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!
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