Monkey Mountain, and the Vallarta Botanical Gardens

 I hiked up Monkey Mountain the other day, with my friend Jonny leading the way (pictured in the right) and his two friends from Vallarta.  Its a great view around the bay, and I've seen it for years and years but never gone up, but now I know the way.  It was a clear day with good visibility and the evening slant on the sun warmed our hearts and eyes with glory of the coming evening.

 Here is a view looking into the sun of the point of Punta Mita, where the surf break El Faro is.  I really like surfing this break, and you can see the wave sliding along the side of the point.  Sometimes I've surfed from the point all the way to the pier.

 A few days later, my dad arrived, and we did a trip all around Bandaras Bay, from La Cruz to Quimixto, then to Yelapa, then to Corrales.  Here is a map:

You can see some of the places on the south side of the bay, but not the north side, sorry.  This whole area is mountainous and full of rivers and green.   I didn't take my camera ashore because it is not protected from the waves (and there were many waves) but it was very nice.  At Quimixto there is a very steep surfing wave, a tube that barrels left and is shallow and fast.  I surfed a little bit there before going to sleep that evening we got in.
Corrales is a small town that is near an open anchorage that offers little protection from the wind and waves, but there was no other white tourists there.  It was just my father and I.  They had a little carpenter shop on the beach and he was cutting up some nice wood he'd got from up in the mountains and so my dad wanted to take a closer look.   He offered a piece of scrap for us to take home and my dad was delighted.

Then we sailed back.  It was a long and arduous journey, because the wind was against us and strong, and there were sizable waves that hindered our progress, but after a long day we got into La Cruz again, and then spent the next few days driving around looking at things.
We went to San Pancho, a town to the north, with a river and estuary, and found some nice looking birds:

 Here is a Northern Jacana, and a plover of some kind, it might be a killdeer.

 And then further up the mountains we found this Lineated Woodpecker.

 And at the botanical gardens we found lots of colorful characters, including this one, a Yellow winged Cacique

 and this robin, a Rufous Backed Robin perhaps?

 Then there were a lot of cool plants that I'll leave for Abe to identify for y'all.

 And a Chachala, which I really like these ones, since they look like little dinosaurs.

 And I like these ones, a Purplish Backed Jay.

 The robin again...

 And a grosbeak of some kind...?

 And this little woodpecker was always a delight to see winging around, its a Golden Fronted Woodpecker, I think.

And then on our last full day we went to a Cocodrillario, or a crocodile viewing area.  At this one, they have several kinds of animals there and they only do tours, so you can't just wander around.  Our tour guide brought us into the cage with the beast!  In fact, she was very adamant about how peaceful and safe crocodiles are, and that we shouldn't be afraid of them, but respect certain rules about how close to come.  First of all, don't get in the water.  Then stay about 30 ft away from wild crocs while on land and with these ones, which are used to people, about 10 ft.  The crocs are not very fast on land (she said) and I think that she was also careful to keep us away from the front of the croc, because I think they can't turn very quick. 

 I asked about if my wearing of my plastic shoes (crocs) would disturb the animals, but she assured me that they wouldn't be bothered.  In fact, most of the crocodiles we saw were unable to be released to the wild.  A few were captured by firemen and were blind or partially blind, so they took them in.  I believe they rehabilitate some and release them back into the wild as well.

 They had these little turtles, but they are an invasive species.  I've seen a lot of them in La Paz, at the Serpentarium there.  People tend to buy this kind in the pet store, then release it and they ruin the wild populations of a different turtle, so the folks here (and in La Paz) capture them and/or take them in from people who don't want them, and keep them out of the wild. 

 Our second Croc that managed to escape the Crock-Pot (our guide didn't really fully appreciate this kind of humor, since she wasn't a native english speaker) was fully blind and we got a look at the front of this one, with the mouth that has a fully sealed back to it.  They have to lift their heads out of the water to swallow as a result of this feature, but they can stay under for a long time without drinking any water.  I think this results in better flow through the mouth and less bacteria in the mouth.  I didn't find any cavities when I looked (carefully) at two skulls they had on display.  Its surprising, because on pretty much any other skull I've looked at, I've found dental decay.

 They had a Macaw, but I'm not sure if its a green or which kind.  I saw two large Macaw kind of birds in Yelapa as last week.

 The lurking eye.  This was the biggest croc they had and they dropped in a piece of chicken for him to eat, and it was impressive. 

 Here is a native turtle.  They look very similar to me, but the invasive have red cheeks and this kind does not.  Look at the eyes, and look again at the pupil from the crocodile.  I think its really interesting that you have a horizontal slit in the turtle (which I've never seen elsewhere) and a vertical slit in a fellow reptile.  And in Cats, which are totally different, being mammals.  So independently evolved.  I think Tigers have round pupils too, so that adds to the mystery.
So what good is a vertical pupil?  It has great resolution on the horizontal plane, so being close to the ground or being just barely above the water, being next to a flat surface means you mostly care about looking side to side, not up.  If that matters, then having a vertical slit means you can have a easily dilated pupil (less complex than a round one) and get good resolution sideways, and have gigantic aperture range (the size of the hole light goes through)  So this guy probably has great night vision and decent day vision and can't tell very easily if something is tall and skinny what it is, or what the difference between top and bottom is. 

Looking at this guy again, he doesn't actually have a horizontal slit, but just a dark part of the iris and a round pupil.  I think I'm going to investigate this a little more.  

Trip out to Roca Corbetena

 I just went on a trip out to Roca Corbetana, which is a lonely rock that sticks up out of 500 ft deep water and is very small.  Many people go here for spearfishing, which is my reason, but for me the visibility was not so great.  Still, it was a good learning experience and I think I'd like to do this again.  My friends from Uncruise, Mike and Wilson, came with me and we woke up early (4 am) and left for the trip, with Altair's little diesel chugging along.  We rolled out the jib and used the night winds to propel us along, and actually went quite quick, almost 6 knots at times.  My average was 5, so we got there in 4 hours.  (it is a trip of 20 miles).  Then we had to figure out what to do with the boat, in order to get in the water.  It was super rolly and we found a spot 75 ft deep to drop a single bruce anchor with no chain.  It was a rocky bottom, but the anchor hooked up and held against the 1 knot current and wind.  Then we go in the water and I brought a kayak along with me and towed it behind with my float line and we swam around the rock.  Its about 400 ft long and 100 ft wide, with reefs on either end, and at first there were no fish at all, just murky green water, about 20 ft visibility.  Then we got the the far end and found lots of fish sitting in a warmer clearer current and found a big school of Bigeye Jacks (with a Yellowtail in the mix) and some Milkfish and Rainbow runners and Rainbow Chubs.  I didn't see any real pellagic fish and ended up shooting a rainbow runner because I'd never had one before.   Its a mackerel, and tasty.  Then we finished going around the island without catching any more fish and got out and saw a Black Noddy!  First time I've ever seen one of these, it was hovering around the island, periodically being chased by a Peregrine Falcon that was also hanging on the island. 
In the first picture, zoom way in and you'll see the bill, like a tern, and the funny long tail.  This shot shows the wings a little better.

 Then we pulled up the anchor and sailed back towards the bay, and found 26 whales all over the place, swimming around, flopping and saying hi.  We came back to El Faro to look, and the waves were great so I hopped in and had a nice short session.
Unfortunately I was not the only one looking to surf at El Faro.  This morning as I woke up I found there was a boat on the beach out there.  We went to look and I got this picture.
I don't know the people on board, but some folks know the boat that has been in mexico for a long time, but might have been sold last year to a new family.  I hope they manage to get the boat afloat again, but it was really high up the beach.
There's big surf coming and my dad is going to come in a week, so 2018 is looking good.

Another trip to Isabel

 I haven't been taking many pictures since arriving at Altair, and for that, I am sorry.  But I went out to Isla Isabel this past week and took some pictures, so here they are!  There was a period of weird wind that came from the south and had a lot of rain with it, and it caused a nice morning sunrise, along with some choppy conditions.  I brought along my friend Jonny, who I met surfing a few years ago and have been taking on day sails but never anything longer, and so this was his first overnighter.  It turned out to be difficult, but also beautiful.  It took a lot to get him to the boat, which I had brought to San Blas for easy access to the island, but then from there we motored and sailed a bit and got in just before dark.  The water was clear so we went for an evening snorkel and then slept a little before being awoken by the waves for the rest of the night. 
The next morning we moved over to the west side of the island, a place I had never anchored before, but we found a nice sandy spot and dropped the hook and then went for a short hike to look at the birds. 

 Its a bit early for the Blue Footed Boobies to be laying eggs, but they are looking fondly at each other and lifting a hopeful foot in courtship, and nodding their heads in agreement to how smart they look.  I like the foot lifting dance, it is a way of showing off the color of their feet in order to attract a mate.  Sometimes they pick up pieces of grass and give them to each other in a nesting way, and they will also invert their wings and do a big inverse bow to really impress.  So they are clever dancers.  Not so smart at many other things, but cute.

 The frigates are also waiting on nesting, I saw only a few chicks.  In a few weeks there will be more, when the water cools off a bit.

 A close-up of the boobie face

 And a look at Altair anchored on the west side of the island.

 From here we did some big snorkeling and spearfishing, and it was quite productive.  We swam a long way around the island and I got a nice sized Pargo, which is a kind of bass, and then a tasty Pompano, a silvery fish, and then on the last dive of the trip we headed out to a steep cliffy corner and Jonny wanted to practice deep dives, so I didn't bring a float line or weights or anything, just the gun and my easy fins and as we got around the corner the water suddenly got a lot warmer and blue, and a few minutes later I was accosted by a Dorado (or Mahi Mahi if you like).  I noticed it checking me out, pointed the speargun at it to no reaction, then swam a little closer to really be sure of the shot and pulled the trigger.  I got it just behind the gill plate because I was worried about the spear's penetration but even though it wasn't a kill shot the fish just hung there stunned.  Lucky for me.  It was a big fish and I didn't have my float line so I was worried about trying to wrestle the fish, but it didn't fight at all.  So I swam over and grabbed it by the gills and pointed the head upwards... and had fresh fish!  Dorado is a really good fish and this one was no exception, probably the best fish I have ever caught with a spear.  Isla Isabel always pays off.

So after that we picked up the hook and sailed south into the coming sunset and arrived back in Bandaras Bay the next morning.  It was a tiring time with waves and no wind but a fun trip.
In other news, the surfing has been pretty fun.  I've spent a lot of time in the water and feel really good about surfing.  I'm getting better with my cut back turn and feel good about throwing a lot of spray at the top of the wave. 
I'll be back in Bellingham for the next week for christmas and then hopefully there will be more waves to catch!

Road Trip to Mexico

 Its been a little while since the last post, but I just got to my boat, Altair, after a great road trip down the west coast, from Bellingham to Cabo San Lucas, and then across the Sea of Cortez to San Blas, where Altair is.  I drove fairly quickly at first, and didn't take many pictures of Washington or Oregon, but as I got in to Califorina I found some Elk!  Beautiful big antlered things, lounging on the road, so I got my camera out and snapped a few...
From there I went to visit my sister Rachel, and we went for a short ride together, and I think I finally have found a passion for mountain biking.  I just needed a $5,000 bike to get on in order to enjoy it.  So we went for a fairly tame ride (in her standards) and I had a few brushes with disaster, once where I fell off the downhill side on a steep slope and jumped clear in time to run down the slope and another where I ran the pedals into a tree while trying to make it through.  Compared to surfing, the consequences of trying to squeeze into a small barrel are worse.
I did a small jump as well, and after some practice, I think it looks all right.  I'll see if I can get that to post....

After visiting for a little while and hiding from the huge smoke billowing all over, I headed to the coast and to Moss Landing, where I found my favorite little otters slinking along the beach.

 They don't like to walk, and one was just pushing itself forward and skidding on the sand.  Then we (I had picked my friend Lindsey up at the airport) went to the Monterey bay Aquarium and looked at Jelleyfish and all sorts of things.

 I'd been to this before with Danny, but it was worth a second visit.  Well, not quite worth 50 bucks a piece, but we managed to find someone who got us in for 30 each.  I think its worth the 30.

 We tried to go down Big Sur after that, but the coast was not clear.  There was a big landslide and it hasn't been fixed, so we drove around it and went back north to look at Elephant Seals.

 This one looks like it got bit by cookie cutter sharks!

 We camped at a secret spot in San Simeon and awoke to the clucking of California Quail!

 From there we went to Morro Bay and found some more otters, up close like...

 And to Pismo Beach for some Butterflies.

 Then to Jeremy's place and a short play with his kids before going to the Salton Sea!

 And then crossing into Mexico.  It was so hot it was hard to take a lot of photos, but we went down to San Felipe and over to the west coast again.

 And saw a road runner!  It didn't go Beep Beep.

 Also found some weird Jellies that are blue and I don't know the type.... Do you?

 And then I had a kiting lesson.  I was taking some pictures of this kite boarder and he liked them and offered me a lesson in return.  We just flew the kite and he is a professional teacher in La Ventana, so it was a good lesson.

 Here is a picture of him ripping it up.

 Then we went further south to the area around La Paz and Cabo, and went up a river and found lots of little frogs and some waterfalls!

 and these cool trees that sort of melt around the rocks.

 The trip was a great success, and I had a great time surfing and playing around.  Lindsey flew out to work in Antarctica and I took the ferry across to Mazatlan and then drove to Altair and now am trying to get put into the water so I can go surfing some more.  It is very hot and very humid, as I write this I am sweating like someone is spraying me with a hose.  I am soaked and dripping and still too hot.  I can't wait to get swimming.

WEX 2017 Video