Well my friends I am a fish out of water while I write this. I’m currently seat 23D on a flight leaving Cabo heading to Seattle, making my way to Oregon. It’s time to renew my Mexican Visa and to do that, you must leave the country. So this time I’m taking the opportunity to visit family in my hometown of Brookings, Oregon! But that’s not what this post is about. This post is about a slice of paradise!
Brad and I shared similar thoughts about what we envisioned cruising would be like. This place was the jackpot of our imaginations. Clear turquoise water, hiking, snorkeling, and great friends! We found ourselves in Isla San Francisco for several days for a couple of reasons. The primary reason was to spend a bit more time with Jim on Silk Purse before he continued his journey north. He has big plans on land and will be hauling his boat out, and moving back to Kansas! While we are fully supportive and excited for him, selfishly we will miss his company. Reason numero dos: we wanted to get out of La Paz for a few days and explore somewhere new! Both reasons weren’t made in vain. Here, let me show you what the anchorage looks like! 
It’s a wide anchorage with a crescent beach full of sea shells and soft sand. Oh, and a few sticks for Sydney to fetch! (Sticks and her coconuts are her preferred toys these days). The shore includes hiking trails that provide you with gorgeous 360 degree views. Here are some of my favorite views from the top. 
As you can see it’s quite lovely! We made the hike with our cruising friends, Liz and Risto on Silver Wings and of course Jim on Silk Purse. On the way back we traversed the ridge and made our way down to the salt flats and then back to the sandy beach. Another thing we loved about this place, there was no shore break. Meaning we could easily land the dinghy or paddle boards with Sydney without any issues.
From the boat we could see schools of fish, turtles, star fish and even a moray eel! I’ll just pretend we didn’t see an eel there, I always assumed they hung out in the rocks! Eeeeks!!! Brad felt inspired to fish off the side of the boat, which unfortunately did not provide us with anything edible. He called it quits after hooking a puffer fish. (No fish were harmed or maimed during his fishing attempt.)😂 Speaking of all these water creatures, we geared up for a snorkel and explored one of the large coves near the anchorage. The water was a little cold so Brad suggested a wetsuit. I happily slapped it on and bobbed like a cork which was perfect. The snorkeling was productive. We saw Sargeant Majors, Angel Fish, Surgeon Fish, mystery fish and even a sea turtle! Brad was manning the GoPro and did a great job of capturing the scene. He’s not afraid to dive down and snoop around. 
If this is a taste of what the Sea of Cortez has to offer then call us hooked! They say the water will get warmer and clearer as the months pass. And while Isla San Francisco has no internet, stores or restaurants, it makes up for it in nature. Brad and I will have no problem plugging in to that!
In other news, I recently learned the importance of writing recipes down. Apparently getting the recipe for Chocolate No Bake cookies from my Mom constitutes as an emergency worthy of a satellite phone call. We wanted to surprise Jim with a batch before he left and I found myself forgetting the recipe. It’s something I’ve always googled before. Well, not anymore. The recipe is on paper now! We also procured the boat bread recipe and gave it a try. Our loaf turned out picture perfect so I demanded a selfie. Good thing Brad is such a good sport! 
Alright my friends we will surely keep you posted with our plans after I return from the states. If all goes well, we will be provisioning and heading into the Sea as soon as possible. Cheers to each of you and as always we hope this blog finds you happy and healthy!
More photos for your viewing pleasure…
When we got closer to Mazatlan we were in a fog, figuratively and literally. We had plans to stay in Marina Mazatlán so we gave them a call shortly after 8am to get our slip assignment. We were told that we would need to dock at the fuel dock until they had a slip ready. They also let us know that the port was closed, meaning we could go in, but others could not leave. Which made us feel better as we were navigating with limited visibility. 
Luckily we could navigate by our chart plotter to get us to the entrance of the marina. I stood at the bow and Brad steered us in. We eventually got our slip assignment and explored the marina. They had wonderful bathrooms, laundry on site, and an amazing pool! And it was super affordable too! 
We spent a short amount of time in Mazatlán and managed to get to Mazatlán Centro which is their old town area. We had a great time checking out the gigantic market, lovely church and stumbled upon a tasty gelato shop. 
The next morning we left the marina with Silk Purse and headed to Muertos. We scheduled this to be about 36 hours. This stretch was one of our finest sails yet and we managed to sail 19 hours and motored 15. We sailed all afternoon and you’ll notice our path kind of veered off while we searched for better winds.
When I woke up for my midnight to 3am shift I came up to full three full sails and the boat speed was over 7 knots. Brad gave me the scoop on the ideal wind angles for our sail set up, showed me traffic on the radar and headed below for his nap. The boat was like a freight train through the water for my entire shift. I snuggled up with my blanket and Sydney until it was over, whew!
Views from our daylight sail…
As we got closer to Muertos we saw random splashes in either direction. Upon further investigation, these turned out to be rays jumping out of the water landing with a loud splat! So cool to watch them, and also very intriguing. We made our way into the anchorage around 3pm and settled in nicely. Jim on Silk Purse was a few hours behind and we made plans to head to shore. We’ve visited Muertos before and it holds great memories of meeting Steve from Mia, and Jim on Silk Purse.
Our stay in Muertos was a mixed bag this time around. We were waiting on a strong Northern wind to end. We had 20-30 knot winds blowing sand off the beach and onto our boats. Don’t worry, we managed to entertain ourselves just fine and pigged out on guacamole and kicked some butt at Mexican Train.
After 2 full days of hiding out, we made a run for it. No overnights this time and we left around 10am. Next stop was Caleta Lobos! We would be navigating through two channels; Ceralvo and San Lorenzo. The northern wind hadn’t broken down yet but we pushed through using our motor making 7 plus knots. The last time we went through the San Lorenzo channel it scared me enough to cry. This time was much more mellow and enjoyable.
We hiked the surrounding mountain and relished in the views they provided…
Even Sydney got to enjoy the beach again. She surely comes to life on shore! 
We decided to leave Caleta Lobos and head to Playa Balandra due to “bobos”. Which are small gnat-like bugs that were swarming outside and inside our boats. Maybe swarming is excessive, but they sure were annoying! We heard that Balandra did not have bobos so off we went! Balandra is a popular beach and anchorage due to Mushroom Rock, a rock formation that you guessed it, looks like a mushroom! For us, we were just interested in a bobo free zone! Views in Balandra…
Are ya still with me? I know this one is a doozy! The next morning we headed to La Paz to provision and get some ice cream at our favorite shop! We did all those things and managed to book a snorkel date with some whale sharks. Brad and Jim even booked a diving excursion. Both were successful and the snorkel with the whale shark was exhilarating! You are taken in by a Panga that spots the whale shark then drops you off ahead of him. Then you start looking underwater for the big shadowy figure to appear. Our experience was that you had to get out of its way to avoid being hit by his big tail! After the encounter you swim as fast as you can beside him and enjoy the views as you go. It was a fascinating experience being next to such a large creature! Here we are anxiously waiting for our first turn…
And here are a couple of stills from the GoPro footage that Brad took. We do have video on our Instagram and on my Facebook so feel free to check it out!
We had such a great time on our excursion and would highly recommend the Carey Dive Center to take you. The tours are highly regulated in an attempt to protect the whale sharks and it’s a pleasure to support their efforts.
Here she is…hey it’s Sydney here. I’ve finally been treated with some respect. I’ve gone to shore, found coconuts to shred, beaches to play on, and pillows to snuggle. This isn’t so bad! But please, do NOT take me back to that dumb bird island place! Keep the tasty Mexican kibble coming, I’m going to need it for all these beach dates!!!
Well there you have it! We are glad that Sydney is in a better mood. Thanks for hanging in there and reading another post! Cheers to a happy, healthy Friday!
Before we could get underway, we had to rerun our lazy jack line that came undone. This was a simple task, but required a trip up the mast. I chose to go up snapped a few photos from the second spreaders after the repair was complete.
We left Chacala Bay in the evening so we would be sure to arrive to the island the next morning with plenty of daylight to spare. The anchorage is notorious for being rocky and swallowing anchors. It does offer a few sandy spots that are ideal to drop in, so it’s best to arrive with plenty of sunlight to see the bottom.
As we pulled up to the island we noticed just a few boats in the anchorage and a spot that looked good to drop. Unfortunately we had arrived a little early and couldn’t see down to the bottom, but fortunately we got lucky and dropped in a nice sandy patch. Yahoo! We caught up on some sleep and met up with the crew of Silk Purse. Jim has a friend also named Jim helping him crew the boat up to La Paz. It has been great getting to know the new Jim, and he came armed with a recipe to make bread. We will not let him leave until he hands over the said recipe…
The next day Jim, Brad and I took the dinghy to shore for some exploring. The last time we were here the birds were in the thick of courting season, and they had plenty to show for their flirtatious efforts. There were chicks everywhere! The blue footed boobies nest pretty much anywhere on the ground so you have to be careful and keep your eyes peeled so you don’t step too close. The mamas will lay on their nests and typically do not move as you pass by. We made our way around as best as we could and I zoomed in as far as my camera allowed. Here are some shots of the chicks we saw…
Their feathers are pure, fluffy white and we were surprised to see how large the chicks have grown. Not all boobies had chicks, but they were still beautiful as ever to photograph…
There were also the frigates that had plenty of chicks on display as well. We learned that the frigates are big bullies to the boobies on this trip, but at least their babies are kind of cute. 
We also saw some friendly lizards and iguanas. Some did their best to blend in, others just wanted a great view. I think the guy with the ocean view has his priorities right. High Five Mr. Iguana! 
Speaking of ocean views, this time we had a sunny sky to compliment the gorgeous blue waters. Check it out…
The fish camp looked picturesque as ever…
The Las Monas rocks were equally stunning and provided amazing snorkeling grounds! 
And I cant leave out the Crater Lake…still lifeless as last visit. 
This trip was certainly the boost we needed after a long stay in Banderas Bay. We felt like we were cruising, exploring, and playing again. It’s amazing what clear waters will do to your morale.