida.  The wind was light when we sailed off our anchor, but we pressed on anyway, and soon we were on a broad reach in 12 knots of perfect sailing breeze.

The next three nights were spent at Partida Cove, where the wind howled for three days.  Our dinghy, which was hanging from the spinnaker halyard, kept trying to go airborne in the middle of the night.  It took several rounds of adjustments to get it to set still.

Finally, on Thursday the 17th, we sailed back down to the Magote anchorage off of Marina de la Paz.  This was by far the most challenging anchorage as there was 2 knots of current against 10 knots of breeze and there were lots of other boats crowded into the anchorage.  Add to the mix, a big sandbar right down the middle of the anchorage.  In any case, we got the hook set with just enough room to clear the other boats in the anchorage.

The next morning we took the dinghy ashore for coffee at Club Cruceros, and as we were hanging out, I got a call that the prop would be there in 30 minutes. Yahoo!

Shortly thereafter, we had the prop in hand and had made arrangements for a haulout that same day.  We lashed the dinghy to the side of the boat and used it as a tug to get the boat to the yard.

Unfortunately, the tide was going out and there was not a lot of water at the travel lift and we got stuck.  After much pushing and pulling, we got the boat unstuck, but not without a new dent in the side.  We pulled the boat across the way and tied up for the night.  Saturday morning we got an earlier start and the haulout went without a hitch.

The boatyard took care of the damage and installed the prop.  They observed that the original key that held the prop on the shaft was bronze and probably wasn't strong enough.  They made a new key from stainless and got the new prop installed.  I watched every step of the process, as I was nervous about losing another prop, and everything was done to my satisfaction.

Since the tide had dropped quite a bit by the time the work was done, we had to spend the night on the boat in the yard.

Sunday morning, the yard owner and a couple of their workers came down and launched the boat for us on the next high tide.  Try to get a yard to do that for you in the states!

They let us raft up to a boat in their marina for the night, then Monday morning we moved back to Marina Palmira, where we remained through Christmas.

On Christmas eve, we had a nice dinner out with our friends from Done Dealing and Merry J.  On Christmas day, some cruisers in Marina Palmira had arranged for a tent in front of the marina office, where we and about 40 other cruisers had a nice traditional Christmas dinner with Turkey, Ham and all the trimmings.  We were stuffed, but still had room for dessert.  Yum, Yum.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a sandbar in the middle of the Magote anchorage in La Paz.  To get to the anchorage, you have to follow a long narrow channel from two miles or so to the north.  This poor fellow decided to take a shortcut.  Notice how high the waterline is?  He sat there all of boxing day until the next high tide at four in the morning.

It's now December 28th and it's time to move on. For the first time since leaving Seattle, we are getting rained on, so we're dragging our feet on our departure, but we want to be in Mazatlan for New Years. We'll leave as soon as the rain stops. . .

Round Round, Git Around, I Git Around ....

La Paz, BCS  Mexico  7 Deciembre

In San Diego we purchased a couple folding bikes from a guy we on the local VHF net.  They're small and red and look like clown bikes.  After cramming them on the boat for more than a month, we're finally getting our money's worth:  we ride them everywhere.  Kathi got a couple colorful plastic baskets for groceries.  A couple days ago she got two flat tires while on the way home from the grocery store.  Fortunately, Marina Palmira has a shuttle that was on its way back to the marina about that time.  It was her first ride in a car since October 25th in San Diego!

Bill's gotten frisky and has been trying to do wheelies!

Isla Espiritu Santo , 2 Deciembre            

We finally busted out of La Paz for a few days, and a had a very quiet and peaceful visit in Bahia San Gabriel at the south end of the island.  Moreover, we even had breeze to sail up and back.  We used the opportunity to test Bill's modifications to the Sailomat windvane.   (Mods were successful.)  Anyway, without a good dinghy, we didn't even try to go ashore, so the visit was peaceful to the point of being dull.  I guess we missed the "big city" of La Paz.

Ham License, La Paz, BCS Mexico

Some things just take a while.

Mexico is one of the few countries that does not automatically grant reciprocal privileges for Radio Amateurs. So, I do some research on line and download a license application.  I print two copies and collect the other relevant documents that are needed.

I discover that the address I have does not show up on the tourist map that I have, so the next day, I ask around and I'm assured that the SCT office is just off the map to the North.

The following day, I get a late start and head to the SCT office on the North end of La Paz.  As in the US, government offices are located in the low rent (i.e. not next to the marina) part of town.  It's about a 25 minute bike ride to get there.  This is complicated by the fact that only about every fifth street is marked with a street name and by the fact that the address I have is actually incorrect.

Eventually, I zero in on a building with lots of antennas.  This is the place, but it's 4:30 in the afternoon.  The guard doesn't speak English, but he finds someone who does, and I'm left to believe that the office that I'm looking for will re-open at 5:00.  This doesn't seem too strange, since many places around town close for siesta and stay open late.  The English speaker gets in a car and drives off.  I wait until a few minutes after 5:00 and walk in.  I learn that no, the radio license office is actually closed for the day and that they are open from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

The next morning seems to get consumed with tasks around the boat, but I ride back up to the SCT office about noon.  I show the application that I had downloaded from the internet to the nice woman in the office, and she begs for a copy.  It turns out that my copy is much better than her forms which have been copied over and over.  I gladly give her my spare copy.  I learn that it will take 3 weeks for the license request to be processed because it has to go to Mexico city and back.  As I don't plan on being in La Paz for that long and don't yet have an address that I can use in three weeks, I decide to postpone my application.  At this point, I actually consider not bothering with the license (or using the radio on the Ham bands for that matter)

Several days later, we have made a reservation at the marina in La Cruz (near Puerto Vallarta) and they have agreed that I can receive mail there.  Once again, I gather up all my documents, hop on the bike and pedal up to the SCT office.  The same nice woman helps me with my application, then hands be another form.

In Mexico, it seems that most government office do not accept payment.  You must go to the bank and make a deposit directly to the government account.  This is also true for immigration and customs, but we've used an agent for that up until now.  I pedal my bike to the heart of downtown (high rent) where all the banks are concentrated and find the Banamex office.  Inside, I take a number and take a seat in the lobby.  This seems much more civilized than standing in a long line, but I can't help but think of the long waits at the driver's license agency in Seattle.  My number comes up quickly, and I am efficiently processed, my form is stamped, and I'm given a receipt for my generous donation to the Mexican government.

I pedal back to the SCT office one last time.  The nice woman gives me a receipt which shows that I have paid for a Ham License and informs me that, with this in hand, I can start using my radio now; I don't have to wait for the actual license to arrive in the mail.  My call sign will be XF1-KF7EJD.

Two days later, I actually go to make a call on the radio and discover that the antenna tuner isn't tuning.  I guess tomorrow's boat project will be fixing the tuner . . . .

Bill

Submitted by Kathy with some edits by Bill

Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria



On our last night at Turtle Bay, they held a beach party / potluck that is famous for catastrophic dinghy landings.  This year the seas were calm, so there wasn't much excitement.

The trip to Bahia Santa Maria was uneventful, with some lovely moonlight sailing.  We saw a few whales along the way, but steered clear of them given the recent news of J-World's sinking.  (Bill:  Early on, there was a lot of misinformation floating around about the sinking and I am guilty of repeating some of that.  It turns out they saw the whale just in front of them as they were surfing down a wave and couldn't avoid it.  The hull was ruptured at the base of the rudder post and they filled with water and sank. They didn't see the whale again after the initial contact.  For the whole story, see lectronic latitudes.  It will also be covered in the December Latitude 38.)

Bahia Sta Maria is larger than Turtle Bay, but the nearest town is about 40 miles away by water.  There was a HaHa party on the beach near the mouth of the outfall from a lagoon.  In the ebbing tide, it was challenging to reach the party if you landed on the wrong side of the outfall.  After schleping the dinghy up the beach to where we thought we could ford, we ended up schleping it back to the water, and travelling around to the far side of the stream.   The locals put on a feast of fish, prawns, rice & beans (but ran out).  It was still good.  A great band played as well.

Bahia Sta Maria to Cabo SL

We had light breezes, but were able to sail much of the way.  The moon rose much later, so the starlight was better. Many boats stayed in sight of us, so we seemed to have lots of company.  Also, several cruise ships passed through the fleet in the night, so that kept us alert.

We finally had 24 hours where no fleece was required - a major turning point in the trip.  We even stopped for an ocean swim before landing in Cabo.

The anchorage at Cabo was frothing with jetskis, parasail boats and water taxis during the afternoons.  But the rest of the time, it was OK.  There were 3 cruise ships in port when we arrived.  After 2 left, the 3rd managed to back up and turn around in a very small space.  It was really impressive.  Bad news:  the inflatable floor on our dinghy blew up, and lost all its rigidity so we depended on the panga drivers for transportation to and from shore.  Strangely, the price seemed to get higher every day. 

Mark roamed the city and provided valuable intell on where to find beer and ceviche.  We spent 3 days there and capped it off with the HaHa awards party, which was lots of fun.  Awards were given in many categories, such as "worst snorer" and "naked sailing".  Candidates presented themselves up front to compete for the prize.  Imagine our surprise when Mark went up front to compete for the best naked sailing story.  (A couple won the prize)

Our friend Stuart Brunell was visiting with his family and invited us for a delicious spaghetti dinner at their condo at our anchorage.  (Thanks Stuart!)

Cabo to Los Frailes

We left Cabo in the afternoon of November 9th and stopped a few miles later in San Jose del Cabo where we anchored in a beautiful bay.  Our friends Gloria and Michael from Paikia Mist stopped by for a chat.

Nov 10th, the next day, we moved on to Los Frailes.  As in most of the next anchorages, the travelling circus that is the HaHa fleet showed up in the same places.  But it was good to see friendly and familiar faces along the way.

We spent 3 sun drenched, breezy days at Los Frailes.    On Nov 11th, Bill ferried Mark ashore and left him by the side of a dusty road with a couple beers and a bottle of water to hitchhike to San Jose to catch his flight home.  (Bill:  Picture a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western, with a dusty rutted road and a sparse ground cover of cactus.  The sun is directly overhead and even the rattlesnakes are in hiding.  I'd have felt more guilty if I didn't know how resourceful he could be.)  He told us later that the local water-truck driver gave him a ride to the first of a series of small towns where he got rides or the bus back to the airport at San Jose del Cabo.

Bill and I limped around the point in our injured dinghy to the next bay to snorkle the reef, but we didn't get far enough for the good stuff.  The landscape is surprisingly green in this area and the mountainous terrain looks kind of like the northwest (from a distance).

Nov 13th: Next stop:  Los Muertos.  Meurtos is a small bay again filled with the usual suspects (HaHa-ers).  This bay has been targeted by developers and there is a nice restaurant, a golf course and a few lavish mansions under construction nearby.  (Bill:  The developers didn't like the name Los Muertos (the dead) so they have dubbed it Los Suenos (The Dreams)).  A big wind came up during the night, and we needed to keep tabs on our position, but we didn't drag. 

 

Saturday, Nov 16th:  After one night at Los Muertos, we continued north up Ceravallos Passage .  A fresh breeze filled in out of the north, and after seeing some of our friends sailing into it, we figured we could do it too.  We had a lovely sail, and Gloria & Michael took this photo of us as we crossed tacks.  (Thanks Gloria and Michael!)

As we rounded the point into San Lorenzo Channel, the wind lightened and we were escorted by a school of frisky friendly dolphins.   They rode under the bow and took turns rubbing their backs under the boat!  They stayed with us long enough that we starting given them names.  What a thrill.

As the sun set, we made our way down the narrow shallow dog-leg channel to Marina de la Paz to a great end slip on the outer dock.  Along with our friend Jay on Done Dealing, we were able to order a new dinghy from San Diego through another guy that got a good price and had expeditious import connections.  MLP is a cruiser community with all the services you can imagine.  The Club Cruceros conducts a morning net on VHF, covering arrivals and departures, emergencies, club announcements, trading, mutual assistance, etc.  Boats all over the area participate.  Michael from Paikia Mist dove and put new zincs on the shaft.  (Thanks again Michael!)

We've gotten lots of use out of our bikes here.  They're red with small wheels (clown bikes).  It's too small for Bill, so he looks all legs as he winds down the street.  The streets are in fairly good condition here, and many drivers are very courteous to us.  (Bill: I get a lot of funny looks when I ride around town.)

After a few days, we finally got around to finding a canvas-maker to make us a new dodger, bimini and connector awning to cover the cockpit.  Genero gave us a quote, got his metal worker Ernesto on the job, and the bimini frame was done in 36 hours.  They speak English much better than we speak Spanish, so everything seems to going smoothly.

At Behan's advice, I brought my own Sunbrella awning material from the US.  (Thanks Behan!).  It's much more expensive here so that was good.  However, I wasn't able to get enough, so I still had to buy some at $76/yd.   Yikes!!!! 

Anyhow, that work is moving right along.  We'll see how it turns out.  The canvas and stainless steel are more expensive here, but the labor is much cheaper.  So overall the cost should be a lot less.

Our friends Terry and Rob Moore, from the J-42 sistership Merry J, invited us to dinner on their boat with Gail and Jay.  That evening was such a treat.  (Thanks Terry and Rob!)

Nov 25th.  A guy came to the boat peddling large prawns. I bought a kg.  They were terrific.  We anchored out that night, cooked the prawns, drank a bottle of wine and enjoyed a nice quiet night on the hook.

Nov 26th Thanksgiving Day.  We upped anchor and headed for Marina Palmira, a couple miles away.  After various mysterious sounds, we discovered the engine had overheated.  We killed the engine, unfurled the jib and sailed to the next marina.  Fortunately, they had a convenient slip for us and marina staff on the dock to help us land and we sailed in just fine.  Bill isolated the problem and we walked on shore the for the fabulous Club Cruceros Thanksgiving Dinner, and made a few new friends in the meantime.

More from Bill

While we've been stuck in La Paz, we're getting to know some of the other cruisers.  It's amazing to see how everyone is willing to  help each other out.  I spent a few hours helping out a fellow cruiser with his Wi-Fi connection and have received help with other boat issues from others.

La Paz is a town that pulls you in and is full of ex-pats who came here to cruise the area and never left.  When you hear someone on the morning net trying to sell an Olds Cutlass Supreme, you know that they've been here awhile.

The town seems to have a fairly high standard of living, but it is also being invaded by US corporations.  Both the Sears and the True Value hardware store are nicer that anything I've seen in the states.  The town also has a Walmart and a Sam's club and there is some evidence that they are hurting some of the local businesses.  The locals are hard working and are extremely patient with our butchered Spanish.  I was even able to get my hair cut the way I wanted it.


It's amazing (or perhaps shocking) how much we've become dependent on the internet and cell phones.  After too much timing struggling to get a good wi-fi connection, we finally broke down and bought a Telcel cellular modem.  We can hook this up to a Cradlepoint wi-fi access point and we can share the connection.  We now have a great internet connection that should work anywhere there is cell phone coverage in Mexico.  Unlike the US, they will sell you service a day, week or month at a time and no contract is required.  We just have to recharge the sim card at any bank, Telcel store or OXXO (a Mexican convenience store more common than Starbucks in Seattle).  With this, we now are able to check our svjarana email on a regular basis.

On the wind vane side of things, I discovered that the oar was not centered on it's post, which might explain why it always was pulling to one side or the other and not just tracking behind the boat.  I've modified it with a stack of shims made from a cut up placemat, and the thing seems to now be properly centered and isn't loose and sloppy like the original design.  It seems to track quite a bit better when under power.  Now we just need to go sailing to test it out.

We're about to head out to the Paella fest and with luck tomorrow we will go find a nice quiet spot to sit on the hook for a couple days while we wait for the dinghy and canvas work to finish.