We started to leave Banderas Bay Feb. 21, but as we neared the mouth of the bay, the wind picked up and the big cloud bank to the west looked menacing, so we anchored in Punta Mita, the last nook inside the bay on the north side. The next day, we headed out again and made Chacala at noon.
Chac-aaaaaaahhh-la
We loved Chacala. It's a small bay, about 1-1/2 miles wide, with a beautiful wrap-around beach, good dinghy landing, beach palapas, easy swim to shore, nice tourist resort, wonderful. We reprovisioned some and left 2 days later for San Blas.
Beltane of San Blas
The trip to San Blas turned out to be perfect. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the "The Bells of San Blas" in 1882 about the forgotten friars who established a mission and introduced Catholicism there. We had a slow, pleasant sail across shallow (10-12m) Mantechan Bay, which has hosted international surfing contests, to our anchorage on the north shore near San Blas with about 7 other boats. We were playing Scrabble in the cockpit when the noseums came out at dusk (which we'd been warned about), so we headed inside and left in the morning for Isla Isabella.
Isla Isabella
We had a rocky ride all day to this volcanic island set aside as a Parque Nacional due to its bird rookery. We were so glad to anchor and get out of the wind and rough seas. The next day, we hiked the trail through the rookery. The frigate and boobies (red-, yellow-, and blue-footed varieties) let us come within a foot of them, their nestlings, and eggs. We also saw many iguanas, seagulls, and other types of seabird.
It’s pretty special to eat dinner in the cockpit, swaying at anchor, volcanic cliffs around you, live with the sound of seabirds, and the clear, green sea just a few feet away.
Mazatlan
We left Isla Isabella at 4:00 in the afternoon, February 27, arrived at Mazatlan at 9:00 the next morning after 3 hours of sailing and the rest motoring on calm ses, and docked in Marina Mazatlan. The sky scrapers are quite a change from the wildness of Isabella. We'll wait for a weather window here before crossing to La Paz to meet our friends, Alex and Edith.
Chac-aaaaaaahhh-la
We loved Chacala. It's a small bay, about 1-1/2 miles wide, with a beautiful wrap-around beach, good dinghy landing, beach palapas, easy swim to shore, nice tourist resort, wonderful. We reprovisioned some and left 2 days later for San Blas.
Beltane of San Blas
The trip to San Blas turned out to be perfect. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the "The Bells of San Blas" in 1882 about the forgotten friars who established a mission and introduced Catholicism there. We had a slow, pleasant sail across shallow (10-12m) Mantechan Bay, which has hosted international surfing contests, to our anchorage on the north shore near San Blas with about 7 other boats. We were playing Scrabble in the cockpit when the noseums came out at dusk (which we'd been warned about), so we headed inside and left in the morning for Isla Isabella.
Isla Isabella
We had a rocky ride all day to this volcanic island set aside as a Parque Nacional due to its bird rookery. We were so glad to anchor and get out of the wind and rough seas. The next day, we hiked the trail through the rookery. The frigate and boobies (red-, yellow-, and blue-footed varieties) let us come within a foot of them, their nestlings, and eggs. We also saw many iguanas, seagulls, and other types of seabird.
It’s pretty special to eat dinner in the cockpit, swaying at anchor, volcanic cliffs around you, live with the sound of seabirds, and the clear, green sea just a few feet away.
Mazatlan
We left Isla Isabella at 4:00 in the afternoon, February 27, arrived at Mazatlan at 9:00 the next morning after 3 hours of sailing and the rest motoring on calm ses, and docked in Marina Mazatlan. The sky scrapers are quite a change from the wildness of Isabella. We'll wait for a weather window here before crossing to La Paz to meet our friends, Alex and Edith.
