"A Wonderland of Unspoiled Nature" Jacques Cousteau
Wednesday, December 31, 2008: Mazatlan Old Harbor -- 3:05 p.m. the anchor is up and we're heading out of the harbor. We cleared the breakwater easily with no big ships in our way. In our rush to leave we inadvertently neglected to notify the Port Captain of our departure which is proper procedure. Had we done so, no doubt we would have been asked to wait for a ship to enter before departing. It would take us about 18 hours to reach Isla Isabela, which meant we would be spending New Year's Eve on the Pacific Ocean.
At midnight I was on my watch and Charlie was sleeping down below. I celebrated New Year with a Mexican fisherman and another cruiser on the VHF radio and a night sky full of brilliant stars.
Thursday, January 1, 2009: Isla Isabela is finally within view. The island is only about a mile long and is often missed by cruisers in foggy conditions. Fortunately it was a beautiful clear morning and the rocks and cliffs were "a wonderland of unspoiled nature". The island is uninhabited except for a resident warden who oversees the bird sanctuary and fishermen who take shelter in the camps that line the beach.
As we rounded the stacks to enter the cove, already anchored were sailing vessels Black Dog, Psyche, Vivid and Tashee. By 8:30 we were anchored in the small cove called "Bahia Tiburoneros" at the south end of the island. Another sail boat, Sol Mate, had been just ahead of us and was anchoring on the south side of the two stacks. All but Psyche had been at the old harbor in Mazatlan waiting to leave for Isabela. Psyche had been on the same dock with us at Mazatlan Marina and left the day before and went directly to Isabela. It was apparent we had become a group of cruisers all heading to the same destinations.
We were still pretty tired after our overnighter but managed to get ashore in the afternoon with camera in hand looking for birds and other non-human "locals". It didn't take long to find the nests of frigate birds with hatchlings peering out from under watchful parents. We were amazed that we could get within a few feet of the nesting birds. It was apparent that these birds were used to humans who would not be posing any threats. We hiked about 2 hours on the island before returning to the boat just before dusk. Our plans were to stay for a few days so there was no hurry to explore the rest of the island. In fact, the next day we spent the entire day doing boat maintenance and relaxing on the boat.
Saturday, January 3, 2009:
It was our intention to spend this day hiking the length of the island. Unfortunately, weather reports indicated a southerly was due to blow our way and our anchorage would not be safe. So, today (the day we had planned to really explore the island) all the boats that were anchored in the cove set out for San Blas on the mainland. With a little problem getting the anchor loose from the rocky bottom we finally got it up at 9:22 a.m.
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| We were anchored just a short distance from these two large guano covered stacks. | This majestic pelican splashed down right beside our
boat just as we arrived. |
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| This male frigate bird wearing a tag was guarding a nest with hatchling. | Mother frigate and hatchling. |
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| We hiked up a small cliff to view these blue footed boobies | They looked to be the blue footed boobies. Their feet were not a very bright blue but it was apparent they were not the yellow footed variety. |
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| We saw many large lizards. This is nature. | These are fish camp buildings on the island.
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| Sunset viewed from our anchorage. | On the island looking out to our anchorage.
Picture courtesy of Sol Mate. |