Paradise Found

We left Chacala under much calmer conditions than we arrived—it was almost tempting to stay, but from our experience of the daily patterns of the sea it was likely to get just as lumpy again in the evening. So we made the quick (just a couple of hours), trip around the point to Jaltemba where we were finally able to find our paradise of clear, warm water and sunny days.

We spent the first several days anchored at Isla Coral a small island where Mexican tourists are shuttled across the bay from Guayabitos to spend the afternoon on a tiny beach. In the mornings we would get in the water before the pangas started bringing people. When the water is calm the snorkeling can be pretty decent there. We were terribly disappointed to see that several of the large brain coral heads that were thriving when we were here 2 years ago are now dead. This island is also a bird sanctuary. One side is mostly nesting frigates and the other mostly Pelicans. It is always so strange to me to see the pelicans, such huge birds, nesting in the trees.

 This time when we left an island it wasn’t for the smell of guano but the continued problem of tiny jellies stinging us in the water. One particular sting was more than just irritating. It burned so bad that I flipped Lily off her "surf board" and into the water because my natural reflex to the pain was to jerk my hand to the source of the pain to swat it away, thereby flipping the board right out from under her..

So we decided to anchor off the mainland for the remainder of our time there hoping that the jellies stayed in the protected area on the leeward side of the island and that the openness of the bay would be nicer for sting-free swimming. It was. Also, there was the added bonus of being able to dinghy to shore most days to do some walking on land. We were here for several weeks as the only sailboat anchored. Most boats pass by this hidden gem in favor of the crowded Banderas Bay a few hours south. Here we are anchored beyond the fishing pangas and ever-increasing population of banana boat pangas.

Before I share some of our land wanderings, let me share a sailing story from our trip from Isla Isabella that I forgot to mention last time. It makes us happy to see that the sea turtle population seems to be thriving. The ocean is such a huge place that seeing so many of them must be a good sign. Particularly in the mornings and when the water is calm you can see them dotting the surface, their shells afloat drying in the sun.

We get closest to them when we can sneak up on them by quietly sailing slowly through the water without any noise from the engine. They are quite shy. Once they know you are there they pop their heads up to take a look then dive back down into the safety of the water. Now you see it, now you don’t!

We have lots of pictures of a species we have named birdle—or is it spelled burtle? It’s actually more common to see a birdle/burtle than it is to see a turtle. Sea birds of all types see these floating shells as a perfect resting spot in the vastness of the open ocean. We have made a game of spotting them similar to playing slug-bug shouting out “birdle!” when we see one. (Hey, there’s not a lot going on out there to break up the longer voyages, so you find entertainment where you can.)

The birds must also be a bit embarrassed to be hitching a free ride on the back of a turtle because they always fly away before we get too close.

Like the birds, we are always searching for any disturbances on the water. I’m not sure if the birds are excited by them unless it happens to be something they can eat, however we are always excited by them. This one was fish running from preditors down below. I include this picture because I actually caught the fish out of water. Zoom in on the splash furthest to the left to see a good sized fish escaping danger.

Other disturbances on the water can be whales (of which we have seen a few this season but none very closely), or dolphins. Dolphins are not shy at all. If they are not occupied hunting they will always come say hello.

Now back to some of our land wanderings. We went to a flea market in a neighboring town where one of the vendors was selling pets. Check out these colorful chicks! I don’t know how they do it, and maybe this is a “thing”, but I have never seen it.

You have no idea how badly I wanted this baby goat!

Cool birds hanging out in cool places

Interesting plants

This one looks like a beautiful lush lawn, but is a canal.

We walked down this cool neighborhood where each house decorated the space right across the road from their house. It was super cute. Many people had plants and birdhouses. Here are a couple of our favorites.

And look at this panga turned planter complete with a fisherman on the bow made from rebar—very clever.

No post would be complete with at least one sunset. Here are two.

Since Lily had her fill digging in the sand…

And I found a peanut M&M that looked like an alien…

And there were supposed to be some southerly winds building (that never did by the way), we thought it was time to start sailing back north towards home. So we ended up motoring nearly all the way back to Mazatlan.

Sometimes it really is a pond out there.

I’ll leave you with sunrise over a calm sea…