Zihuatanejo

January 16, 2015Adventures, Docked/AnchoredCaptain Jim

We had a long motor-sail from Manzanillo to Zihuatanejo, a distance of about 200 miles. Winds were light but we picked up an extra knot by having the sails out close-hauled. Right after daybreak we pulled in 2 small tuna within 15 minutes of each other, one with a rod & reel and the other on a hand line. The hand line is much harder on the fish since it doesn’t allow them to run and drags them at the speed of the boat from the moment they’re hooked. We would have released the smaller one caught on the hand line but there was too much damage (missing an eye). It’s much more fun having them run and bringing them in with the rod & reel. Anyhow, Karen marinated the tuna in some tequila and lime juice and we were eating fish tacos for lunch about 4 hours later.

Our arrival was timed perfectly with the Seahawk-Panther NFC divisional playoff game. A quick solar shower, a short dinghy ride into town, and a 10 minute walk to a restaurant/bar where we met John & AnnaMaria from Seattle (Hawk fans) and Gus & Ellen from Charlotte (Panther fans). They all arrived that same day and are staying at the Club Intrawest resort not far from where we anchored in the bay.

We spent 8 days in Zihuatanejo hanging out with our friends at the resort. Most days we would lock our dinghy to a coconut tree along the beach next to the resort and enjoy the pool and luxurious 3-bedroom flat. This has been the first time we’ve spent any significant time off the boat. We stayed overnight 4 nights and were spoiled by the king-size bed, TV, and air conditioning (thanks John and AnnaMaria!). Since we were anchored the entire time, we periodically went back to the boat and ran the generator to supplement the solar charging of the batteries. One day we motored an hour north to Isla Ixtapa where we dropped the anchor and enjoyed the afternoon swimming around the boat, relaxing, and grilling. We also had lunch with Bob who makes Zihuatanejo his home 6 months a year and lives on his boat at the same marina we’re at back in Seattle the other 6 months. In town we walked around the marcado, ate at local restaurants, and shopped. Karen and AnnaMaria went on a half-day marcado tour where they bought fresh produce and spices, brought them back to the resort, and learned some new recipes for making salsa, guacamole, ceviche, and camaron risotto.

One evening at the resort we had dinner cooked for us along the beach. Before dinner was served, there was a baby sea turtle hatchery release. A group collects green sea turtle eggs from nests along the beach and keeps them in a protected area buried in sand. About 50 days later, they hatch and are released along the beach near the surf. They roped off an area for people to gather around which also keeps predators such as birds away so the babies can at least make it to the sea. As they were released near the surf, they instinctively crawled toward the water because of the brighter horizon, and were helped by the waves washing up on the beach. Hatchery programs like this improves the statistics for turtles reaching the sea.

Zihuatanejo is definitely a charming town with a lot of character and friendly people, 80 degree water, and white sand beaches. Everyone from Alfonzo who would watch over our dinghy whenever we took it in to town, to David who helped our dinghy in and out of the surf at Playa la Ropa near Club Intrawest, to the restaurant and vendor workers who were always smiling, to the woman who sold us a conch shell and repeatedly blew different ones until we found the one we liked best, and on and on and on…..made Z-town one of our favorite stops in Mexico.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — 2 small Skipjack Tuna

DSCN1098 — Jim, Karen, Ellen, Gus, Jacintha, John, AnnaMaria

DSCN1076 — Karen and AnnaMaria at Cooking Class

DSCN1077 — Making Camaron (prawns) Risotto

Heading Further South

January 8, 2015Adventures, Docked/Anchored, SailingCaptain Jim

So far, we have executed our overall cruising plan just as we planned it back in Seattle–that is, sail from Seattle to San Francisco with the Coho Ho Ho rally, reach San Diego by early November, sail to Cabo San Lucas with the Baja Ha Ha rally, sail up into the Sea of Cortez to La Paz, cross the sea to Mazatlan, and head south to Banderas Bay. Between those major stops, we had numerous anchorages on islands and remote villages and saw some pretty amazing things. We are now almost 1/3 of the way through our 14 month adventure. It would have been easy to spend 3 more months in Puerto Vallarta getting ready for the Pacific Puddle Jump to the Marquesas, but we want to see as much of Mexico as possible, so we planned a 670 mile round trip journey down the coast to Zihuatanejo during the month of January. We will then spend February and half of March in Puerto Vallarta preparing for the crossing. So once again we parted ways with other boats we have become friends with, and began heading further south. Our sail plan was to break the trip to Zihuatanejo up into 4 legs and visit places like Tenacatita, Manzanillo, Santiago, Ixtapa, and others.

Tenacatita

We caught a nice wind out of Banderas Bay (La Cruz), sailing downwind at 7-8 knots for 8 hours under full main and genoa. Steady winds of 20 knots moved us along nicely and since we were ahead of schedule, we decided to go all the way to Tenacatita, 122 miles from La Cruz. Unfortunately, the wind died suddenly and we found ourselves motoring the second half, but still reached Tenacatita by 10am the following day, where we anchored in a nice bay alongside a dozen other boats. We went ashore and met 2 guys gathering coconuts. The method was to find trees that had reachable branches with coconut clusters BELOW them, and shake the branch until some coconuts fell. Not easy work but well worth the effort. Jacintha helped with reaching some branches that were too tall for us to reach! We spent another full day at Tenacatita and played Bocci Ball on the beach with fellow cruisers, then joined them at the restaurant/bar along the beach afterwards. Jacintha played on the beach with a girl her age who was vacationing with her family from Guadalajara. Towards evening we took our dinghy about a mile up an estuary that weaved its way through thick mangroves. It was like a real jungle cruise (as opposed to the one we did a few months ago at Disneyland) with lots of Pelicans, Herons, Egrets, crabs, and insects. We didn’t spot any, but crocodiles are known to make this their home. We rushed out of there at the first hint of mosquitoes. Back at the boat, Karen finished covering some port inserts with fine mesh for mosquito protection and we lit a mossy coil (our first night there we were unprepared and left the ports open until we realized we were inviting many blood-thirsty mosquitoes inside).

We started getting into the habit of raising our dinghy up to the lifelines every night using a halyard. We were advised that although most places are safe, every year there are cruisers who wake up in the morning to find their dinghy gone. We also remove the engine from the dinghy and hoist it up to the stern bracket overnight. Keeping the dinghy out of the water overnight has the added benefit of slowing down barnacle growth on the bottom.

Manzanillo

A morning departure from Tenacatita put us in Manzanillo at 2pm. Winds were light so we motor-sailed the 36 miles. We anchored in front of the Las Hadas Resort, known for its unique white-stucco architecture with domes, spirals, and arches. For 200 pesos ($18), we could dock our dinghy there and use the amenities–a huge pool, showers, wifi, and restaurants. There was also a well stocked marine store and a fabulous gelato store within the resort.

We spent 3 days anchored in Manzanillo using the amenities of the Las Hadas Resort. The view at the anchorage was great, the price was right (free!), and we enjoyed the 5-star resort for less than $20 per day. It was hard to leave, but Zihuatanejo was calling….

La Cruz

January 8, 2015Docked/AnchoredCaptain Jim

We spent 3 days at La Cruz, mostly hanging out at the marina where we were docked next to kid boats Family Circus and Pelagic. Some fun things we did there were counting down the seconds to the New Year alongside a bonfire on the beach, watching an outdoor movie, and celebrating Jacintha`s birthday (again) on the beach with her friends. Her b-day piñata proved difficult to break but finally spilled out its candy and toys onto the sand kamagra reviews. We walked into the small town paved with cobblestones to eat lunch and re-provision at a small tienda. We really liked La Cruz and our plan is to return after our trip down the coast to Zihuatanejo.

Thoughts on the cruising life.

January 2, 2015Docked/AnchoredCo Captain Kaz

Jim has been busy keeping the blog up to date since San Diego and I have to admit being a bit apathetic to this task.

Firstly, I have been adjusting to living on a boat, detoxifying from city life and the rat race and trying to get used to the change in my role. It has been an adjustment for me to go from a professional where others are relying on me for advice and care of their loved ones to mom, wife and sailor where those relying on me are a n=2. My responsibilities have shrunk and grown at the same time.

I’m the full time cook on board, something I’ve dreaded since I’m not very proficient in the kitchen, I just cope. Cooking is not a passion of mine, just a chore. I’ve envied friends of mine who have a pantry full of exotic ingredients and manage to whip up something fabulous in 30 mins and love to do it. Both my mum and sister have that passion for cooking but I prefer to eat what’s put before me! Food shopping is another chore that I dislike and I hate having to plan meals as I’ve no idea what I want to cook from one day to the next, let alone the next week like we have to do when cruising. Met Market is not just around the corner from us. Going to the mercado is an interesting experience as I’ve no idea what to buy and what to cook and now it’s in a foreign language as well. It makes it 10x as onerous as it does in English. So for now the menu is whatever recipe I can find in the book with the ingredients I’ve gotten. I’m limited to broccoli, carrots, green beans and cucumbers as vegetables that I can deal with. I’m not a salad person so don’t tend to make it.
I do like baking though, so have made some bread, some peach crumble, I’ve perfected my pizza dough recipe and even made a birthday cake for Jacintha, although I did decorate it with shocking pink icing from a box. But we can’t just live on cake alone.

I’m also the teacher on board and haven’t been doing too well on that score as I’m so slack about it. Jacintha whines and complains about having to do her math and journal writing. She started out great and completed half her math coursework by the time we left San Diego but both Jim and I were so busy with preparation/sailing that we’ve been pretty slack at checking her work and keeping a schedule. So now she’s not as interested in it as she was and getting a bit frustrated with fractions. Plus there’s always something more interesting to see and do like going to the markets, swimming at the beach, walking around an island. I’m really glad I didn’t purchase a strict program to work with as I don’t think I could spend that much time enforcing school work and administering tests. And during passages we both get a little green around the gills so no schoolwork on sailing days is a rule!

Having my social circle cut down to 2 people has been somewhat frustrating for me. I have been used to interacting with lots of different people in the hospital and having friends that I could do things with that Jim wasn’t interested in. Now my world has shrunk to Jim, Jacintha and the boat. We go most places together as we only have the one “car” – our dinghy. So I’m limited with what’s within walking distance or a bus ride away, and what either Jim or Jacintha want to do. We do meet people on other boats but it’s not the same as calling Agnes for a coffee, going for a pedicure with Jennifer or catching a chick flick with a bunch of the girls. And socializing is easier when we’re at a dock at a marina as opposed to anchoring out far away from everyone else, then one feels even more isolated. Jacintha feels the lack of friends as well, so I do try and and make an effort to find other boats with kids that she can play with. So far we’ve met Amaia and Alina on Family Circus, Gracie and Billie on Seahorse V, Bucket on Velvet Sky, Hannah on Ohana whom we just met at Mazatlan. She’s had a couple of boat sleepovers so far! We even met a couple of nice land based kids at the El Cid Marina Resort that she enjoyed playing with. Samantha from the Canadian Okanagans was real special as she gave Jacintha a birthday present!!

I was surprised at how noisy sailing actually is. In my mind, I always thought it would be a quiet commune with nature! How wrong I was. At the dock I was surprised to hear pitter patter of what sounds like raindrops. Turns out they’re shrimp eating at night that make that noise – they were loudest in San Diego bay. The first time I heard it I wanted to close all our hatches!

When we turn off the motor it means there’s wind enough to sail. There is always the sound of water rushing past the hull as we travel along, sloshing, splashing and gurgling. Then there’s the boat that sways to the waves, whether it’s from the big lazy long Pacific Rollers that rock the boat from side to side like a cradle or from the shorter, sharper chop of wind blown waves that lifts up the boat and surfs underneath. All these movement makes the boat creak and groan with each wave. Pots bang against each other and the spice jars rattle. Things in the cupboards rattle all adding to to noise on the boat. The sails may flop and pull on the sheets causing some banging. Lastly, there is the wind. You don’t hear it below 10 knots. From 10-20 she is a low hum. From 20-30 she starts to sing. Above 30 she starts to moan. I do not want to hear her past 30 knots as I am unable to sleep for the din in the cabin.

What do I like about cruising?
I love waking up and finding myself in a different place and not having to think about work. I couldn’t get enough of watching the pelicans dive bomb into the water to catch a fish in Bahia Tortuga. I was amazed by the amount of different butterflies we’ve seen along the Baja Peninsula. I love dropping the anchor and being able to see it on the sandy bottom with the chain lying in a straight line behind it.
The amount of fish at the anchorage and marinas has been spectacular. At Bahia de Los Muertos we shone a light into the water and it attracted so many fish. We managed to put a net into the water and catch a fish. My favorite watch is when there’s a moon out casting a silver light on the sea and the boat.
When we meet other cruisers I love hearing their stories. How they made it there, how long they’re staying, where they’re headed to, how long they intend to sail. The cruisers net in the big towns like La Paz and Mazatlan make one feel like a part of a community. This is a daily 8am VHF radio check-in every cruiser listens to in the town. They ask if there’s any emergencies out there. Then give a tide and weather report. Then ask if anyone is new in town or leaving. Then if anyone needs boating help and is anyone willing to help them with it. Plus organizing activities for the community.

I am amazed at the growth in my daughter both physically and mentally the last 3 months. She’s more confident in talking to people and very sure of herself. She’s not afraid to speak up for herself and is independent when we have to do an overnighter. She’s brave when we have choppy seas and doesn’t complain about it. She comes on deck with her life jacket on and hangs onto the mizzen mast in the cockpit till things settle down. A real trooper in trying times. She loves adventure and was excited to walk around Isla Isabella to see the nesting frigate birds and blue footed boobies.

All in all cruising has so far been a wonderful experience and there is still more to come.

Visit from Marvalyn

January 1, 2015AdventuresCaptain Jim

A friend of ours, Marvalyn, flew in to Mazatlan to join us on the boat for 4 days. She arrived at 1am without her luggage which didn’t follow her when she got bumped off a flight. We decided to have the airline send her bag to La Cruz and hoped it would be there when we arrived 2 days later.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the sail from Mazatlan to Isla Isabel was very rough with the combination of wind and waves causing the boat to corkscrew along. Marvalyn has sailed with us a few times on Lake Union in Seattle, but has never experienced ocean coastal passages. After some initial seasickness, she found her sea legs and did quite well entertaining Jacintha while Karen and I did the watches. Her fluency in Spanish helped us with buying fish, getting directions, and ordering food.

In La Cruz, Marvalyn rang in the New Year with us at a beach party and got a taste of cruiser’s life inside a marina–pot lucks, entertaining with other kid boats, and meeting some of our boating friends. She departed on New Years Day (intact with her luggage!) from the Puerto Vallarta airport.

Isla Isabel

January 1, 2015Adventures, SailingCaptain Jim

A mid-afternoon departure from Mazatlan was timed for a mid-day arrival at Isla Isabel, about 95 miles south. We left at high tide and crossing the bar was very rough with large waves escorting us out of the bay. Winds were blowing 20 knots from the north, and wind waves were steep, so the ride was uncomfortable but fast. We sailed throughout the night with a double-reefed main and partially furled genoa. The winds calmed a few hours from Isla Isabel and we motored the final leg. As we approached the small anchorage on the southern end of the island, we found it full with 6 boats. Our guidebook showed an alternative anchorage on the east side but warned about the rocky bottom and it’s reputation for swallowing anchors. The water was crystal clear so we could see the rocks on the bottom interspersed among the patches of sand. We found a sand patch to drop the anchor on in 20 feet of water and let out 60 feet of chain. We also tied a line onto the anchor crown and floated a buoy on it in case the anchor fouled around a rock. This anchorage is less protected but since the winds had calmed, Apropos did not roll much.

Isla Isabel is an isolated volcanic island 18 miles off the mainland coast and is nicknamed the “Galapagos of Mexico” because of its large number of nesting birds and resident iguanas. Like the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador, Isabel is isolated in the Pacific Ocean and relatively free of natural predators.

By the time we anchored and got the dinghy in the water, the sun was setting and there wasn’t enough time to explore the island, so I dove in the water to inspect the hull. I noticed the prop zinc was gone and small barnacles were covering most of the hull, so I spent about 2 hours scraping with a plastic putty knife. In the morning, we took the dinghy to the southern anchorage and went ashore near the small fishing camp. Along the hike to the light tower at the top of a hill, we walked under the canopy of trees full of nesting frigate birds. The male frigate proudly displays his colors to attract a mate by inflating his bright red throat pouch (gular pouch) and making a whistling sound. Since they can neither swim nor walk well on land, they like to perch in the treetops or on the ground with their wings spread wide open. Along the steep mile-long trail, we spotted iguanas and lizards. The top of the hill was covered with nesting blue footed boobies. They allowed us to approach them to within about 10 feet before flying away, except for the females who were sitting on their eggs. With no predators on the island, these birds seemed curious but unafraid of us. We spent an hour at the peak, then returned to the beach and cooled down in the tide pools along a sandy beach. Before returning to the boat, we bought 3 red snappers from the fishermen for 30 pesos (about $2). We grilled 2 of them and made ceviche with the 3rd. Served with rice, Sriracha sauce, and lime, they made a very tasty meal. We then took the dinghy to the base of a small island rock in front of us and snorkeled among the reef fish. Back at the boat we rinsed off with warm solar showers, got the dinghy back on deck, and departed at 5pm for an overnight sail to La Cruz.

Boat Repairs

December 27, 2014Maintenance, ProjectsCaptain Jim

As the saying goes: Cruising is fixing your boat in exotic places

I spent a good part of the day fixing things:

One of the dual Racor fuel filters had been dripping fuel into the bilge (onto absorbent pads) for a couple of weeks. I’ve tried replacing o-rings on the threaded drain knob at the bottom of the bowl several times in the past, but it continued leaking a few ounces per day. It was a nuisance cleaning up the pads and once I forgot to check things for a week and had to remove a half gallon of diesel from the bilge using a drill pump. I noticed if I tightened the plastic drain too much, the o-ring compressed too much and it leaked faster. But even loosening it by various amounts wouldn’t stop the leak all-together. Removing and inspecting the drain plug, I noticed the bottom of the plastic bowl was a little uneven, so I filed it smooth with a very fine file. I also put a bit of silicone gasket sealer on the threads next to where the o-ring seats. After screwing the plug back in and re-filling the bowl with diesel, it seems to have stopped the leaking–at least 24 hours later, I’ll keep an eye on it!

Our Fleming self steering wind vane, nicknamed Ian, never really worked right and I think I finally found out why! Another cruiser (Scott from SV Velvet Sky) was telling me how well his wind vane steered his boat and offered to take a look at mine. His is a Monitor, but works the same by turning the wheel in response to veering off a set course with respect to the wind. The problem with Ian, is that he seemed to turn into the wind all the time and never corrected course. Analyzing how the wind affects the vane, which affects the servo-pendulum rudder, which in turn moves the wheel, we realized that the lines going from Ian to the wheel drum needed to be reversed, or criss-crossed, to make the wheel turn in the correct direction! I decided to cross them where they were routed through the lazarette, which was more difficult than crossing them near the wheel drum, but provided a fairer lead through the blocks. Can’t wait to test Ian out on our next sail!

The head felt like it wasn’t flushing properly. The Y valve that steers waste either into an onboard stainless steel tank or overboard was getting harder to move, and with the valve in the tank position, you could hear some of the water going overboard. So I disassembled the Y valve and right away could see the problem–lots of calcium deposits had built up so the valve wouldn’t completely move to the tank position. This was not a fun job, but was finished in about 2 hours and now the Y-valve operates much better.

Christmas and Birthday

December 26, 2014Adventures, Docked/AnchoredCo Captain Kaz

Feliz Navidad próspero año y felicidad

With Christmas and Jacintha’s birthday falling on consecutive days, Jacintha has been very excited. On Christmas Eve, after our night swim, hot tub and shower, we watched The Polar Express and ate popcorn. Jacintha put out milk and cookies for Santa and could hardly keep her eyes open for the whole movie. She went to bed without a fuss as she knew St Nick would be coming down the hatch at midnight!

On Christmas morning, the stocking was full of presents and there were some under the tree as well! Santa must have a real good GPS as he found us here in Mazatlan. After opening the presents, I started cooking Christmas dinner, whilst Jim called his parents in Florida, then took Jacintha to the beach where she saw some girls she met at the pool the day before and was soon building a large sand castle. Roy from SV Mabrouka joined us for Christmas dinner and he brought over the mashed potatoes. We had roast chicken with gravy, greek salad, peach crumble and Roy’s mashed spuds. After that it was over to the pool for some relaxing (grown ups) and playing (Jacintha). What a pleasant Mexican Christmas day.

Birthday–Jacintha wanted a party and piñata for her birthday and we found the piñata in La Paz. It’s been hanging in our port-side salon (not so inconspicuously!) for the past 300 miles. Our original plan was to be in Puerto Vallarta for Christmas to meet up with other kid boats, but we were delayed leaving La Paz and decided to spend a week in Mazatlan. Jacintha decided to wait until we meet up with some of her friends to have her birthday party. She was excited to be in a “resort” with pool and beach, I think it reminds her of our vacations in Hawaii. The day began with a surprise birthday announcement on the morning radio net (thanks Scott from SV Velvet Sky). Then Jacintha spent half the day at the beach with Hannah from SV Ohana and Bucket from SV Velvet Sky where they enjoyed eating Karen’s homemade birthday cake on the beach. For the second half of the day we all went to the pool where the kids played in the water and the adults relaxed.

Mazatlan for 7 Days

December 23, 2014Adventures, SailingCaptain Jim

The sail from the Baja Peninsula (Bahia De Los Muertos) to Mexico mainland (Mazatlan) is 190 miles. At the half-way point, we would be nearly 100 miles from land, another first for us. Our pre-departure planning was calculated with a moving average of 5.5 knots so we allowed about 35 hours to get there. Since we wanted to arrive during daylight hours, we decided on a 3am wakeup and a 4am departure. This would get us into Mazatlan around 4pm. The GRIB files (weather data) showed a 10-15 knot northerly for the first 24 hours, which is ideal for the crossing since it would be a broad reach point of sail.

It was pitch black when we left and the wind was already blowing 10 knots inside the bay, so we were cautious and double-reefed the main and pulled out the genoa. Outside the bay, the northerly picked up to 15-20 knots and the seas became rough (5-8 feet). I took the first 3-hour watch while Karen got some rest. Sailing in rough seas in darkness (clear skies but new moon) can be exciting since you don’t SEE the waves. The larger waves normally come in bunches of 3, and it’s the 1st one that surprises you! Every so often, a wave would hit the boat causing it to roll, then a second wave would break on board. When it broke near the bow, the gunnels filled with water and you could hear the scuppers slurping down the sea water. When it broke near the stern, you were surprised with a shower. When the wind began picking up above 20 knots, we furled in the genoa part-way to keep the helm light. So for the first 24 hours, we sailed along at between 6 and 8 knots, ticking off 150 miles. With the constant rolling motion and hand steering, we got pretty tired and began doing 2 hour shifts (although I’d sometimes trade an extra hour for a hot cup of tea, or when I was in a groove with my iTunes playlist). It wasn’t until I woke up from my 2 hour “sleep” at 7am on the 2nd day, that the wind had finally dropped to 10 knots. We shook out the mains’l reefs and pulled out the full genoa. By then we were only 40 miles from Mazatlan and continued sailing at a slower speed of 5 knots, and finally turned on the engine for the last 2 hours as the wind dropped further.

The remaining hurdle was getting around the breakwater and through the narrow channel to the marina. Although we timed our arrival for daylight (with the stronger winds, it was around 1pm), we didn’t consider the tides. We read in our guidebook the channel requires constant dredging to keep it deep enough. As we rounded the breakwater, the shallow depth alarm (set to 8′) began beeping. Soon I saw 2′ on the depth sounder, which measures the depth of water below the keel. There was also a 3-4 knot current coming out and the channel had a dog-leg. The channel was only about 20 feet wide and I found deeper water steering towards the port breakwater. We made it through and pulled up to the fuel dock at Marina El Cid. Just before entering the channel, another sailboat radioed us on VHF saying they would be following us in but they had a broken transmission and were only able to go forward. While I was at the marina office, that boat radioed the marina to report they were grounded in the channel and were asking for an emergency tow (they eventually got towed off). While waiting for the tide to turn we washed the salt off the boat then went for a swim in the resort pool which was deliciously warm. We then moored the boat and took a nap. In the evening I watched with some other Seattle fans as the Seahawks beat the Cardinals to take over 1st place in the division!!

After a much needed full night’s sleep, we took a bus to Old Mazatlan, the heart of the city away from the tourist hotels, beaches and marinas. We took in the sights of the landmark Cathedral Basilica with twin yellow spires, the Mercado Municipal 2-story public market, and ate at small street-side loncherias (lunch counters). We also bought some refreshing fruit-filled licuados, fresh coconut water, and just-made tortillas.

Back at the marina, we enjoyed the swimming pools and restaurants that belong to the El Cid resort. We also did the routine chores like re-provisioning at Mega, exchanging dollars for pesos, boat maintenance, and laundry.

Confession–today we stopped at a Starbucks and ate at McDonald’s – they had a play area for Jacintha and free wifi for her parents!

DSCN1034 — Fresh Green Coconuts for 20 pesos

Swimming with Sea Lions

December 17, 2014AdventuresCaptain Jim

Seven days turned into nine days at Marina Cortez in La Paz, but it was nice staying at a marina for a change. We didn’t have to load up the dinghy every time we wanted to go ashore, we could use the dock to work on canvas projects (hammering in rivets), we could use land showers, and Jacintha had lots of friends on the same dock. She and her friend from Family Circus (a family with 5 siblings aboard) exchanged sleepovers on the two boats.

Swimming with Sea Lions

We felt like we were growing roots, so we shoved off and headed back to the Islands for 4 days. The highlight of this trip was swimming with the Sea Lions. Our guidebook mentioned a place known for curious California Sea Lions near the northern end of Isla Partida just behind 2 large rocks called Los Islotes. The rocks have been painted white from birds hanging out there feeding on the Sea Lion’s leftover fish. We anchored in 60’ of water with just 100’ of chain on a rock bottom so we decided to keep 1 person aboard while the others rowed the dinghy to a mooring buoy next to the rock. I went with Jacintha and we snorkeled in 10’ of water with lots of Sea Lions swimming around us. The larger ones mostly sunned themselves on the rock ledges watching their pups and juveniles play in the water. When we were done, Karen went in and got some great photos and video. A small Sea Lion darted toward her then swam away and posed in a graceful arc, then swam back to her and nipped at her fins. Another medium sized one came up to her and playfully nipped her in the side. It was amazing how curious, fun, and unafraid of humans these creatures were (I don’t think the Sea Lions around Seattle are quite as friendly).

We spent the last 2 days at Caleta Partida, a nice anchorage at the southern end of Isla Partida. There we combed the beach and added 6 more hermit crabs to Jacintha’s collection. We also joined 2 other boats for a fantastic potluck dinner aboard sv Scoots (Eric and Vanda, home port San Fransisco).

Video: http://youtu.be/pmpdH-8zI_U