We finally have left La Paz, Thursday, December 10th. Interesting how we stay longer than anticipated at most stops (especially difficult when I had won 2 1/2 weeks of free rent at two local marinas). We wanted to take a long leisurely trip to Mazatlan (around a 230 mile trip), stopping along the way at a new anchorage Balandara Bay and two that we never got to explore adequately, Los Muertos and Los Frailes. "Want to make God laugh? Tell her your plans." The weather which was suppose to be light winds and seas, was not.

It was cool, cloudy, with good wind. As we made our way to Puerto Balandra, it did not look inviting and we kept on going on through the San Lorenzo Channel where the seas were choppy, 3-6 foot swells, and the wind was picking up. Time to raise the sails, but only the jib as the wind was from our aft quarter. We made the decision not to make stops,just sail on to Mazatlan. By evening we had on long pants, turtle necks, fleece jackets, and windbreakers along with wool caps. Sailing at night with no moon is beautiful. The stars are incredibly bright. We were amazed at how little traffic there was. After 2 1/2 days and 2 nights of sailing we had only seen 4 other vessels. Josie has become a great sailcat. She would come out at night to keep us company, purring and happy toes. The boards we had made to cover the well in the cockpit make it possible for one of us to comfortably sleep topside while the other is on watch. Happy family sailing.

Saturday at 10:30 AM we anchored out in the old harbor in sight of the light house on Isla Creston (the second highest lighthouse in the world) and down by "old Mazatlan". We listened to the morning net on our way into the bay and were delighted to hear Orlando's(Cuba Libre)voice. We made arrangements to meet with them the following evening at the plaza by the cathedral, great people watching. The first day/night was spent catching up on sleep.

The next day we took the dinghy up the channel to check out the mangroves and perhaps see a croc. We were disappointed by the amount of garbage lining the shores and stuff floating by and decided to not go ashore especially because of how low the tide was. We went back to explore the old city, the mercado (huge marketplace), eat with the locals upstairs (great food & price), quick internet fix, look for the natural food store, walk around the cathedral,the plaza and then meet up with Orlando & Linda for a lovely dinner on the plaza near the theaters (good live music, but by gringos). Phileta took incredible pictures: pigs heads lined up at one meat stand; steers head (minus the lower jaw)at another; a priest giving mass in the center of the mercado; candid shots of the locals; the cathedral built by Germans 200 + years ago; and the little girls performing in costumes at the Sunday evening family festival. A good day.

Monday morning as we brought up the anchor, the windlass began to groan. I looked over the bow to see a line full of barnacles wrapped around the anchor. Couldn't tell if it was rope or cable. Tried getting it off with the boat hook jamming the boat hook too. Out of no where a man appears in a dinghy. He was anchored next to us and saw we had a problem. Thank God cruisers are such a great group of people. Once freed, we left for Isla Isabela, a bird sanctuary about 85 miles away. Much warmer weather and smoother sailing. Our Raymarine GPS has no detail of this coastline and the handheld's is sketchy so arriving anywhere without light is not an option. Luckily the radar does give us a good idea of what is around. Although, when we saw these floating lights approaching us the first night (looked like a circus) we watched as it disappeared from the radar when we were seeing the cruise ship a mile off our bow!

Flocks of birds circling marked Isla Isabela and we approached as the sun began to light things up. We tried anchoring, but it didn't seem to set, then when we tried to raise it, it kept fouling, Phileta and I worked well as a team to get it freed. This was at the non anchor eating anchorage so we both agreed that we did not want to try the other anchorage. So, off to San Blas, 42 miles southwest.

As we turn Eagle's nose around, Phileta sees something jumping in the distance. As we get closer, we realize it is a baby humpback frolicking. It appeared to be about 6-8 feet long as it leaped out of the water and back in with its little tail the last to go down, then would come up with just a flipper as if waving hello. We watched for a few minutes wondering where mom was or others. The next surfacing was mom and baby gently together blowing and gracefully sliding into the water and away from us. Incredible.

That's it for today. I'll bring you up to Puerto Vallarta another time.

Love to all,

D & P