Monday, February 26, 2018

LA CRUZ – MY HAPPY PLACE

February 18, 2018

Bobby Lemon with Some of His Art
My friend, Bobby, was having an art show at Ana Banana’s on Sunday morning, so I walked down and met some friends for breakfast there.  Bobby has a lot of friends and they had all shown up at 10:00.  The place was packed and the restaurant had not scheduled enough staff to handle the onslaught.  It took us 45 minutes to get drinks and the food and, when it came, it was mostly wrong.  They were out of many items.  Our poor waitress was new, didn’t speak English, and had no idea how things were supposed to be.  It took us two hours to eat and get our bill.  Bobby did well and sold a lot of art.  The crowd was getting restless from the poor service, so he and I each played a few songs.

It was a nice morning and I enjoyed the company of my friends, but I had been supposed to meet Don for the Sunday market and was much later than anticipated.  Fortunately, Don was running late, also.  I met him near the band and he and I spent an hour or so listening to the Huanacaxtle Sound Machine, yet another wonderful band from La Cruz.

My afternoon was spent practicing the guitar and programming my computer to play the second part of the Bach duets I was learning.  I was too lazy to make dinner, so settled for chips and guacamole with a few pieces of chicharron (crispy, fried pork belly) from the local butcher.

February 19 - 20, 2018

Our Front Patio
Running at Dawn
















Monday was another running day and I managed about 2.5 miles and a shower before the net at 8:30.  I drank a cup of coffee while listening to the net and then lounged in a hammock in the shady front patio, playing solitaire and texting friends on my phone.  I did practice the guitar and read, but I was sleepy all day and napped on and off.  I couldn’t have been more relaxed.

Don and I met for dinner.  Many restaurants are closed on Mondays, so the choices were limited.  Our favorite street taco vendor was opening that night, but they were late getting started.  We opted to go to Enrique’s instead.  I had heard that Enrique’s made excellent (and affordable) fish tacos, although they were not on the menu.  This turned out to be true.  Fish tacos were 25 pesos apiece and shrimp ones 30.  Both of us ordered one of each.  The tacos were large and came with two tortillas each, so the two fish tacos rapidly became four.  Fifty-five pesos ($3) bought us a satisfying dinner.

Tuesday Night at the Britannia
After dinner, we repaired to the Octopus’ Garden for Acoustic Night.  People played everything from Roy Orbison to Neil Diamond.  Towards the end of the evening, a band got up and played some blues.  Various friends stopped by our table for a drink.  I discovered that Corona makes a non-alcoholic beer called Cero.  Since I limit my drinking to two alcoholic drinks a day, this came in handy.  It wasn’t any worse than a Bud Light and would have been fine with lime over ice.

Tuesday morning was quiet.  I made coffee and listened to the net while I ate breakfast.  Then I worked on my blog for a couple of hours and practiced the guitar.  I didn’t really mean to go out in the evening, but somehow ended up at the Britannia listening to an eclectic band that managed to get George Strait and the Talking Heads into the same set.

February 21, 2018

Cruisers Practicing Suturing
Wednesday was a busy day.  I got up late, so barely had time to get it together in time to get down to the marina to attend a class on suturing.  A local doctor was showing us how to stitch up wounds.  He had brought a haunch of pork and we took turns stitching up stab wounds.  We used cat gut (disolving, artificial) to stitch the muscle and fat layers and then nylon for the skin.  It had been forty years since the last time I had practiced, so it was good experience that I hoped I would never need in real life.

After the class, I wandered around the building to the Poolside Deli to meet with my music circle.  We had a big group that included four guitars, two mandolins, and a keyboard.  Simple songs without too many different chords worked best for people to follow and I found that my repertoire was rather low on such numbers.  It was always a challenge to come up with a good song when it came to be my turn.  Having to be physically able to carry all of my belongings at once, I had left my big binder of songs at home.  I missed it.  We played for over two hours and, this week, my fingers didn’t feel like hamburger when we finished.  I was adapting to the steel string guitar, at last.

Lobo at the Black Forest
After a few hours of downtime, I took myself to the Black Forest Restaurant to hear Lobo play flamenco.  It had become clear that I suffered from a flamenco addiction that was not shared by the majority of my friends.  Since I was unable to entice anyone to accompany me, I went by myself. I actually had a lovely evening.  They seated me right next to Lobo and, as people finished eating and left, I practically had a private concert.  I enjoyed my meal and apfelstrudel ala mode with two cups of decaf coffee.  After the concert, I had a chance to talk to Lobo about learning to play flamenco (a fantasy of mine), but he really wasn’t able to offer me much advice, although he was very encouraging.  I went home and discovered that there were some very good lessons on YouTube.  I would have lots to work with.  What did we ever do before YouTube?  People had also mentioned watching videos on suturing earlier in the day.


February 22-23, 2018

Sunset on the Breakwater
Thursday was productive.  I got up and swept the front yard.  The tree in front was dropping loads of blossoms and leaves, so leaving it for more than two days left the house looking uninhabited.  I spent most of the day writing, playing the guitar, and working up songs to play in the music circle.  In the evening, Don and I met at the free movie night on the breakwater where they were playing Split, a well- acted thriller about a character with multiple personalities.  It was another lovely evening that started out with a pretty sunset.

Roasting Chiles
Friday, I got up and ran.  In the afternoon, I made chiles rellenos, a time-consuming process.  The first step is to burn the chiles, which causes the skin to char and bubble, making it possible (although not easy) to remove it.  This renders the chiles softer and easier to deseed and, ultimately, eat.  I was so busy with cooking that I almost forgot my Friday night domino game at the marina.  I practically ran down there and was still a half an hour late.  Fortunately, they were teaching a new person the ropes, so hadn’t really started yet.  It was fun to see my domino friends.  I had been playing dominoes with them, whenever I was in La Cruz, for several years.


Later in the evening, Cherie and I went to Bucerias to see some music at La Postal.  There were two groups playing, both of whom were good.  The first group was a young couple playing guitar and melodica and singing.  The second act was a fellow named Alejandro, whom I had seen before.  He was versatile, but seemed to specialize in Paul McCartney numbers which he performed very well.  The venue was outdoors and it got strangely cold, forcing us to leave once Cherie had finished her dinner.  Having had a chile relleno about 4:00, I just snacked on appetizers.  They made killer virgin mojitos, which we both enjoyed.

February 24, 2018
Christy's Breakfast Joint

Saturday, I got up and walked to the far side of town to eat breakfast at Christy’s, a breakfast place on the corner of Coral and Huachinango that I had been trying to visit for years, without success.  Finally, I found her open and had a tasty and economical bagel breakfast sandwich with coffee and a banana smoothie, or licuado as they are called here.

Upon returning home, I swept the front and back yards again and practiced the guitar.  A feral cat had given birth to one tiny, black kitten in our bodega.  One night, I was sitting at the kitchen table when I saw something orange flit out through the bars of the security
Cat & Kitten Inside Our Couch
gate.  The mother cat had moved her kitten into the house and taken up residence inside our couch.  She hissed at us when we peeked inside, but showed no inclination to move.  We gave her water and tried to remember not to lock her inside.  It was a provisional arrangement, since none of us were in a position to adopt a cat.  She was allowed to remain as long as she kept things clean and did no damage.  Tile floors are forgiving.  With carpeting, it would have been a disaster.

Jenna Mammina & Rolf Sturm










Saturday evening, five of us packed into Cherie’s car and drove to San Pancho for the music festival.  I was especially eager to see Tatewari, a flamenco inspired group that I had enjoyed since the first time I came to La Cruz.  Unfortunately, they never arrived.  Their drummer Sonny, who also plays guitar and sings, did a few numbers before he was replaced by an unscheduled mariachi band.  Jenna Mammina and Rolf Sturm played next.  She has a nice voice and they have an amazing ability to make up songs on the spot from notes and words provided by the audience.

The San Pancho Music Festival has two stages and lesser bands play on the second stage while the main stage is being readied for the next act.  The previous year, we had been subjected to the same awful bands between every act, but this year they had a greater variety.  Unfortunately, Saturday night’s lineup subjected us to sets by the aforementioned awful bands.  Still, people were more forgiving when only forced to tolerate twenty minutes or so of musical torture.

Everybody Danced to the Orchestra San Francisco
After Jenna Mammina, Jeff Oster, Michael Manring, Chas Eller and Celso Alberti played some very nice jazz.  Jeff Oster blows a mean trumpet and Michael Manring somehow managed to elevate the electric bass to a solo instrument.  At times, it even seemed as if he were playing slide bass.  His performance was literally amazing.


The last act was a group of musicians from all over the world assembled under the name of Orchestra San Francisco (the official name of San Pancho.)  They played Cuban inspired beats that had the whole crowd up on their feet and dancing.  It was a nice way to end the festival for the night.  It was after midnight by the time we got home.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

LA CRUZ DE HUANACAXTLE – MUSIC OVERLOAD

February 11, 2018

Band at the Sunday Market in La Cruz
It was so good to sleep in a real bed that I slept late on Sunday morning.  I didn’t have anything to eat, so I decided to go to the Sunday market. The farmers’ market in La Cruz is a wonderful collection of vendors offering every type of food imaginable, but it is so popular that it gets to be a mob scene.  Having seen it all many times, I often avoid it.  I do, however, usually enjoy the many musical acts that play there.  This week, there was a band playing Cuban music and another one playing jazz inside the fish market.  I bought strawberries, sourdough bread, and some porchetta (wonderful Italian roast pork with garlic) and had a Colombian arepa and a glass
My House for the Season
of cucumber lime juice for breakfast.  It was hot and crowded so, although I was enjoying the music, I left and took a stroll through town to see what might have changed.  Music was pouring out of Ana Banana’s and the Green Tomate.  The La Cruz high season was in full swing.

I went back to the cool of my new house and spent the afternoon catching up on internet related activities.  My time in La Cruz might seem dull to outsiders, but it is relaxing and creatively productive.  There are very few things I “have to” do, so it is easy to concentrate on projects that slip to the bottom of the priority list at home.

February 12, 2018

Not a Good Way to Start the Day
I intended to go out for breakfast and then go to Bucerias to buy groceries before meeting up with my friend, Betty, at 1:00.  Just as I was headed out the door, my landlady offered me a ride to Bucerias, so I decided to rearrange my schedule.  We didn’t get three blocks from home before we realized a tire was flat.  We pulled off the highway to assess the damage.

The tire was flat as a pancake.  Cherie had a spare, but the jack was back at the house.  A Mexican fellow offered to change the tire, but we had no jack.  Cherie called a friend, who happened to be walking our way.  Another friend drove up and stopped to help.  The two of them went back to the house to fetch the jack.  Cherie’s friend, Bruce, made short work of changing the tire and then we went to the Pemex station to put air in the spare, which was also fairly flat.  By the time that was accomplished, it was too late for Cherie to make her appointment in Bucerias, so we turned around and went home.


What to Do with a Sunken Boat
I decided to return to Plan A and walked down to CafĂ© Shule’t and had a spinach, goat cheese, and bacon omelet for breakfast.  Their omelets are one of my favorite things about La Cruz.  After breakfast, I stopped by Comet to return the coffee cone I had carried off thinking it was mine.  (I left mine in Indio on the way down.)  I chatted with Don for a few minutes and then headed over to Agave Azul to collect the box I had left there the previous summer.  Before I left, I visited my friend, Karen, who lives in the penthouse apartment there.  We chatted for half an hour and made plans to go see Lobo play on Valentine’s Day.

Laden with my box, I trudged home.  It was fun to see what goodies I had left for myself.  That turned out to be quite a lot, since I had been sick for most of my last visit and not eaten or drunk much.  When all that was stowed away, I turned around and headed down to the marina to see Betty.  I was quite late because I kept stopping to greet friends I had not seen for most of a year.


Betty and I had contemplated going sailing that afternoon, but she was feeling overwhelmed by boat projects, so we just hung out and talked.  I offered what advice I could regarding some of her new boat woes.  About 5:00, I headed home and relaxed with my roommates until they convinced me to go to the Octopus’ Garden for Acoustic Night. 

Acoustic Night at the Octopus’ Garden is an open mic and our friend, Bobby, was slated to play.  The music was surprisingly good and I enjoyed myself.  I came away inspired to play there myself within a week or two.

February 13, 2018

Our Street
Tuesday, I actually did make it to Bucerias.  I took a combi to the Mega, went to the bank, and did my shopping.  I took the bus back, laden with the absolute maximum amount of groceries I could physically carry.  Getting on and off a packed bus with that many bags was a challenge, but I managed it without breaking a bottle of wine.  Fortunately, the crowd had thinned by the time I needed to get off in La Cruz.  Our house was only a block or two from the bus stop, so I made it home easily.  I spent the afternoon putting my groceries away and doing laundry.


My favorite artist, Cheko Ruiz, was playing at Oso’s that night and Betty and I had agreed to go.  She brought a new friend from the marina and we had dinner and drinks and enjoyed the show.  My shrimp and spinach enchiladas were mouthwatering and the music was fabulous, as always.  Betty’s new friend was impressed.  Unfortunately, the turnout was light.  I hoped Cheko would build a following there as the season progressed.

February 14, 2018

Wednesday morning, I got up in time to go running before it got hot.  I didn’t want to miss the net, so I took my radio with me.  I hadn’t run for a couple of months, so took it easy and only ran a mile or so.  Then I walked another mile and a half while listening to the net.  I had forgotten to bring my usual handheld radio and had obtained one from a friend along the way.  I wasn’t sure how well it would work, but it seemed to work fine.

I spent the rest of the morning working on a long blog post and then headed up to the Poolside Deli for a musicians’ circle at 1:00.  It was time for me to come out of the closet as musician, but I was a bit apprehensive, not knowing what to expect.  I need not have worried.  There were three of us playing guitar and one woman with a violin.  Towards the end, we were joined by someone with a ukulele.  We took turns choosing songs to play and we all managed to follow pretty well.  We played for two hours until my fingers were quite sore.
Lobo at the Octopus' Garden

We dispersed at 3:00 because there was a slideshow going on in the VIP Lounge about S/V SuAn’s voyage around the circumference of the Pacific.  Their talk was very interesting because it is not often that cruisers visit places such as Japan and Alaska.  The pictures of Alaska were gorgeous, but I remained firm in my belief that I would prefer to visit the area on a cruise ship.  It looked very cold.

Some friends of mine and I had tickets to go see Lobo play flamenco guitar at the Octopus’ Garden that evening.  The proprietor, Alfredo, had decorated everything very nicely for Valentine’s Day and prepared a special menu.  We, however, stuck to the always delectable ribs.  The music was fantastic and Alfredo presented each of the ladies with a red rose.  The tickets featured a photo of Lobo, wearing a fedora and looking very Leonard Cohen-esque, with a rose between his teeth.  It was a truly delightful evening.


February 15 - 17, 2018

Sunset in La Cruz
My days in La Cruz, while quite pleasant for me, are not terribly exciting to relate to others.  The highlight of Thursday was a concert on the breakwater by Cantus Eterna.  There was a beautiful sunset as the concert began.  It was exceptionally clear and even the band commented on it.  Cantus Eterna plays classic rock with a heavy emphasis on the progressive rock from the seventies.  They are quite good if you like that sort of music.  There was a large crowd and it was fun to greet old friends.

The band was very loud, but apparently frigate birds like rock and roll, too, because there were two of them perched right above the band during the entire concert.

Frigate Birds Listening to Cantus Eterna


Fishing Pangas at Sunrise
Friday, I went for a longer run, this time before the net.  I was able to catch the wonderful sunrise, one of my favorite things about La Cruz.  I visited friends in the afternoon and then went to see Latcho and Andrea play modern flamenco at the Black Forest Inn.  Don joined us and we had a tasty German dinner.  The Black Forest makes a tasty Tom Collins which, in Mexico, is just a gin margarita.  I was pleased to see that the Black Forest served their drinks with reusable straws.


Latcho and Andrea always put on a good show.  They played a different set of songs than I had heard before, which was fun and interesting.  Flamenco reaches right into my soul and grabs me.  I always find it thrilling.  I have recordings to listen to at home but, as Lobo had said on Wednesday, “Live music is just better.”

Gabriela's Salon
Saturday, Don and I had plans to get our hair cut.  I had been going to Gabriela Saavedra’s salon on Calle Huachinango for years and was going to introduce Don to the place, since he needed a haircut.  We arrived there about 11:30, but it was very busy.  We made appointments to come back later.  Don had to go back to the boat because he had a load of water being delivered, but I went to a cafĂ© around the corner and nursed a frappe for a couple of hours.  A little boy came by and sold me some homemade corn cookies.  Then I chatted with a couple from Canada who were also sailors.  The time passed quickly.

Party on Huachinango Street
At 1:30, I went back to the salon to get a much-needed haircut.  There was a young lady ahead of me getting her hair done for her quinceanera.  Outside, in the street, children were cavorting on a bouncy slide with a pool of water at the bottom while the adults prepared food for a party under tents set up in the street.  It was a festive scene.

Gabriela cut my hair and also did my nails. She did a meticulous job.  Haircut and nails cost me a total of 250 pesos (about $13.50.)  Don arrived at 2:30 and I stuck around to translate while he got his hair cut.  Then I headed home to catch up on my blog and spend a quiet evening at home for a change.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

LA PAZ TO LA CRUZ AND AN ADVENTURE AT ISLA ISABELA

February 1, 2018

Great Blue Heron at Marina Palmira
It had started raining about midnight the night before and was still raining when I woke up to listen to the net on Thursday.  It was a good day to be lazy.  I stayed in bed and texted a friend in the U.S. until about 10:00, when I finally ventured out to take a shower.  The marina was very quiet, as even more boats had departed that morning.  A great blue heron was prowling around the dock and let me approach within ten feet of him before strolling off down a finger of the dock.

Don was up when I came back and I made pancakes, since we had lots of time.  About noon, I headed up to the office complex to do laundry and upload a blog post from the cruisers’ lounge.  Marina Palmira offers a convenience store, dive shop, cruisers’ supply, pool, bar, a couple of restaurants, nice laundromat, and cruisers’ lounge with an impressive library and fast internet.  Two tokens for the laundry cost 58 pesos and were sufficient to wash and dry one large load.  Don took the propane cannister up to the store to be filled and returned the next day.  Propane service is usually on Fridays, but Friday was a holiday, so they were doing it a day early.

Marina Palmira
Don did his laundry later that afternoon while I read a bit and then went back to the cruisers’ lounge to use the internet.  The weather cleared up, but was still cool.  We decided to walk further into town to the Bismarck-Cito, a popular fish restaurant across from the malecon.  I tried to order the lamb ribs, but they were out of season. I had some wonderful shrimp chiles rellenos instead.  It was quite a walk down there and it did us good to get off the boat and stretch our legs.



Cruisers' Lounge at Marina Palmira

February 2, 2018

I got up, showered, and spent the first half of the morning in the cruisers’ lounge, working on my blog.  When Don got up, we went to the new restaurant next to the pool in the marina for breakfast.  It was hard to tell that the place was open, as there was no sign or menu in the window, but they were friendly and glad to see us.  I had decent chilaquiles and Don had an omelet.

The Cathedral in La Paz
                                  Our mission for the day was grocery shopping.  We left about noon to walk the two or three miles to the big Ley’s on Cinco de Mayo.  We walked along the malecon most of the way and then turned inland and walked past the plaza and cathedral before hitting Cinco de Mayo and continuing on to the store.  I play the guitar and had succumbed to my guitar teacher’s entreaties to do something about my fingernails.  The only way I had ever been able to grow my nails was to get acrylic ones.  Having been sailing, I was about two weeks overdue for a fill.  I found a nice salon near the Ley’s, but the first open appointment was not until 5:00.  I took the slot and we continued on to the store.

Avenida 5 Salon
We were out of absolutely everything, so we stocked up.  It required a taxi to get our booty back to the boat.  Of course, this meant that I had to walk all the way back downtown for my nail appointment at 5:00.  It was actually fairly warm and I was dripping with perspiration when I arrived at the lovely Avenida 5 Salon for my appointment.  Getting my nails done there was a very pleasant experience.  In the United States, all the manicurists are Vietnamese and, while they are sweet and do a good job, I can’t understand them.

At Avenida 5, I was able to chat with the manicurist and the other clients.  They convinced me to get sparkly silver nail polish.  The salon was actually nicer than the one I went to in the U.S. and had all the latest products.  I was quite satisfied with the results and even more satisfied with the price of 300 pesos (about $17.)

La Paz Malecon at Sunset
Having walked to the salon, I then had to walk back to the marina.  I meandered back through the town and then along the malecon.  It was full dark by the time I got back to the marina.  Neither of us was very hungry, so I made salad with some leftover arrachera that I found in the bottom of the refrigerator.
February 3, 2018

I got up early to shower and drink a cappuccino from the new restaurant while I worked on my blog.  My friend Carlos, who crewed for us on Fool’s Castle in 2013, was coming from Cabo to visit me that day and I wanted to get as much done as I could before he arrived.  After finishing my blog post, I returned to the boat and made breakfast.

Carlos showed up around noon.  He was hungry so, after we visited with Don for a bit, he and I headed off to find some lunch.  Carlos is a picky eater, so I let him choose.  Don stayed behind to repair the bilge pump without us underfoot.  Carlos chose a small birrieria and ordered lamb tacos.  For 150 pesos we got three sodas and more than the two of us could eat.  The meat was crispy and greasy and I hadn’t had lamb like that since I was in Turkey in 2000.  We sat and talked for a couple of hours, catching up on all that had gone on in our lives over the past couple of years.

Carlos had an inflatable stand-up paddleboard with a hole in it back in Cabo and wanted to look for something with which to patch it.  We started at Harker Boards on the malecon where they sell and rent paddleboards.  They referred us to Pingo Marine, on the main drag a few streets past the light after Marina La Paz.  He was locking up as we arrived, but told us that it was actually the owner’s brother who repairs paddleboards.  When Carlos told him the board was back in Cabo, he was kind enough to tell us where to buy the cement.  We headed inland to a small marine store a couple of doors down from a resins and plastics shop.  There, we purchased a tiny can of cement for $40.  This was apparently the same outrageously expensive cement used to repair Hypalon dinghies.

That mission accomplished, we returned to the boat where Don was finishing up his bilge pump repair.  The pump was fine, but a stray piece of metal had been fouling the float.  Don sewed a small bag out of plastic window screen to put around the float and prevent that from happening again.  The original metal screen had corroded away.  We sat and visited for another hour or so and then Carlos had to leave to drive back to Cabo before it got too late.  We said goodbye and vowed not to go so long before seeing each other again.

February 4, 2018

Fuel Dock at Marina Palmira
Once again, I got up early to work on my blog and drink cappuccino.  I stayed longer than I had
intended and, eventually, I received a text from Don asking me to check on the availability of the fuel dock.  There was no one there, but the office said they would send someone.  I went back to the boat and we headed over to fill the tanks before heading off across the Sea of Cortez the following day.

Restitching the Propane Cover
                                                                              Back at the slip, I made breakfast and spent the afternoon re-stitching the cover for the propane tank.  Sunbrella fabric lasts a very long time, but the stitching rots in the sun.  I was replacing the original cotton thread with a more durable Goretex thread.  It was Superbowl Sunday and we had reservations at the sports bar for 3:45.  We went up there and ordered margaritas and chips with guacamole.  The guacamole was bland, so we requested some hot sauce and jazzed it up.

The bar was busy, but not jammed.  The Eagles were playing the Patriots and it seemed like everyone was rooting for the Eagles.  I am not a football fan, so I worked on stitching the propane cover until it got too dark to see.  It was a close game with a number of spectacular plays.  During the second half, we ordered spinach salads for dinner.

The Eagles won after a tense fourth quarter and we returned to the boat to spend a quiet evening before retiring early.  We wanted to get up early to listen to the weather report before making the crossing.

February 5, 2018

Marina Palmira in the Rear View
I got up early to string the antenna in hopes of catching Geary’s weather report at 7:45.  I got the bright idea of raising the antenna on the spinnaker halyard.  It didn’t help us to hear the weather, but it pulled loose when I tried to bring it back down, leaving the spinnaker halyard two thirds of the way up to the spreaders.

Having got myself into this pickle, I figured it was my responsibility to correct the problem.  I climbed up onto the boom and flailed away at the halyard with the boat hook at full extension.  I could reach the shackle, but the hook was too large to pass through the eye and the halyard was over the shroud, creating too much drag to allow me to slide it down the mast easily.  Don came to the rescue and taped a gaff hook to the end of the boat pole, allowing me to snag the shackle and pull the halyard back down.  We remembered that we could get Geary’s report off the internet, so we listened to that and, assured that the weather would cooperate, pulled out of the marina and headed towards open water.

Proper Way Through La Paz Channel
The First Two Gates of the La Paz Channel
La Paz Channel Past Costa Baja
The beginning of the La Paz channel is very confusing and some navigation software will direct you across a shoal.  I spent the outward trip trying to take photographs to show the order in which the buoys should be taken.  Once clear of the channel, we followed the coast past Pichilingue, Caleta Lobos, and Balandra and then entered the Ceralvo Channel.  There was no wind and I made us an egg breakfast underway.  The water was glassy and the sky overcast.  It was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began.
Sky and Sea All Run Together When It's Calm

We got to the end of the Ceralvo Channel about sunset and headed for open water.  I made hot wings for dinner and then took the 7 to 11 watch.  There was no moon and it was very dark and lonely out there.  Don took over at 11:00 and I went below to sleep.
The Ceralvo Channel Late Afternoon

                                                                     






Febraury 6, 2018

I came back on deck at 3:00 AM.  I made some instant vanilla cappuccino and tried to listen to music, but discovered my playlist had not downloaded in La Paz.  I listened to a few podcasts to entertain myself. The moon had risen during Don’s watch and visibility had improved, but we saw no boats all night.

When morning came, it was discouraging to discover that we could still see land.  There was no wind, so we were motoring.  We were running the engine at the usual RPMs, but seemed to be going slowly.  We were barely making five knots.
Dawn on the Sea of Cortez

I was enjoying the sunrise and it wasn’t cold, so I let Don sleep until 8:15 when I started to fade.  He took over and I went below to sleep.  I got back up about 11:00, dressed, and ate a bowl of cereal.  Then I wrote until noon when I took the helm back from Don.  He had decided that something was wrong with the tachometer and that we were going slowly because we weren’t running the engine hard enough.  He had increased the RPMs from 2000 to 2500 and we were then motoring at about six knots.  There was still no wind.

A Relaxing Afternoon Watch
The afternoon watch was very relaxing.  There was no wind and we saw no other boats.  It was warm and pleasant out and I was able to put on shorts.  By that time, I was very tired of the same jeans and three long sleeved shirts that I had been wearing since Guaymas.  We were finally out of sight of land.  We reached the half way point that afternoon.  When Don took over at 4:00, I hung out and then made pork chops and potatoes for dinner.  I took a short nap before coming back on watch at 8:00.  Don had turned the stereo on and I enjoyed the music all throughout my shift.  There was still no wind and we were still alone out there.



February 7, 2018

Sunrise Over the Sea of Cortez
Don took the midnight to 4:00 AM watch and I made another instant cappuccino and came back up at 4:00.  Don had killed the stereo, so I listened to my iPod and watched a few fishing boats pass us in the distance.  I enjoyed another colorful sunrise.  We still didn’t have enough wind to sail.  Don took back over at 8:00 and I went below to sleep until just before noon.

I had another bowl of cereal and took the helm at noon.  Just after 1:00, Isla Isabela peeked over the horizon.  It grew steadily larger as we approached.  Twenty knots of wind had been predicted for Wednesday afternoon, but we didn’t have enough to sail until we were approaching the island and would have needed to douse the sails, anyway.  It never got much about 10 knots.

Approaching Isla Isabela

We motored around to the south side of the island and anchored in the rocky cove that contained a small fish camp.  It seemed more protected than the open roadstead in the lee of the Monjas, two jagged pinnacles of rock just offshore, where the other anchorage was located.  Our cruising guide mentioned that the anchorage was rocky and suggested putting a line with a float on our anchor in case we needed to dislodge it later.  We did this and anchored close to the rock wall of the cove.  By 4:00, we were riding comfortably.  It was too late to risk getting wet in the dinghy, so we opened a bottle of Baja zinfandel and had cheese and crackers in the cockpit.  It seemed very civilized.  As the sun dipped below the horizon, I served chicken thighs with black beans and salad.  It was good to have the crossing behind us.
A Little Bit of Civilization
February 8, 2018


Fish Camp and Anchorage at Isla Isabela
Isla Isabela is a rookery for blue-footed boobies and frigate birds.  The squawking began as soon as it got light.  Frigate birds have curiously angular wings and look like pteradactyls when they fly.  Hundreds of them wheeling overhead gave the place a prehistoric feeling.  Isabela is a volcanic island and seemed a world away from the desert islands of the Sea of Cortez.  It was rocky and thickly forested with stunted avocado trees.  A caldera graced the center of the old volcano.

Las Monjas
After a quick breakfast of fried eggs and tortillas, we put the dinghy in the water and motored out of the cove and around to the other anchorage where we met Witte Raaf, a Dutch boat whose owners we had met in Conception Bay two years before.  We chatted with them briefly and then set off through the surf to land the dinghy on the beach.  The beach was steep, which made it easy to motor almost up to shore before goosing it, tilting up the motor, and riding the swell onto the beach.

The beach itself was made of wave tossed bits of coral interspersed with rounded volcanic pebbles.  They were a bit large to be comfortable once inside your shoes, but we didn’t have far to haul the dinghy before we could take off our sandals and put on proper hiking shoes.
Beach of Coral Fragments
The boobies were nesting just above the high-water mark on the beach.  We had to pick our way between the nests to get to the beginning of the trail to the caldera.  A booby nest is just a depression in the sand.  The only delimiter is a ring of guano.  Most of the nests had eggs.  We only saw a couple of fluffy white chicks.  The boobies glared at us with their intense, curiously forward-facing eyes.  Both sexes look alike.  You can only tell them apart by their voices.  The males whistle at you, but the females squawk.  There was a camp of researchers at the end of the beach and we chatted with them for awhile.  They assured us that the colony was quite healthy.

Boobies Were Nesting Everywhere
They Even Nested in the Path
Baby Booby















Healthy Boobies Have Very Blue Feet

Boobies Look Right at You
Male Frigate Birds Puff  Out Their Throats
The frigate birds nested in the avocado trees that covered the island.  Frigate birds do not build elaborate nests.  In fact, they weren’t big enough to hold the adult birds.  We saw a few nests of chicks and observed several males with their red throats puffed out like goiters.  The noise was constant.  As we walked through the jungle, it sounded like the soundtrack for a creepy movie.  I half expected to see King Kong. Isla Isabela is known as the Galapagos of Mexico because of its abundant and fearless wildlife.  Iguanas are almost as numerous as the birds.
Nest with Frigate Chick
Iguanas Were Also Abundant
























Path Through the Jungle






We hiked up the hill and down to the shore of the caldera which was filled with greenish looking fresh water.  We skirted along the bank, past the trail that went to the north side of the island, and then climbed up to the rim of the caldera on the other side.  From there, we could see the fish camp near where we had anchored.  We didn’t walk down, figuring it would be easier to go there by dinghy.

Launching the dinghy through the surf can be difficult.  We didn’t do badly, but got our shorts pretty wet as we stood up to our thighs, waiting for a lull in the waves.  We motored back around to our cove, but never did get to
shore by the fish camp.  We stopped at the boat
The Caldera on Isla Isabela
for a beer and then didn’t feel like getting wet again.  We relaxed and tried to calculate our best option for getting to La Cruz without running out of fuel.  I made tostadas for dinner and we went to bed early, hoping to leave at first light for Punta Mita where we hoped to arrive before dark.









February 9, 2018

Morning at Isla Isabela
I got up at 6:00, but it was still completely dark.  I didn’t bother waking Don until it started to get light.  We drank coffee and got ready to pull up the anchor as soon as we could see.  Our anchor chain was wrapped around a huge rock and did not pull free as we took it in.  Just as we reached the point where the boat was directly above the sticking point and the chain was tight, a rogue swell came through.  The bow went down and the stern went up until it felt like we were going to pitch pole.  Then the swell passed under the boat and tried to lift the bow.  Don’s extremely beefy anchor roller bent like rubber, twisted to the side, shearing off the bolts, and pulled right out of the bow.

The Roller Ripped Out of the Bow

Once we calmed down, we decided to try pulling up the anchor from the line attached to the float.  We retrieved the float and put the line on the winch.  I ground the 2500 pound test line in until it snapped, but didn’t budge the anchor.  We put a weight on the float and dropped it back down to mark the location of the anchor.  Don dove in and tried to see which way to unwrap the chain, but the water was too deep to see anything.  We had stowed the dinghy on deck, so we had to launch it again.  Don attached a line to the chain and tried for an hour and a half to unwrap it from the rock, without success.

About that time, two pangas full of fishermen arrived to help.  The first panga took our line and tried to pull the chain free with his 50 hp outboard, but still couldn’t move it.  Fortunately, the second panga had a compressor and an air hose and one of the guys dove on our anchor and managed to unwrap our chain.  We recovered the anchor, chain, and mangled anchor roller.  We gave them 1000 pesos for their trouble and thanked them profusely.  I can’t count the number of times my friends and I have been rescued by fishermen in pangas.  Please, cruisers out there, be kind to pangueros.  They are skilled seamen and we want them to continue being there for us. 

It was 11:00 by the time we finally got our dinghy stowed again and headed out to sea.  Our plan to arrive in Punta Mita before dark went out the window.  We contemplated stopping at Matanchen Bay, but were afraid we didn’t have enough fuel.  We decided to make straight for Punta Mita, figuring we had been there enough times to navigate the anchorage in the dark.
Comet's Main Sail

We hoped to sail and save fuel, but there was not enough wind.  We put the main up anyway, hoping to get at least a bit of assistance.  We ate the last of our cereal for breakfast around noon and continued, alternating watches, throughout the afternoon and evening.  I didn’t feel like cooking underway, so we had instant noodles for dinner, knowing real food awaited us in La Cruz.

It was dark and moonless as we approached Punta Mita.  Distances were deceiving and we looked and looked for the lights on Punta Mita and the Marietas.  Eventually, the two lights on the Marietas hove into view, but the light on Punta Mita appeared to be out.  We stayed well offshore as we rounded the point and then motored into the anchorage, dropping the hook in 30 feet of water as soon as we started to encounter boats.  It was too dark to go motoring through the crowded anchorage.  We came to rest just before midnight.

February 10, 2018

The Anchorage at Punta Mita
We awoke to a nice, calm morning in Punta Mita.  We didn’t have far to go, so were in no hurry.  We drank coffee and I made pancakes.  Around noon, we motored out of the anchorage and headed for La Cruz, arriving at the marina by mid-afternoon.  The office was closed for the day, but Porfirio from Security welcomed us and gave Don a key.  We put the boat away and I finished packing.  Then we headed up to the restrooms for much anticipated showers.

I was sad to leave Comet and sorry to be at least temporarily done with cruising, but I was excited to move into the house where I had rented a room.  By 5:00, we loaded all my bags into a dock cart and I hailed a taxi to take me the mile or so across town to the house where I was renting a room from my friend, Cherie.  The house was on a funky dirt road in a quiet part of town.  The house was attractive, if somewhat sparsely furnished, and perfectly adequate.  There were hot water, good internet, and hammocks.  I was happy.