S/V Capaz

Off Punta Mita, Nayarit, Mexico
December 8, 2009

After 3 days of off and on rain in Mantachen near San Blas, we are quickly approaching Banderas Bay. Puerto Vallarta is located on the southeastern turn of the bay and the other towns include: Nuevo Vallarta (lots of resorts), Bucerias, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and Punta Mita. Tonight we plan to anchor off of Punta Mita and then continue in tomorrow to the marina at La Cruz for a few days to get our feet on the ground and prepare for the arrival of family for Christmas.
Before leaving the San Blas area, we were able to get some much needed provisions in town and try out the whole internet cafe. I did not get the chance to upload pictures as my time was constrained by the dads trying to keep busy during a torrential rain storm, but I was able to tend some business that was demanding my attention.
We also braved the rain and took a "jungle tour" out of Tovara (a wide spot in the road between the beach at Mantachen and San Blas proper). Tovara is not only where you can get a guided tour of the mangroves, but it is also famous for it's baked goods - banana bread in particular. I will vouch for its quality (and so will Bryce) as we had it for breakfast this morning and it is GONE! There were no other pangas on the water when we took our tour, so the birds were relatively undisturbed. As a result, we got to see a pretty wide variety including a couple that are downright rare. Besides the birds, we also saw hanging termite nests, iguanas, and yes, salties (aka salt water crocodiles). The tour took us winding through the mangroves to a crocodile farm. There some huge specimens which because we are in Mexico where liability does really exist, we could almost touch them. Luckily, we are huge Steve Irwin fans and know just how fast those primordial hunks of solid muscle and teeth can move. There were some other animals there: javelinas (little boars), deer, raccoons which we could only guess were kept for . . . . . food!
This morning we decided to push all the way here to Banderas Bay where we will probably spend through the first of the year. En route, we caught a skip jack tuna which we are trying a milk soak to take some of the gaminess out of the flavor. Bryce and Brad also caught some pieces of mangrove debris. They were the lucky ones up on deck when a whale (probably a humpback surfaced between us and Totem! It's almost time to set the anchor, so I will wrap it up for now.

Our guide and driver, Hugo

The set of an old film "La Cabeza de Vaca"

Ghost Lily

Kids in the bow of the panga

Boat Billed Heron

Green Heron

Female Anajinga

Ergret

Yellow Flycatcher

Falcon in Flight

Crown of Mary Heron

Great Blue Heron on its Nest

Heron in Flight

Falcon

Green Iguana

Our first Saltwater Croc in the Mangrove

Saltie in the Mangrove

"ZOO"

Giffords and Bakers just a foot or so from a huge Saltie

Mr. Crocodile's toes through the chain link

Baby Crocs

radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com/

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Rain, Rain, Go Away

San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico
December 6, 2009

We have now crossed the Sea of Cortez and have anchored in Mantachen which is a bay adjacent to San Blas. Our visit to Isla Isabella was completed with rolling conditions that are much more normal for the area than the first two days that we enjoyed there.
We went into the town of San Blas last night (Saturday) for dinner. On the way in from the anchorage, Brad and I got caught in a squall that the other dinghy seem to miss. We had an obligatory beer at the beach bar that watches cruiser's dinghies and then the owner's son gave us a ride into town in his pick-up (and few more people he picked up along the way).

Buy a beer and they watch your dinghy at Ishmail's Beach Bar

Niall, Bryce and Austin enjoy a fresh-squeezed limonada

Once in town, we wondered around the Zocolo or Central Plaza. The festival of Our Lady of Guadaloupe (who is the patron saint of mariners, very important in fishing towns) is coming up on the 12th and right now each neighborhood in town gets a night to come to church and be blessed and have a procession around the plaza. We were down the street eating "hambourgasas" during last night's procession which was announced with plenty of fireworks. Another rain storm had passed through town and chased us off of the square which was where we had planned on eating. The people who run the sandwich shop where we stayed to eat were fabulous. Though they knew no English, they truly seemed interested in trying to understand our very broken Spanish.
We grabbed a cab back to the anchorage. The good thing about the rain is that Capaz is pretty clean. On our way into Isla Isabella, we had a brown booby catch a ride on our lightening dissipater. It proceeded to spend the entire night pooping all over the boat. Yesterday, before we left, I could not stand the guano any longer and gave most of the boat a salt water scrub down. So luckily, the rain is completing my efforts with a nice final rinse. I must say that I have gotten pretty used to the dry conditions (yes, I still claim Seattle as my home). We have not seen rain since Dana Point around the 17th of October!
We will be here in the San Blas area for another couple of days and then we will be heading into Banderas Bay. We will probably have to tie up to a dock for a few days as we need to try and get our gen-set working.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com/

Friday, December 4, 2009

For the Birds

Isla Isabella, Sea of Cortez, Mexico
December 4, 2009

Booby chick

Green footed booby

Booby nest

Frigate bird overhead (like four feet above us)

Two blue footed boobies

Tern in flight

. . . . that's definitely what Isla Isabella is . . . . for the birds. The guidebook says that even in the fog you can find this tiny island because of the birds constantly flying around it. I would have thought this was an exaggeration except that yesterday, in perfectly clear weather there was actually a cloud of birds over the island all day long.
We arrived perfectly timed just an hour or so after sunrise. The main cove was full, but we were interested in the "anchor-eating" anchorage. There is another smaller, but less rocky bottomed anchorage where we tucked in, only to have two more boats close on our heels squeeze in with us. Luckily, the weather was perfect so that we would have to worry about our neighbors and their anchoring prowess.
After catching up on sleep, we ventured ashore in the afternoon. Every available perching spot on the island was taken by a bird: blue footed boodies, yellow footed boobies, brown boobies, frigate birds, terns and many more. The boobies were nesting on the ground and we got see many "chicks" who seem bigger than their parents. There were many frigate birds in nests in the trees that appeared to be sitting on eggs. Their nests consist of a few bits of grass in the crook of the small trees that are all over the island. It seems as though a good breeze would blow them right out. Judging by the shear numbers of birds, these nests must be much sturdier than they appear.
The spot to which we hiked had a breath-taking overlook of the other anchorage. It was a pretty shear cliff, but the updraft created drew all the different kinds of birds to play on the wind. They "floated" right up to the edge where we were so that we got close up views of them in their various forms of flight.
Today, we are going to do another hike across the caldera part of the island. This is a very fascinating spot and we are so glad that the moon and stars aligned to give us favorable conditions for a stop here!

Behan with the birds hovering at the edge of the cliff

Land Hermit Crab

Totem (far left) and Capaz (third from left) in Las Monas anchorage

Baker Family atop the cliff overlooking the south anchorage of Isla Isabella - blue footed booby nest in background

Brad checks out the immaculate little shrine near the fish camp

Brad and Behan on the beach in front of the fish camp

Whales just outside our anchorage

Bryce crossing a lava bridge with Capaz anchored in background

Baker Family stangin on a lava bridge with Los Monas in background

Question: "Hey Mom, can you get a picture of the blowhole?"

Answer: "Yes, I can!"

radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com/

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Sailing, Sailing Over the Waves We Go

Totem at sunset

23* 45.3' N
119* 20.8 W
December 1, 2009

We are sailing along again! I know that you might be thinking that CAPAZ is a SAILboat, so what's the big deal? We have motored so much on our trip and everyone says that all boats are powerboats in Mexico because you end up doing even more of it down here. So we are just glad to be starting out our Sea of Cortez crossing under sail. We pretty much even sailed off the anchor in Los Muertos.
This also marks the beginning of our fourth month since we left Seattle and the beginning of our 12th month of living aboard CAPAZ.
In order to make Isla Isabella after daylight on Thursday morning, we didn't need to leave Los Muertos until mid-afternoon. This gave us a chance to go and play on the beach (run the kids) before leaving. The boys made a humongous sandcastle. It was so cool that we made a special bead to represent it on our bead strand. The Gifford kids were with us and the girls made their own sandcastle which was adorned with shells and had a coral garden out front. As the kids were well occupied on the beach, Brad and I took a quick snorkel in the shallows. There were tons of fish and lots of coral. This one rock was just loaded with sea fans. After the beach, it was back to the boat for lunch and to finish getting ready to go!

Sunrise over the mainland as Totem and Capaz approach Isla Isabella

(not pictured)

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com/

S/V Capaz

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Feliz Navidad

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Tastes Like . . . . . Not Chicken

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Banderas Bay Bound