Sailing Encore

√ Checklist for departure

1. Scopolamine patch on √
2. Instruments on √
3. Hatches secure √
4. PBJ and snack bag prepared  √
5. Life raft and ditchbag up top and secured  √
6. Last minute weather check √
7. Sun screen √
8. DEET spray  √

Adios Banderas Bay and Puerto Vallarta! We motor sail out of the marina and across the bay then turn right and set a course North to San Blas. Whales breach and spout and dolphins pressure surf on the bow of the boat.

The wind is on the bow so we continue to motor sail and Vernon puts out the fishing line. After a couple hours of trolling he catches a bonita and we throw it back. But that makes Fish: 2, Us: 1

San Blas is a fishing and agricultural town with a beautiful long white sand beach and  buggy biting jejenes (no-see-ems) so we anchor a mile off shore. And watch a beautiful sunset.

The next morning we are early off the anchor to sail to Isla Isabella. But first we have to sail parallel to the long beach for hours and avoid the hundreds of Panga fishing boats. Some just fish with poles from their boats. Others set out 200 feet of net –sometimes between two boats. We maneuver past the bulk of them and are almost free of the long coast line when I see another panga and decide to take a picture.
They wave at me. I wave back. Then they start waving both arms over head. Frantically. I look forward and see the tiny floating net line straight across my path. I do a slam right hand turn and end up inches from the line, parallel to the net. My maneuver brings Vernon up top from plotting course below. And we motor toward the shoreline to the end of the net (marked by a bit bigger float) and turn left. OMG! Take a deep breath. I can hardly believe I actually escaped that one. We continue on for the next few hours at one point surrounded by ocean fog. Yes it is 80 degrees out and fog as thick as pea soup. But it breaks up quickly and we arrive at Isla Isabella about noon. Isla Isabella is a small island about 1 mile long and is a National Wildlife Preserve. It is completely inhabited by the majestic frigate birds’ nesting grounds. There are also colonies of blue-footed boobies and brown boobies with lime green feet. Jacques Cousteau and National Geographic both filmed specials about the unspoiled nature of this bird island. The rock formations around the island provide lots of habitat for tropical fish so as soon as we drop anchor we dive right in! I use my GoPro to catch some shots.

Later about 6 pm, before we lose the evening light, we pull up anchor and proceed to head north again toward Mazatlan. As we pull away from beautiful Isabella we are entertained by a young humpback whale doing every acrobatic move you can think of as he travels south (probably looking for a mate). What a sight to see so up close. Our sail will be about 14 hours through the night, expecting to reach Mazatlan around 7-8 am. The nice thing about this overnighter is the (almost) full moon will be joining us all night. And it is not nearly as cold as our first months’ overnighters. The wind is mild and pretty much on the nose so we motor sail with the main up to help stabilize through the 3-4 foot swells. The night passes easily with each of us taking turns napping in the cockpit. It gets dewy and wet so I wear my foul weather pants and dance and sing in the moon light and of course, eat my share of PBJ sandwiches.
As we approach Mazatlan we see many shrimping boats out in the early hours working the water. Soon we see other boats on the radar and hear them over the radio talking with the port captain. A large tanker named Silver Dubai is ahead of us trying to get permission to enter into the port and a very large cruise ship, Norwegian Jewel, is coming up from behind us also wanting to get to its berth in the downtown cruise ship marina. And we say a thankful prayer for radar because instead of the sun coming up at 7am we are surrounded by FOG – this is thick San Francisco Sourdough, Ghirardelli Square fog. And we watch the tanker turn into port on the radar. Then the cruise ship is catching up to us and closing in. Vernon gets out the fog horn and uses it. (who would have ever thought we would need a fog horn in Mexico…)

We begin to wonder if the cruise ship sees us on radar or maybe they have a docking time they need to meet, because they are headed on a collision course with us. So to play it smart we turn around and head slowly south the exact way we came from to let the cruise ship cross and get to port. Once clear, we maneuver our way to our marina entrance and enter the channel to our slip. The fog remains for the next few hours preventing tourist day sails from leaving the marina. By the time it completely lifts we have had a dip in the pool, ate some lunch and are taking an afternoon nap.

Friday we decide to go into town via bus. It has been over 30 years since we were here before- Vernon was racing on a friend’s sailboat in Mexorc. And I came along to relax. We walk the town’s historic district with the large Mercado Centro -full of fruit, veggies and meats. And plenty of stalls of Mexican trinkets and souvenirs.

Then we go to Plazuela Machado and eat at one of the quaint sidewalk cafes.

I even get to answer the question they asked in my high school spanish class.

We walk along the waterfront then head over to catch a taxi back to the marina (couldn’t find a bus headed to the north marina area) and relax in the big pool to cool down.

Today we have cleaned the boat inside and out and filled the fuel tanks and done the wash. Vernon checked the weather and the best opportunity for crossing the gulf to the east side of Baja is tomorrow! So we take a picnic dingy ride back into the marina channel and enjoy the views. Tomorrow we will set sail early – before the fog locks down the marina – and head northwest toward La Paz. Should be a 24-30 hour sail. Yipee!