In the Sea of Cortez, stern anchoring was never required. The anchorages were will protected from swell, and they weren’t very crowded. So, our first opportunity to try it was in Chacala, our second anchorage on the mainland. The reason for needing a stern anchor there was the fact that the point was not very predominant so swell would wrap around and enter the bay at a different angle than the wind. So if you don’t stern anchor you end up with the swell hitting you on the beam, which just isn’t very comfortable. There are many ways to to effectively get your stern anchor out, and we elected to go stern anchor out first. So, we picked our spot on Lady Carolina’s port side, turned Exodus into the swell, and dropped the stern anchor. Brenden’s job was to pay out the stern anchor rode, while Alex’s job was to man the bow anchor. I was at the helm, and Tim was directing, and going wherever needed. As Brenden let out the stern anchor I moved Exodus slowly forward into the swell until we were at the point we wanted to drop the bow anchor. Then, Alex let that go, and I backed up slowly until we were were tightly set between the two anchors. The trickiest part was backing up, because Brenden had to then pull in the stern anchor line at just the right pace so it wouldn’t foul the starboard propeller. He nailed it. This was one of those times we were very thankful for our extended crew. Alex and Brenden are showing how they are capable of contributing as well as any crew member we could have on board.
Chacala was magical. Maybe it was the stark contrast of the lush, green, tropical, anchorage compared to what we had grown accustomed to on the Baja Peninsula, but all I can say is that it was jaw dropping dramatic. Or maybe it was that we hadn’t been in surf for so long and the boys were able to spend hours each day boogie boarding and even learning to surf. Or maybe it was the wonderful beach that just beckoned you to relax all day and ignore all of your boat chores. Or maybe it was the great friends we were with enjoying nice meals ashore. Or maybe all of those things…
Depart Matachen Bay Dec 14 at 1135 – Arrive Chacala Dec 14 at 1630Stern anchoring was required at Chacala because there was little protection from swell from the predominantly northern winds this time of year
Logbook – December 14, 2013 (Matanchen Bay to Chacala)
Amazing whales en route – slapping tail and breaching
2 sierras – B gave one to Joel
Sleepover & a movie on Exodus
Brenden actually took these whale shots because I was paralyzed by it and didn’t want to miss anything while I went to go get a camera. Thanks Brenden!
Logbook – December 15, 2013 (Chacala)
Daily Notes
Beach day! Beautiful Chacala beach lunch (camarones) at a palapa.
Boys boogie boarded for hours
Dinner/snack at “Vino Bar” with disappointing vino
Email to family and friends dated December 15, 2013
Subject: San Blas and Chacala
We stayed 2 nights in San Blas (well, actually Matanchen Bay, which is just south of San Blas) and now we are about 20 miles further south at Chacala. San Blas was a lot of fun. We took a tour in a panga up the Tovaro River where we saw amazing wildlife: birds, iguanas, turtles, crocs. We stopped at a Crocodile “zoo” which was really quite depressing, but there was a cage with a couple possums next to a cage with a bobcat and the curious possums and the bobcat who clearly wanted to eat them could have kept the boys entertained all day. There was also a stop at a restaurant with a fresh water pool with a rope swing and I’ll let you guess who had more fun with that, Tim or the boys. We had enough time to take the bus into town and see a little bit of San Blas, but we had to be back off the beach before dusk so we didn’t get eaten alive by the no-see-ums. Chacala is a picture perfect tropical anchorage… we have clearly left Baja and arrived on the mainland. There’s light surf, so we’ll probably try some surfing today. Because the northern point of the bay is not very prominant, the swells wrap around it and come in here without much dampening, so we had to set a stern anchor to keep our bow pointed into the swell, and while it’s pretty bouncy it’s not nearly as bad as if we were taking the swell beam on. I have a cell signal now, not sure about internet. Love and miss you all,
-D.
At 12/15/2013 1:45 PM (utc) our position was 21°09.72’N 105°13.65’W
Lunch at a palapaTrue Blue V and Lady Carolina (both Island Packets)
Logbook – December 16, 2013 (Chacala)
Daily Notes
Checked in w/ Port Captain. Discovered our TIP (Temporary Import Permit) has expired
Boys played in the surf
Minecraft & rum after dinner w/ LC
The boys heading to the beach on their surfboards
Email to family and friends dated December 16, 2013
Subject: Visits
Well, we will be in Banderas Bay within a few days, and after that we will be in the vicinity of the Puerto Vallarta international airport for several weeks. This would be an easy place to fly into if anyone is interested in visiting… -D.
At 12/15/2013 1:45 PM (utc) our position was 21°09.72’N 105°13.65’W
(Spoiler alert: we will get some visitors…)
Logbook – December 17, 2013 (Chacala)
Daily Notes
Computer day – Tim showed me how to embed photos in my essays w/ html
Afternoon beach – Steve injured boogie boarding
Logbook – December 18, 2013 (Chacala)
Daily Notes
D/T – hike to the crater. Help w/ directions from Mar de Jade
Boys – dinner @ Choc Mool w/ Joel and Kyle
D/T – dinner at Bernard’s w/ LC & TBV. 2 bottles of vino tinto for 3. Vodka tonics w/ LC @ Exodus. Who has the conch?
Dinghy on the rocksTim and I went for a hike up to see a volcanic craterThe view of the anchorage from up on the hillThe crater. We talked to a guy nearby who told us it was like a swamp and that there were alligators in it.
We made a stop in Matanchen Bay with the main goal of going on a jungle tour up the Rio Tovaro. This area was legendary for No-See-Um activity, and this was enough for me to protest a bit about even going here, given my previous experience with No-See-Ums. However, Lady Carolina had done the tour the previous season, so they gave us a full briefing on how we needed to do it in order to minimize the damage done to our bodies by the no-see-ums. Here was the drill:
#1) Anchor as far out in the bay as possible in hopes that the no-see-ums don’t find you. The funny thing is that in this area of the coast it shallows very gradually, and we were in 40 ft of water when we were still 2 miles out. But we did anchor pretty far out, and the good thing (for us) was there was already one other boat there so we anchored on the outside of them a ways, so that they could be the sacrificial boat. (This boat turned out to be s/v Moments, a fun, young couple that we ended up meeting later on in La Cruz). Lady Carolina and True Blue anchored outside of us.
#2) Close up the boat. We closed all hatches, portals, and our sliding salon door before dropping anchor. We suffered in the sauna, but this was better than being eaten alive.
#3) Dress to protect yourself for the morning beach landing. This includes long sleeves, pants, and socks, and tuck your pants into your socks. OK, we didn’t quite follow this advice. First of all, Alex doesn’t even have any pants that fit him except the jeans we bought for Danna’s wedding. Second, I knew it would be a wet beach surf landing, and I didn’t see any reason to get our socks and pants all wet, as long as we got off the beach quickly. Tim, Brenden, and I wore pants that we could roll up for the landing, and then we high-tailed off the beach as quickly as we could. Tim had to linger a bit longer to arrange to leave our dinghy in front of one of the palapas, but he escaped the beach with minimal damage.
#4) Be back to the beach well before dusk, since bug activity is the worst around dawn and dusk. We were able to manage this easily even packing in a full day of jungle tour, bus ride to San Blas, exploring a bit of San Blas, and then taxi ride back.
#5) Do not pay the palapa who watched your dinghy by staying and eating at the restaurant, since it is imperative to get off the beach before dusk. Pay them cash, and get out of there. Check.
#6) When you are back at the boat, jump into the water fully clothed to kill any no-see-ums who have attached themselves to you and/or your clothing. OK, here we deviated a bit as well. We simply undressed on the swim step and bagged up our clothes and sealed it tight, then we jumped in and rinsed ourselves off (except for me, I went straight to the showere and rinsed off there.) We left the clothes bagged until we got to our next laundry opportunity.
So, all of this worked pretty well, and if we had any no-see-um bites at all, it was in the single digits, and manageble. As we were leaving the bay the next morning, True Blue radioed to let us know that they discovered tons of no-see-ums under their cockpit cushions, so although they didn’t penetrate into the cabins, they definitely found the boats and started setting up shop in their cockpit. Their cushions are dark colored, which apparently the bugs preferred. So, we did an inspection of our own cockpit, and they were in or under our cushions, maybe since they are lighter colored, but there was some dive gear on the floor of the cockpit under which we had our own little infestation. Thankfully we got the heads up from True Blue and we were able to exterminate the little devils before they started chomping on us.
We had a great day on the jungle tour with mimimal impact from the dreaded no-see-ums
We anchored in Matanchen Bay, which is just south of San Blas. We didn’t stay very long because this place is notorious for no-see-ums and mosquitos. We spent an amazing day going on a jungle tour up the Rio Tovaro and doing a little bit of exploring San Blas.
Depart Isla Isabel Dec 12 at 0600 – Arrive Matanchen Bay Dec 12 at 1419Matanchen Bay is a large bay near San Blas, and we anchored far out to try to avoid the mosquitos and no-see-ums.
Logbook – December 12, 2013 (Isla Isabel to Matanchen Bay)
Closed up the boat to keep the no-see-ums out. So hot! Flashbacks of summer.
Steve/T/Kyle – Shore excursion to arrange our jungle tour
This blue footed fellow was nagged by our fishing line and had to hang out with us while he dried outI think we need to get updated charts (this shows us anchored on land). Spoiler alert – a year later we were navigating with satellite imagery.
Logbook – December 13, 2013 (Matanchen Bay)
Daily Notes
No-see-ums so far so good
Jungle tour – Steve kept apologizing b/c it wasn’t as good as last year
We saw birds, crocs. turtles, iguanas. Croc sanctuary was sad. The boys like the possums
La Tovaro Springs – restaurant & rope swings! Boys (including Tim) loved the rope swing
Fast panga trip back, caught the bus to San Blas to the plaza
Fresh veggies at the market (asparagus, green beans, and mushrooms!) Beers and ice cream
“Ruins” up on the hill – 18th and 19th century Spanish church & fort
Taxis back. Mmmmm sautéed mushrooms
An early morning departure for the jungle tourAdvertising everywhereThe road between the beach and the river (where we picked up the jungle tour) is lined with palapas selling banana and coconut breadThank you for your visit, have a happy tripAll aboard the panga, ready for the tourWe stopped at a crocodile “refuge” but it was really quite sad, like a small zooBaby crocsThis kitty really wanted to eat the possums in the cage next doorThe possums kept the boys entertainedCarolina really wanted some ham, but these guys were a little on the lean sideRope swing!!!After the jungle tour we caught a bus into San BlasTim and Steve wanted to go get a beer, and I suggested they take the kids to get ice cream too, while the rest of us hit the market. What good fortune that they found a bar right net to an ice cream shop.RelaxingHeading to the 18th/19th century Spanish ruins on the hillThis way to the ruinsThe old church of San BlasThere’s only about a 40 ft drop on the other side of that windowEveryone do the “Exodus Pose”What’s left of an old Spanish fortA photo shoot in progressA hurricane in 2002 destroyed some of the fort so they have recreated some of it. Looks pretty cheesy.
I have, unfortunately, supported that statistic. I’ve had several minor burns on my arms when moving things in and out of the oven, but I really did it to myself while we were in the anchorage at Isla Isabel. After preparing the coffee in the french press, I managed to spill the entire piping hot contents all over the counter and all over the floor. This was a tragedy on many levels: first, there was now no coffee to drink and I’d have to brew another pot. Second, the contents that spilled everyone included all of the coffee grounds, so an insanely tedious clean up job was required. Third, and here’s where the burn part comes in, just as the hot liquid spilled all over the counter, Exouds pitched in the swell at bit and I lost my balance. For some reason, I caught myself on the counter where the liquid had pooled with the underside of my left wrist, where the skin is nice and tender. It turned out to be a second degree burn that blistered and peeled and took a fair amount of care to keep comfortable and dry and uninfected. But would you believe that I made another pot of coffee BEFORE I cleaned up the mess and BEFORE I treated the burn? I just love coffee that much.
Isla Isabel is a very old volcanic island with a crater in the middle. There are probably way too many photos in this album, but I was having a lot of trouble down selecting. Isla Isabel is known as the Galapagos of Mexico, and hopefully you will see why.
Isla Isabel – the best protection is from north winds, and we lucked out with mild weather while we were there
Logbook – December 9, 2013 (Isla Isabel)
Daily Notes
Awesome hike around the island. Boobies, frigates, and iguanas. Amazing views. W/ LC, Dazzler, TBV.
Potluck on Exodus. Leanne – amazing lasagna. Met Tisha Baby – Richard and Pam
Email to family and friends dated December 9, 2013
Subject: Made it
We pulled into Isla Isabel around 3pm yesterday. We were the first of our group to arrive. It’s a rocky bottom here, and we are used to nice sandy bottoms, so Tim was in the water diving our anchor when everyone else started getting here, so one by one he dove everyone else’s anchor too. Leann called it Tim’s valet parking service. We caught a couple Dorado en route so we are going to have everyone over tonight for a cookout. We were all too tired to do anything last night, well, except the kids, they go together with Lady Carolina to watch a movie. We explore the island today, so we’ll see about this “Galapagos of Mexico.”
-D.
At 12/8/2013 2:51 PM (utc) our position was 22°15.93’N 106°28.08’W
There is an abandoned research center. While we were there some pangas showed up and the people camped at the research center.These are manmade artificial reefsFish campI wonder if Tim has lens envyThis is called “Stinky Lagoon” on the chartWith these outhouses nearby it may be appropriateThe volcanic craterDazzler Dan gave Brenden a brief photography lessonThe blue footed boobies were a bit skittish, so it was hard to get close to themThis momma just stayed perched on her nest as we ate our lunchBrenden made a nest of his own
T/B/Craig/Steve – spear fish – 3 “mystery fish” and 8 langosta
Amazing snorkel – Alex/Kyle – 2 parrot fish + 1 green jack
Twitchy fish – unnerving!
Dinner on Exodus with TBV & LC, Leanne’s amazing video of Isla Isabel
We had a seafood feast!The boys had to do some night swimming to unwrap the float line from around one of the props
Logbook – December 11, 2013 (Isla Isabel)
Daily Notes
Island adventure to see the baby boobies & the lighthouse. Lots of blue footed boobies @ the lighthouse. Tremendous views.
Family snorkel – circumnavigated the island. Alex – rainbow runner. B – green jack. T – lots of videos.
Clam/fish chowder. To bed early.
Email to family and friends dated December 11, 2013
Subject: At least one more day at Isla Isabel
This island is amazing! We hiked the island day before yesterday, and hung out with the frigates and the blue footed boobies. (Jen, I was wearing my running shoes with the bright blue coloring, so Carolina tried to get a photo of me with the boobies, but they wouldn’t quite let me get that close.) Yesterday, we snorkled, and I think it might have been the best so far in our whole trip. Today, I want to go back on the island with my better camera to see if I can snap some better photos. We’ve had two huge cookouts on Exodus the last 2 nights, the first with all the Dorado we caught on passage and then yesterday the guys speared 3 huge mystery fish and some lobsters. And to top it off, Alex and Kyle speared a couple parrot fish, so Carolina also made some ceviche. Not too shabby. Love and miss you all!
-D.
At 12/9/2013 1:25 PM (utc) our position was 21°50.60’N 105°52.94’W
A very small church on a hillThey wouldn’t say what was so funnyThe frigates were everywhere!Tim tried to coax this momma into showing us what she had in her nest. She didn’t budge.Love birdsThis momma showed us her eggPlease no playing loud music at the iguanas
On my last trip to the states I brought back a new VHF radio with an AIS receiver. We didn’t buy an AIS receiver because we thought we needed one. The decision path was much more indirect. We decided that we wanted an VHF remote microphone at the helm for easy communications when we are underway. The main unit is inside at the nav station, so when we were underway we would take a handheld out to the helm and leave it there to use. However, the range on the handheld is not nearly as far as the main radio, so that would put us at a disadvantage if we ever needed to make an important call from the helm. Of course, there was no optional remote microphone for our VHF radio model, so in order to make this happen, we needed to buy a whole new radio. In doing the research, Tim discovered that it wasn’t any more expensive to buy a radio with built in AIS reception than without, so why not get the one with AIS.
For those that don’t know, AIS is an automated location indicator. All of the large ships are required to trasmit AIS, and many pleaser yachts are doing it now as well. So, instead of relying solely on visual sightings during the day and radar at night when looking for other vessels, the AIS transmission will tell you the location, course, speed, closest point of approach, time to closest point of approach, and lots of other vessel information as well. So, it’s a handy thing to have to avoid getting run down by a freighter in the middle of the night.
We only have the AIS receiver, not a transmitter, so other boats can’t see us. But at least we can see them. It was fun to have this when we were buddy boating across the sea, because the other boats were were with were transmitting AIS. I’m sure they didn’t appreciate that we were in stealth mode, and they couldn’t see us.
Lady Carolina and Dazzler AIS signals on our chartplotter display
This was a 2.5 day passage from Play Bonanza (on Isla Espiritu Santo) to Isla Isabel. We had just the right amount of wind. Not too strong and not too light, and we were able to sail the entire way. We caravanned with Lady Carolina, Dazzler, and True Blue V, and we kept an open VHF channel so we were able to easily stay in contact.
Depart Blaya Bonanza, Isla Espiritu Santo Dec 6 at 0915 – Arrive Isla Isabel Dec 8 at 1516
Logbook – December 6, 2013 (Isla Espiritu Santo to Isla Isabel)
Passage Log Highlights
0915 Depart Bonanza
0926 Engines off. Main + genoa
1145 Fish on! Skipjack 😦
1536 Main (1 reef) + genoa (1 reef)
Daily Notes
Caught a nice dorado – 4 ft, 20 lb. Came off the stringer 😦
Caught another dorado!
Email to family and friends dated December 6, 2013
Subject: Mainland Bound
Hi all, We left La Paz late yesterday morning and anchored here at Playa Bonanza, which is on the SE side of Isla Espiritu Santo (near La Paz). In about an hour we will be departing for the mainland, with a stop at Isla Isabel (the “Galapagos of Mexico”) if the weather cooperates. Right now it’s gray and raining, but the winds are still right, so we are still a go. We will be caravaning with 3 other boats: Lady Carolina, Dazzler (single hander from Marina del Rey), and True Blue V (a couple from Australia). It will be between a 2-3 day passage, so not too long. We are very excited about getting over to the mainland and seeing new territory. Shout out to Gavin who came through surgery yesterday… we love you buddy!!! Love and miss you all,
-D.
At 2013/12/03 2:42 PM (utc) our position was 24°09.90’N 110°19.48’W
A large freighter……passes right through the middle of our caravan (that’s Lady Carolina and True Blue V)Happy during a day time watch
Logbook – December 7, 2013 (Isla Espiritu Santo to Isla Isabel)
Passage Log Highlights
0545 Main (2 reefs) + genoa (2 reefs) wing & wing
1321 Main + genniker
I have missed sunrises on watchAlex throws in the treasure map in a bottle (we left a treasure in a cave at Ensenada el Cardonal on the Isla Partida)Brenden hanging out on the net practicing his sailing knotsAIS is working on the chartplotter display
Email to family and friends dated December 7, 2013
Subject: Passage going great
We had a great day and night of sailing and made good. Winds have died down a bit so we have slowed with them. We should arrive some time tomorrow. All is well on Exodus.
-D.
At 12/3/2013 2:42 PM (utc) our position was 23°16.93’N 108°06.17’W
Logbook – December 8, 2013 (Isla Espiritu Santo to Isla Isabel)
Passage Log Highlights
0433 Main + genoa (1 reef)
0803 Main genoa
1316 P engine on
1443 SB engine on
1516 Arrive Isla Isabel
Daily Notes
Sonrisa net
Lady Carolina 22 18, 106 35
Dorado #3 🙂 Yucky wasabi 😦
Email to family and friends dated December 8, 2013
Subject: AOK after night #2
Once again the winds have died in the morning, so we are going to be hardpressed to get there before sunset. If we don’t make it we will “hove to” offshore for the night and then go in and anchor in the morning. It’s a new anchorage for us and there are reefs around it so we don’t want to arrive at night. We will be close so we may bit the bullet and engine up if we are only going to miss it by an hour or two. We’ll see.
Happy belated birthday Nana!!! We tried to text you yesterday through the inReach but I’m not sure if it went or not.
Love and miss everyone!
-D.
At 12/8/2013 2:51 PM (utc) our position was 22°15.93’N 106°28.08’W
We’re havin fish tonight!Reading the guidebook about mainland MexicoLand Ho!Rounding the east side of Isla Isabel
The Sea of Cortez has two crossing points that are most common among cruisers, and they are creatively called the Northern Crossing and the Southern Crossing. The Northern Crossing is between the Punta Chivato/Santa Rosalia area on the Baja side over to San Carlos/Guyamas on the mainland side. Likewise, the Southern Crossing is between the East Cape area on the tip of Baja over to Mazatlan/Puerto Vallarta on the mainland side. We never did make the Northern Crossing, opting to stay on the Baja side the whole time. But on a cold, gray, and rainy morning we left Playa Bonanza on Isla Espiritu Santo bound for the mainland, with hopefully a stop at Isla Isabel in between. This was our longest passage in quite some time, since we came south down the outside of Baja between Turtle Bay and Cabo. Unlike that passage where we were isolated and alone, this time we were travelling in a caravan with 3 other boats: Dazzler, Lady Carolina, and True Blue V. We picked a VHF working channel to monitor so we could easily chat without having to first hail and then switch channels. It was a wonderful passage, and it started out with plenty of wind, close hauled, about 17-22 kts. We were starting to pull away from the other boats, so we put one, then two reefs in the mainsail in order to stay close. On the second day the wind died off a bit, and we all discussed whether we should engine up or stay patient, and we decided to stay patient for now. We agreed that if we didn’t make it to Isla Isabel by nightfall the next day we would just hove to and wait until morning to anchor. Then the wind started to pick up and we started making calculations. We had a chance of making it. We definitely had a chance of making it. So, to hell with everyone else, no reefs in the sails tonight, we are outta here! Although, it turned out in the end that everyone made it, and we only arrived a couple hours in advance. Along the way the boys landed a couple of Dorados so we were looking forward to some cookouts with everyone else.
We pulled into the anchorage around 3pm, and there was one other vessel there when we arrived. I felt bad that we were all showing up to disturb their solitude. It is a rocky anchorage, so we did as the guidebook suggested and attached a tripline to the anchor, and Tim dove down to check the holding. While he was still in the water Dazzler pulled in, so Tim dove and checked his anchor too. Repeat for True Blue and Lady Carolina. Leanne called it Tim’s valet parking service.
Exodus anchored at Isla Isabel
We were all pretty tired the first evening after being on passage for two nights, but the next day we got together and explored the island. We learned why Isla Isabel is called “The Galapagos of Mexico.” Frigate birds and blue footed boobies were everywhere! Talk about photo ops. I was wearing my running shoes with the bright blue coloring, so Carolina tried to get a photo of me with the boobies, but they wouldn’t quite let me get that close. The island is not that big, so we hike around just about all of it. It was an absolutely amazing place. We were fortunate to have good weather and be able to anchor there for a few days.
A blue footed boobie at Isla Isabel
The snorkeling was nice as well. Carolina and I and the kids snorkled near the anhorage off of one of the beaches and the visibility was great and the colorful fish plentiful. For the first time I felt comfortable enough that I wish I had a weight belt. When I have my full wetsuit on it is quite a struggle to propel myself down and then I have to fight to stay down and then I have very little air left and have to shoot back up to the top. Maybe next time I will try with a weight belt. Our last day there we went on a family snorkle in the dinghy around to the other side of the island. Can you say “washing machine?” Needless to say, I did not use a weight belt on that day. I kept worrying about where Alex was and where Brenden was, and it finally occurred to me that they should all by worried about where *I* was. By this time, they are both much stronger swimmers than I am, so it was then that a load was lifted from my mind that I no longer needed to worry about them. And it was with great amusement that I told them later that they should be worried about me.
We had a couple of potlucks on Exodus while we were there in order to share the couple of Dorados that the boys caught on passage. It is pretty much unanimous that Tim cooks the best Dorado on the BBQ. He always cooks it just right so it’s juicy and delicious. Just like chicken.
Dazzler went on ahead of us to Chacala, but Lady Carolina, True Blue V, and Exodus headed to Matanchen Bay near San Blas in order to go on the Tovaro River jungle tour. Lady Carolina had done the tour the previous season, so they gave us a full briefing on how we needed to do it in order to minimize the damage done to our bodies by the no-see-ums. Add link to post about No-see-ums.
Now, to describe the really fun stuff, our day of exploring the river and San Blas… It started with us all piling into a large panga with our own personal driver and heading down (up?) the Tovaro River. It was a winding path through mangroves and tons of wildlife: crocs, iguanas, turtles, and birds, birds, birds. It was amazing! However, Lady Carolina had done it the year before, and Steve kept apologizing to us because it wasn’t as good as last year. Funny thing about that is since we weren’t there the year before we had no context, so it seemed great to us. At the far end of the tour we stopped at a crocodile sanctuary, paid our pesos for admittance, and started exploring. It was basically a small zoo, and was really quite depressing. But there was a cage with a couple possums next to a cage with a bobcat and the curious possums and the bobcat who clearly wanted to eat them could have kept the boys entertained all day. On the way back we stopped at a restaurant with a fresh water pool with a rope swing and I’ll let you guess who had more fun with that, Tim or the boys.
Ready for the river tour
After the river tour, we caught a bus into the town of San Blas. We didn’t get to do much exploring, but we found the central market, and stocked up on a few fresh veggies, including mushrooms. We hadn’t had fresh mushrooms in quite some time, so we promptly sauteed them up that evening with just a little butter and cilantro. Tasty. While we were hitting the veggie market, Tim said they were going to go find a bar and have a beer, and I asked him to take the kids and find ice cream. Just a half block (if even that) away from the market they hit the jackpot: an ice cream shop right next to a bar. We joined them for a drink and relaxed a little bit, then we headed up the hill to the “ruins,” which was really just what’s left of some 17th century Spanish buildings including a church and a military fort. The fort had suffered some damage a few years back in a tropical storm, so they had repaired it, but tried to make it still look old, but it just looked a little cheesy. Overall, it was a fantastic day. I would have liked to have had more time to explore San Blas, and I’ve heard from several cruisers since who actually stay in the marina there, but we were so paranoid about the bugs based on what we heard from Lady Carolina and Dazzler, we didn’t even consider it.
The ruins of an old Spanish church near San Blas
Chacala is a picture perfect tropical anchorage… it was clear we had left Baja and had arrived on the mainland. The northern point of the bay is not very prominent so swell bends around and enters the anchorage. So, we got our first experience with setting a stern anchor. The stern anchor is deployed, well, off the stern in order to keep the bow of the boat pointed into the swell, which is the most comfortable way to take it. We were planning on staying only a day or two, but ended up staying 5 days, and we definitely could have stayed longer. There was light surf, and the boys spent hours, literally hours, in the water everyday boogie boarding. At home they could never stay in that long before their lips turned blue and their fingers and toes went numb. Tim and I spent one full day as a beach day where all we did was lounge around on the beach without doing any boat chores or repairs. We also spent one full day as a computer day, and I went crazy after Tim showed me how to embed photos in my essays using html. On one of the radio nets someone told us about a crater at the top of the hill above the anchorage, so Tim and I made our way up there, and the crater itself was only slightly interesting, but the views from up there were amazing. One of our last nights there, we had a wonderful dinner out, just adults, and it was the closest thing to fine dining we’ve experienced since being in Mexico. The wine was flowing and the shrimps were plentiful.
The Chacala skyline
When we left Chacala our intent was to round Punta de Mita into Banderas Bay, but the wind direction compounded by the affects of the geographic point caused us to have to stay one uncomfortable night on the north side of Punta de Mita before finally making our entrance into Banderas Bay.
Gresham Family Exodus 