We departed Cabo San Lucas, vowing never to return, just before nightfall in order to arrive at Isla Isabella on the other side of the Sea of Cortez at daybreak a day and a half later. Isla Isabella is uninhabited except for blue and yellow footed boobies, frigate birds and iguanas. The wildlife is protected and not very startled by human presence. It was fascinating being so close to the iguanas and birds. Isla Isabella is known as Mexico’s ‘Galapagos.’
Iguanas
Boobies
After one night at Isla Isabella, we headed for Santiago Bay near Manzanillo on the mainland of Mexico. Our foul weather gear was no longer necessary, woohoo! It was time for shorts, t-shirts and sunscreen. The water temperature was 80+ degrees and the sailing became more fun as we were able to fly the spinnaker more frequently.
We anchored in Santiago Bay near Club Santiago. Club Santiago is a gated community with numerous fancy houses and palapa restaurants on the beach. We spent a few days there and explored the center of town. The mountain in the background of the photo is a volcano. Fortunately, it did not erupt while we were there!
While sailing along the west coast of the mainland we saw many ‘bumps in the road.’ These turned out to be large turtles. The sea turtles were nearly wiped out at one point in time, but the effort to repopulate them seems to be working.
Zihuatanejo. Somehow we have managed to spend an entire month here. We anchored off of Playa La Ropa in about 25 feet of clean, 82F water. It turned out that we weren’t the only ones to find the water temperature delightful. Barnacles, crabs and other critters that like to make the bottom of a boat home flourished. We had to clean the bottom of the boat twice, not the most pleasant job in the world. A couple of the displaced crabs found new homes in Carrie’s ears! It turned out that they really didn’t appreciate isopropyl alcohol and left the neighborhood quickly once it became flooded.
We hooked up with friends that we met in San Diego on Creola and Sarabi and spent a lot of time eating, drinking and playing beach bocce.
The highlight of our stay in Zihuatanejo was SailFest. Sailfest is an annual event run by the cruisers and local watering hole, Rick’s Bar, to raise money for the poorest of the local schools. Pat and I were involved in one of the major money making events; the Sail Parade. Cruisers dress their boats and offer to take passengers on a sail through Zihuatanejo Bay, Ixtapa Bay and back for a donation. It was very impressive watching approximately 60 boats parade through the bay. Those of us on the crew that loaded and unloaded the guests didn’t get to participate in the parade so we dinghied out to the middle of the bay after getting the guests on the appropriate boats, with a refreshment, and watched the boats go by.
Sailfest Parade
There were no fireworks at SailFest, but the port captain did allow us to shoot off the expired flares in his inventory. It was fun to watch and informative. The manufacturer and model of the flare were announced prior to it being shot off over the VHF radio. OK, so we are very easily amused!
Two of our favorite activities in Zihuatanejo were hanging out at Rick’s Bar and playing beach bocce.
Rick’s Bar
Beach Bocce
And, of course, the gratuitous sunset shot…
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