Feliz Estancia!

Feliz Estancia!
The last month has been full of exciting new Mexican experiences. We left La Paz in the beginning of February and went to explore the Islands just North. Our First anchorage was on Espirito Santo at a little cove called Calida Partida. This cove ended up being more or less our home for the next week due to some nasty winds that were moving down the Sea of Cortez. The Islands are designated natural parks so there is no one living on them. Calida Partida ended up being an amazing anchorage with one of the best hikes we have been on in our lives. The hike was called El Rincon and it is one of the most famous hikes in the Archipelago. With the island being a desert environment and very dry it was a huge surprise to hike up these dry waterfalls with plum, fig and some type of fern tree growing out of the cracks in the rock. Their were huge caves built up into the cliffs and tons of Agave cactus everywhere. When we reached the top we were sitting pretty much in the middle of the island and had a view of the ocean on both sides. We spent the next few days swimming and exploring until we were greeted with thirty five knot winds gusting over the island for three days which pretty much kept us down below. That was our first taste of being captive and not being able to leave our boat for a few days. We both went a little crazy, We did a lot of cooking and reading and were so happy when it ended.
Our next destination was Mainland Mexico! Waves, Waves, Waves was about all either of us had on our minds especially after the last few days. We pulled up anchor and sailed back down south for the southern crossing to Mainland. We were going to stop at Los Frailies an anchorage we stopped at on the way up but our luck with the wind was once again not so good we could not stop. We ended up beating into the wind all the way down and got so fed up that we decided to tack and head for mainland without resting. After three days we were anchored up at a little island off of Mainland called Isla Isabella. We pulled in at midnight and anchored up (much to Brandon‘s dismay) under the darkest of nights. The island, like Espirito Santo is a national park and bird sanctuary. The next day we woke up to more birds than you have ever seen in your life circling the island. It was neat but a little bit freaky! We were about to go to shore when we saw a humpback jump all the way out of the water. For the next half an hour a mama and baby humpback were jumping and playing about 50 ft out of the anchorage . It was such a wonderful welcome to the island. We spent the next few days exploring the island and looking at all the birds. The island is know for the Frigate bird and the Blue footed Boobie which nest there due to lack of predators. It was a gorgeous island that was only about a mile long and ¾ of a mile wide. We walked the whole island in two days and took tons of pictures of the blue footed boobies. We met two marine biologists who were in heaven looking at all the birds. We thought the birds were neat but to be honest I think we were checking out if their were any waves more than we were bird watching. We didn’t find any surf but we went diving around a smaller rock off the island and saw the most amazing Sting Ray. It was about as big as me and it was spotted black and white. We followed it for a while but after the story with Steve Irwin we kept our distance! It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen diving!
After three days at Isabella we pulled up anchor and headed for the first true mainland anchorage San Blas! On the way we had another amazing humpback show. The whale was only about 20 ft off our boat this time and it jumped clear out of the water and made a huge splash. For the next few hours we saw tons of sea turtles and a sea snake! We have never seen so much sea life. San Blas was a great change from Baja. It was so tropical and warm! Although it is know for having the longest point break in the world in needs a south swell to actually get big. We didn’t get it very good but we still got our log-board out and played around for a few hours. The water is finally warm enough that you don’t need a wet suit . It is such a treat to surf in just a bathing suit. While we were their we went on a jungle boat trip. We heard that it could get pretty crowded and we did not want to go with a bunch of people so we got up and were their by six thirty in the morning. The pangas took us all the way up the estuary and we say tons of birds, turtles, and crocodiles. At the end there is a fresh water swimming hole with a rope swing that we swam in for a while. It was so nice to swim in fresh water!
The next few days we spent provisioning a little and we borrowed bikes from some people we met and spent a day riding back through little villages and along the beach. It is so nice to be in a more tropical place with palm trees , banana trees and white sand beaches. We left San blas after about four days still itching for good waves and that is exactly what we found the next day at Chacala. We pulled into Chacala expecting to stay for just a day and then head to Punta Mita for waves. We ended up staying for almost a week and are still kicking ourselves for leaving. It was by far the most amazing place we have stopped so far. Getting good surf may have made the experience a little more amazing but everything about the place was awesome. We were on our way into catch a bus to a town called “Las Varas” ironic, when we saw a panga rounding the point with surf boards. Brandon made a quick turn and before we knew it we were on the next panga with boards in hand headed for a left point break. The panga dropped us off on a little beach that you can only get to by boat . As soon as we got off the panga we turned a round and there was a really fun set coming in. We spent the next five hours surfing with these people we met. And only got out because our arms had turned to jello. The group we got a ride with were a christian group from Mammoth who were in Mexico on a masters program helping out different communities in Mexico. They turned out to all be really nice, good people doing good things in the world. A few of the boys who we surfed with most of the time (that now live in Mazatlan) picked us up the next morning on a panga for another surf session. The swell kept building and the surf was a lot of fun for the next few days. We ended up surfing for the next four days and had to work the system a little considering a panga ride was thirty dollars. We ended up paying only once and we split in with a couple from Canada and only had to pay ten dollars.
After surfing we would go to our Canadian friends hotel and swim in a pool that looked out over the bay. Such a treat! Then we would go watch the sunset on the beach under the palapas and drink beers and we were both as content as could be. One night we were sitting at a palapa and a Mexican woman came up and I think she could sense our giddiness as we talked about our day of surfing and she kneeled down and said “Feliz Estancia.” We looked at her for a second and tried to quickly decipher what she had said when she said “You are happy. It is a wonderful state” We both looked at each other and then at her and nodded “ Si, si…Feliz Estancia”
It was hard to leave the little beach town of Chacala but food and water were running low and it was time to move on. After a last surf session we pulled up anchor and headed for Punta Mita for more waves and provisioning. The swell has died and the waves are pretty small but we are determined to wait it out. The last few days have been spent in La Cruz doing death marches into Puerto Vallarta for Provisions. We must have lugged two hundred pounds of food from Puerto Vallarta on a bus down a long dirt road to our skiff and then out onto our boat yesterday! Okay so maybe it wasn’t all food. We found a box wine that is only two dollars and it tastes really good. Watch out Charles Shaw. There’s a better “Two buck Chuck”. We ended up buying about twenty boxes. Better to be safe than sorry right! The bus driver on the way back just shook his head as we loaded four seats with all of our bags. We were also really low on a little more essential liquid WATER. With all the marinas being full in Puerto Vallarta due to all the races we had no choice but to pay a Panga to bring us out twenty - five gallon jugs of drinking water and siphon them into our tanks. It was pricy but we were grateful he could do it for us or we would have been out of water. We are going to stay in La Cruz for one more day because we ran intoTony on Comanchee, the guy that did our electrical in Santa Barbara and are going to hang out with him and his wife. We will head either to Punta Mita or a town called Yelapa tomorrow depending on the waves of course! ((sorry, pictures were taking too long...check the pics link...they'll be here soon))