End of Summer, Start of Spring

Its the end of the Summer for me down here, and the start of the spring up in the north.  As we sailed towards the Marina La Cruz, where we'll put the boat away, we saw some Arctic Terns, winging their way north from the far far south, following (or preceding) the sun on their journey to their namesake.  We will wing ourselves north on Thursday.  Altair is almost all packed away now, but I wanted to share some of the pictures from sailing and in Bandaras Bay (this time around).
 This first one was on a trip across to Yelapa, and I was sailing alongside a boat called Coyote, (blog is here)  That boat is going to sail across the Pacific to Australia, then sell the boat.  I like the idea, and they think they can make a bit of money, enough to make it into a business.
So here are some pictures of their boat...

 

 So we finally got to Yelapa, and walked up the river.  There are these seed pods that I love, and couldn't resist taking pictures of.

 Also the trees that have spines to defend themselves.  I don't know what they designed these for, because there aren't many animals that would munch on the trees, except insects.  And the spines are too big to poke the feet of bugs.  Possibly they are just out of place, and they defend against monkeys?  Or maybe the monkeys used to live here and were killed by the humans?  Or a large prehistoric sloth thing?  Whatever they are for, I found that they hurt when you grab the tree.

Of course there are these butterflies all over the place, flapping their beautiful wings like eyelashes.  I think they bat their wings, almost.

 And we saw some Macaws, but I don't know the exact kind.  They fly over and shriek and caw, but I never got a really close look.

 Here is a Green Kingfisher, one of the rare few that I've ever seen.

 And most of what we've been doing has been surfing.  This is an activity that is hard to document with a water sensitive camera, so I don't have a lot to show for it.  Lindsay does, though.  Here she is shredding some Nar on a wave called stinky's.  Appropriate?
I hope to work on a surfing video next fall, but really I just love to go out and catch waves, and not think about filming or pictures at all.  That is the reason that I haven't been blogging a lot lately.

Bandaras Bay

We will be staying in Bandaras Bay for the rest of the time here, sailing around, going surfing, and visiting the local towns (on rare occasions).  This bay makes great winds every day, thermal winds that die down each night and keep the surface of the bay nice and calm for sailing.
I've been flying the kite a bit, once while out at the Tres Marietas, the islands that sit in the middle of the mouth of the bay, and another time while at the anchorage in La Cruz, the place where all the cruisers (sailors) hang out.
You can see Altair in the middle of the photo (of La Cruz) and all the other boats anchored nearby.  It is quite the gathering...

The Marietas are a cool little place.  We took a friend that I met three years ago out sailing.  I had met him surfing at Burros, my favorite surfing spot, and finally he came out sailing.  He brought a few friends and we anchored out in the islands, went spearfishing, caught some fish and made ceviche.  Here is a picture of the preparations:




You can kind of see the island in this kite shot:

The whales are all over the bay and we've seen them while sailing around.  It is nice to have them around, and to follow them from here to Alaska and back.

Arrived In La Cruz

We've sailed on in to Bandaras Bay!  We got in to the bay on Tuesday, then surfed our arms off for the last few days, but now my arms are broken and tired and my nose is burned and the waves have gotten smaller (the most important thing), so we came to La Cruz, the sort of headquarters of the bay for sailors, where we can go ashore and get internet and get food and stuff.
On the way here I have stopped at Burros, the surf spot that I frequented before, and then while in the water, I saw a bunch of people who I recognized from years past.  It is nice to meet old friends in the water.  No new pictures this post, but probably soon.
Here is a video of the island of Isabel:

Isla Isabel

 We went to Isla Isabel.  For me it was the 8th time, I think, but every time I love it more and more.  This time I saw two birds totally new to me: Sooty Tern and a Grooved Billed Ani.  There was a whole colony of the terns and they were making a racket, not too bothered by our visit.  I also saw a Perigrine Falcon, which I didn't know went out there.  While going to the north side of the island, we went out on this little intertidal island thing, which Abe and I have tried to constrain the waterspouts (where the water splashes up through a crack in the rocks when the waves come in).  Lindsay calls those spouts "dragons" and so we tried to tame the dragons.  Not much success.  Anyways, this time as we walked along, there were some Tropicbirds nesting in the rocks just a few feet away!  Usually they are on the cliffs and I had never got a good look at them before this.

Also, the water was 80 degrees, and holy cow, we spent so much time in the water.  I went spearfishing a few times and shot a nice big Pargo, or snapper, about 12 lbs, and we shared it with some new friends on board a 100' sailing yacht.  The next night we dined in style aboard the Shamaness, which is a boat that belongs to my friends Dennis and June, who I had met way back in the day on my first trip down here.  We were hiking along and I looked over, saw the sail, and thought to myself, that looks like a Chung-Wa!  Then looking through my telephoto lens, my suspicions were advanced, and then looking at the picture zoomed in, I could read the name and it was confirmed.  So we went over to visit later on.  The next day after that, I shot a large (24 lb) Amberjack, similar to a Yellowtail, and then brought some fish over to the encampment of phototourists (mexican tourists) who had arrived in a Panga, and they gave me some smoked sailfish.  So then we went over to another boat (an 80 footer, I guess my standards are dropping) and shared fish tacos with them.  All this visiting has made me realize that I need a 100 foot boat with all the luxuries, like a hot tub and water toys...  Next trip.
After 4 days at Isabel we departed and we motored all day to San Blas, where we snuck into the showers for the marina there and got all cleaned up.  San Blas is a beautiful town that is preserved by the fact that the insects eat all the people who try to change things.  There is a lot of Mexican tourists who come to the beach here and also lots of fishing that comes to market here, and a base for the Mexican Navy.  It has been a port since the 1500s, for Spain, then for Mexico.

Down Baja

Before we left San Diego, we went out to the HMS Surprise, to have a look.  I've started reading the Patrick O'Brian series, the first of which is called "Master and Commander" and it is really quite a fun time.  I think best when the deck beneath your feet moves on its own.  Better still, should there be guns being run in and out and excercised.  So they made a movie about it a while ago, spent tons of money in making the boat (or rather, re-making the "Rose") and then the movie didn't make enough money so they didn't make more.  Pity.


After that, we turned our sights South.  We made Ensenada in a day, got checked in and sorted, then pushed on south.  After a few overnights we made it to Islas San Benitos, which are beautiful islands, as the name suggests.  There are tons of Elephant seals on the islands, something that I did not see the last time I was there (5 years ago).  Previously, there were Guadalupe Fur Seals, but I guess their lease on the island is only for the autumn, and in the winter blubber trumps.  Blubber and burping croaks.
There are little cacti all over the place, and these wonderful succulents, so I got some shots of the smaller flora and fauna.

We went for a walk up to the lighthouse that probably more of the big container ships of the world see than the rest of Baja, because it is the furthest west point going up the coast, and everyone hugs that point a little bit on their way through.  The new light is on the top of the hill, a square boring building, but the old light was a treasure.  A corroded and broken treasure, to be sure.  We set foot inside to explore.  Up the questionable staircase we went and got to the tower's tip, where Rapunzel probably would be paralized by fear (and Tetanus).  The Fresnel lens from the light is still there, and it rotates around, or would, when the power turns the motor.  Its old glass, but you can tell that it was well made.  People have broken a lot of the windows, but the fresnel is still mostly intact.  A form of reverence for the science of refraction.

We left and went to Isla Cedros, then to Turtle Bay, and to Ascension Bay, and finally to Bahia de Ballenas.  The bay of the whales.  We saw bunches of grey whales migrating and being frisky, and would have liked to watch them further, but the weather turned (after a beautiful sunset) and we fought our way south for three days to Bahia Maria.

Bahia Maria was my favorite place last time down, and I like it still.  Initially I surfed the south side point, and it was HUGE and scary with lots of rocks all over the place.  Kind of heavy, too.  Then the wind shifted and we went to the north side to see the lagoon and the sand dunes and surf the north point.
After a hurried exploration, we left and overnighted to Cabo, catching a Dorado on the way.  The water is 75 degrees and its thunderstorming outside, but soon it will clear up and we'll go across the sea of cortez on our way to Puerto Vallarta.

There are fishermen who are here and they catch sharks in order to ship the fins to China.  If only the sharks could donate a fin or two and then continue to live.  Here is one on the beach looking fierce.  In Cabo, there is a great diving spot that I've been going to, and I've seen a small white-tip reef shark twice there now.  A real cutie.  Sharking is a big thing for Lindsay and for me, and although I am worried about the "Jaws" lurking in the shadows while surfing, I really like to see the sharks out there swimming around and beating up on the jets.