We got up at 5 am! Underway at 6 am, breakfast after we got out of port. Yes, just another sunrise at sea!
We followed S/V Monarch and motor/sailed north to the island. We did not go fast, and since it was about 35 miles, took all day. When we got there, we found this LITTLE island had 4 boats at anchor in the two anchorages. With us, there will be 6. Or there would have been, except it looks like one of them left as we arrived.
On the way north, we saw about a dozen whales, some humpbacked and some we don’t know as we only saw the blow or it was in the distance. We dropped anchor at the second or third choice as we were the last ones in, and oh yeah lots of other people. We anchored in about 35 feet of water not far from the beach. The books all warn that this is a rocky anchorage and to make sure and use a trip line to be able to free a stuck anchor, so we put a 50 foot rope on the anchor with a fender tied at the end. Hopefully we won’t have to use that, and we can just have some fun getting the rope and fender back on board.
The first thing I noticed about this island as we approached (after the other sailboats and whales) is that there are lot’s of birds flying above the island. The book says, the optimum time to visit is Mid February to Mid March to see all the birds. So, it looks like we hit that window!
Our refrigerator is not working well again, currently we have two jugs of ice in the box, and a small fan to circulate the air. The refrigerator is running hard, and holding temperature to about 42 degrees. Renee’ said, “we may have to cut this playing around short and get to Puerto Vallarta to get this fixed”. I have suggested moving the important stuff to the beer cooler, which is working well. To come back from Matachén. Bay to here was an all day sail, to come back from PV it would take about 3 to 5 days up against the wind and then 2 to 4 days to get back. I am not saying we won’t ever do that, but it is a pretty big investment of time.
We just heard from Michael, they had originally planned to stay here until midnight tomorrow night, then go to Mazatlan stay for a day or so, then cross to Las Muertos on the peninsula. Well, they have decided to leave mid morning tomorrow and cross directly to Las Muertos, a 48 hour crossing. So, we will not be getting together again for awhile.
Renee’s comments about Isla Isabel
2/22 we arrived in late afternoon after a lovely trip, some sailing, mostly motoring. The Naccaratos ahead of us checked out the south anchorage first…too rocky. They then anchored on the east side and we parked next door. We used a trip line in 30’ of water because of the rocky bottom.
2/23 we said goodbye to the Naccaratos in the morning as they left for La Paz (150 mi). We then dropped the kayak in the water and packed our hiking boots to go ashore. We first paddled by Shari Ann (38’ Hunter) and spoke to Chris, a single handed sailor. Then on to the shore. There was some wave action and we surfed in to the beach smoothly.
We walked along the beach to find the trailhead and had to dodge the many Blue Footed Boobie nests on the coastline. The mommies complained but didn’t leave their nest. Some daddies stood by the mommies and babies. There were other kinds of birds and iguanas all over the place! It was like walking through an aviary! Our hike took us up to the rim of the inactive volcano where there was a lake. Then we hiked down to the south bay/anchorage. Here there were many fishing huts, pangas, and fishermen. Two sailboats were anchored in this bay. On our way back we ran into two hikers that were very happy to see us because they were off the trail and looking for the trail. They were Elizabeth and Mark. Elizabeth runs a boat maintenance co in Paradise Village (Banderas Bay). We got her number. Chris was on the trail as well. When we got back to the kayak the tide was out and the waves were breaking on the rock shelf that we didn’t know was there when we came in. We stared at it for quite a while trying to figure out the best spot to cast off to get back to the boat. Chris want first and made it look so easy. Neil and I made it without capsizing but it took several tries to get past the rock shelf. Then we paddled over to another boat where we met Brad and Sarah. They’d been on the boat in front of us in the Cabrales boatyard.
Once back on the boat, we had a beer, lunch, and collapsed. Our plans of going snorkeling evaporated. It was a somewhat calm evening…not real rolly but not still either. We watched “The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission”.
We both agreed the island of Isla Isabela was worth the trip.
