At the suggestion of Captain George, we left El Cid Marina at 4pmto sail to Isla Isabella. A short exit to the harbor put us in rough seas, with no sails, fenders down and dock lines undressed. Tom went to work and got everything straightened out and put up sails, then the auto-pilot quite responding.
We were reluctant to hand steer all night, so we thought we’d duck into Mazatlan’s main harbor for the night so Tom could fix it. We missed the approach, realizing in was the north side of the harbor which has an isthmus going out. We had to back track and go around to the other side.
It was getting dark by the time we were in position to enter the harbor. It was scary, the lights were unclear and didn’t look right and we all decided to sail to Isabella and hand steer if we had to, rather than anchor next to the sewage treatment plant. Shortly thereafter, the auto-pilot started working again!
After a great overnight sail we approached Isla Isabella about 8 am, and were at anchor by 10 am. There was only one other boat in the anchorage, but later a third boat came in. It was spectacular, crystal clear water – looking over the side of the boat was like looking into an aquarium with colorful fish everywhere. We all donned our masks and fins and prepared for a swim. Before I could get in, Tom reported that it was full of tiny, invisible jelly fish. It was like swimming through electrically charged water. So much for snorkeling.
We explored the other anchorage by dinghy, unable to locate the wreck that was supposed to be there. Then we went ashore to explore on foot. Blue footed boobies were everywhere – and incredibly tame. Mark convinced us to slog through the mangroves and trees to find the Crater Lake. After being mobbed by giant spider webs, spooked by nervous squawking boobies, stepping in piles of booby shit we decided to turn back. We got some great photos – see album.