On February 13th we bid farewell to San Blas and the mainland of Mexico. We had mixed emotions about leaving the mainland and crossing back over to the Baja. We definitely could have spent much more time in places like San Blas, exploring more of the cultural attractions and tropical terrain (and continuing to enjoy 80-degree F days).
On the other hand, we were definitely excited about returning to La Paz to meet our friends Alan and Laura, scheduled to arrive there on February 22. We had ten days to get to La Paz. It took us 8 days.
Our only stop between San Blas and La Paz occurred on day 2 of our crossing. We stopped off at Isla Isabella and did a 4.5 hour hike around the island. Isabella is an incredible haven for frigates and boobies, and to a lesser extent for pelicans and other birds. We arrived at a time of year when the frigate babies were in the nests, and, for the most part, the boobies were still incubating their eggs (we did, however, see one baby booby - shown in this photo).
The island was writhing with avian life – young frigates were crying to be fed, adult boobies, especially the blue-footed variety, were whistling and squawking to divert us from their eggs. And the skies were, at times, darkened by swirling masses of birds in search of food for their young.
We would have loved to have lingered longer on Isabella, but had a tight schedule. Much to our chagrine, however, the weather fluctuated from no wind to light wind for most of our trip. The first two days after leaving Isabella were much like this:
The calm seas did finally get shaken up during a 40-hour period of unsettled weather, which 
brought wind and rain. It also brought the most intense squall or storm (or gale? Not quite sure of the proper terminology. . .) that we’ve sailed through. We had sustained winds of more than 35 knots, and gusts much stronger than that. And heavy, pelting rain. The kind of rain that feels like BBs when it hits your skin. The blow lasted for about an hour, and by the end if it the waves had increased from 1-2 feet to 6-8 feet. We rode out the storm just fine by running a double-reefed main, and keeping Rumiko pointed into the wind. (You can see from the photo below that Lisa wasn't suffering too badly through the storm.)
As a result of the general lack of wind, we fired up the ol’ iron ginny more during our 8-day crossing than we had in the previous 6 weeks. Thank goodness Dan managed to repair the engine in San Blas. We would not have made it in time to see Alan and Laura otherwise. The engine ran really well, although it burned almost all of our oil supply.
It was a different trip for us, having the noise and fumes from the engine insinuate themselves into our seascape. But overall, the engine did not interfere with our ability to appreciate our surroundings (e.g., the many textures and hues of water and sky) and view the critters who inhabit the sea (dolphins, whales, turtles, birds).
When we finally got back to the Baja it felt like we were returning home. The tropical environment of the mainland was interesting and exciting with its cultural attractions and diversity of flora and fauna, but both of us have a resonance with the stark landscapes of the Baja (which are interesting and diverse in their own right). In the next month, during which we’ll have three sets of visitors, we will be happily reacquainting ourselves the land- and seascapes around La Paz and the nearby islands.
On the other hand, we were definitely excited about returning to La Paz to meet our friends Alan and Laura, scheduled to arrive there on February 22. We had ten days to get to La Paz. It took us 8 days.
Our only stop between San Blas and La Paz occurred on day 2 of our crossing. We stopped off at Isla Isabella and did a 4.5 hour hike around the island. Isabella is an incredible haven for frigates and boobies, and to a lesser extent for pelicans and other birds. We arrived at a time of year when the frigate babies were in the nests, and, for the most part, the boobies were still incubating their eggs (we did, however, see one baby booby - shown in this photo).The island was writhing with avian life – young frigates were crying to be fed, adult boobies, especially the blue-footed variety, were whistling and squawking to divert us from their eggs. And the skies were, at times, darkened by swirling masses of birds in search of food for their young.
We would have loved to have lingered longer on Isabella, but had a tight schedule. Much to our chagrine, however, the weather fluctuated from no wind to light wind for most of our trip. The first two days after leaving Isabella were much like this:
The calm seas did finally get shaken up during a 40-hour period of unsettled weather, which 
brought wind and rain. It also brought the most intense squall or storm (or gale? Not quite sure of the proper terminology. . .) that we’ve sailed through. We had sustained winds of more than 35 knots, and gusts much stronger than that. And heavy, pelting rain. The kind of rain that feels like BBs when it hits your skin. The blow lasted for about an hour, and by the end if it the waves had increased from 1-2 feet to 6-8 feet. We rode out the storm just fine by running a double-reefed main, and keeping Rumiko pointed into the wind. (You can see from the photo below that Lisa wasn't suffering too badly through the storm.)
As a result of the general lack of wind, we fired up the ol’ iron ginny more during our 8-day crossing than we had in the previous 6 weeks. Thank goodness Dan managed to repair the engine in San Blas. We would not have made it in time to see Alan and Laura otherwise. The engine ran really well, although it burned almost all of our oil supply.It was a different trip for us, having the noise and fumes from the engine insinuate themselves into our seascape. But overall, the engine did not interfere with our ability to appreciate our surroundings (e.g., the many textures and hues of water and sky) and view the critters who inhabit the sea (dolphins, whales, turtles, birds).
When we finally got back to the Baja it felt like we were returning home. The tropical environment of the mainland was interesting and exciting with its cultural attractions and diversity of flora and fauna, but both of us have a resonance with the stark landscapes of the Baja (which are interesting and diverse in their own right). In the next month, during which we’ll have three sets of visitors, we will be happily reacquainting ourselves the land- and seascapes around La Paz and the nearby islands.
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