Time had come for us to head up into the Sea of Cortes, we were looking forward to venturing to new cruising ground. The trip north we divided into three steps; the first two were shorter, day trips, the last would take us over night. The prevailing wind is from the NW but a southerly would mean a sail, which is what we hoped for, but alas is was maybe a 30% sail. We left Punta Mita with Josh looking longingly at his favourite surf zone leaving all the great times we had in Banderas Bay behind. Chacala was the first stop which is a lovely coastal town with an open roadstead anchorage, that meant stern anchors were absolutely necessary! We loved the town and surrounding country side, hiked up to the top of a nearby volcano who’s caldera was intact and the surrounding slopes were all cultivated in Guaba plants, had beer on the beach and took in beautiful sunsets.
Jack and Monica on Bellavia were our traveling companions to Chacala and our next stop Isla Isabella.
Isla Isabella is part of the Mexican Park reserve system and is a breeding ground for Bobbies and Frigate birds as well as others I’m sure. The island was not exactly a “protected anchorage” but well worth the stop and the conditions were very kind to us. I have never been so close to wild birds before in my life and all those baby birds were a joy to see. Isla Isabella is also a volcano and the short hike to the caldera was amazing. It was time for our good friends to part ways, they heading to San Carlos via the islands north of La Paz to store their boat until the following year; we headed north to Mazatlan.
- What the sky looked like most of the time.
- Caldero in the middle of the island
- Young Frigate checking us out
- Mama nearby the nest
Looks and sounds amazing!