Happy faces

I can say that everyone had a great time in the bay and these are some of my favorite pictures from our stay there.

Kelly on dolphin watch.                                                            A rare Ryan smile.

Happy dad!!

Time spent in Matanchen Bay

After finally making it from Isla Isabella to Matanchen Bay we decided to stay parked for a few days once we discovered just how awesome it was.  We had the bay basically to ourselves and we got to try out all of our new toys.

We tried out all the "weapons" we brought with us.

We also got to use our new Kayak.

There was nothing like waking up to the sunrise over this beautiful bay to find a pod of about 100 dolphins playing all around our boat.

The sun comes up about 7:00 in this time zone so it is quite easy to take.  This happened to be one of the only overcast days we've had on the trip so far.  It made for a really nice sunrise.  It also made it a lot easier to see all the dolphins. 

What struck me the most was all the noise they make when they are breathing.  You can hear each time one of them exhales and when there is a large pod that makes for a lot of hot air. 

I tried to catch  some on my camera with Kelly's help.

As you can see the only folks in the water that early in the morning in the bay are the panga drivers who are putting out their fishing nets and the dolphins. 

The dolphins hung around for about an hour and put on a great show.  They were not the same size as we usually see on our way to Catalina.  These were smaller and much darker in color. 

We all had a great time watching them play in the surf.

Sunset over Matanchen Bay

This is the view of the bay from the back of our boat on December 13, 2009.  There were four other boats in the bay with us.  We ended up staying on the hook (aka the anchor) three nights here.  The kids loved jumping off the boat and kayaking around the bay.  They also liked the great shirmp empanadas we got on the shore here.   More blogging to catch up tomorrow....

More Hitchhikers

We ended up having more boobies land on the boat.  One got stuck down in the cockpit and Phil actually had to pick it up and throw it over the side.  The next one to land tried to get down one of our hatches while we were sailing.  Ryan was so distraught by all these birds landing on the boat that we had to make him go below for fear that he would fall overboard trying to run away from them when they landed. 

The last one to land on the boat got tangled up on the kids boogie board cords and Phil had to go and help that one get off the boat.  From then on we sat watch and started shouting like crazy people any time another one got close enough to try and land. 

The hitchhiker

On December 13, 2009 we left Isla Isabella behind and set sail at 6:15 a.m for the Mainland.  We originally planned to go to San Blas but as we got closer and thought about having to sail up an estuary late in the day we opted to go around the corner to a great open bay called "Matanchen Bay."  But before I get there let me tell you about our 8 hour trip from Isla Isabella to the mainland. 

I now undertand how pests migrate from one location to another.  I've been doing Ryan's science lessons with him and learning about how animals help disperse the seeds of various plants but now I know how the pests that eat crops migrate from place to place - Hitchhikers.  We had a moth the size of my hand land on one of our stantions on the boat when we left Isla Isabella.  It tucked its very large wings up under itself out of the wind and rode with us all the way to the mainland.  It didn't leave until it got dark and we were less than a mile from land. 

But our most famous hitchhikers were the blue footed boobies.  The dumbest birds I have ever seen.  One bird took up residence on the stern of our boat and rode for quite some time.  The entire time the bird was trying to figure out how it could get some of the lines/strings off our boat.  It seems that these birds love to line their nests with string.  Needless to say there are lots of "strings" on a sail boat.

This is the picture of the first hitchhiker to land.

Isla Isabella

On December 11th we left Mazatlan in the early afternoon and set our compass for Isla Isabella, a marine preserve about 80 miles south of Mazatlan.  It is a small island that is the home to hundreds of blue footed boobies, friget birds and iguanas.  We left in the afternoon so as to arrive early the next morning.  Sailing at night can be a little scary for someone like me it makes arriving a lot easier instead of getting in somewhere after dark. 

This island has some reefs you have to avoid so we opted for the early arrival.  The island is all but deserted but for the pangas and the fisherman that make the beach camps their homes.  Also on the island is a research facility for the marine and aviary inhabitants.  The birds have no predators and so they are not really even afraid of the people.  We spent the night in the bay and after visiting with an eco- diving group that was staying on the island we left the next morning for Matanchen Bay over on the Mainland.

The view as we are leaving Isla Isabella on December 13, 2009.  Notice the two rock formations on the right in this picture.  They are know as the "two mannequins."

The two mannequins as seen from our boat on 12/13/09.

Our Neighbors in Mazatlan

Since the Marina in Mazatlan did not have a pool and the water in the Marina was not really fit for swimming we had to find other things for the kids to do.  So one day we took the cameras and went out to explore our neighborhood.  We decided to capture some of the local denizens of the "hood." 

The first folks that Kelly found were the reptile neighbors.

 We called this guy "piggy nose."

Then we moved on to the one's that live in shells.  Since we are now well versed in the Lucho Libre wrestling that is everywhere down here we decided to find the best samples of Lucho Libre in the animal kingdom. 

Kelly called this one Mexican standoff.

She called this one "In your face crabby patty."

The kids have had a great time looking for and identifying the fish and birds that we see here.

Visiting the Aquarium in Mazatlan

On December 9, 2009, in the hope of keeping the kids happy, we ventured out into Mazatlan to visit the "Acuario."  Getting there from our Marina was in itself an adventure.  It is about a twenty minute bus ride and waiting for the buses and getting on the right one can be an adventure in and of itself.  After waiting for about a half hour we finally were on our way.  The folks on the bus could not be more helpful and with our limited Spanish and their limited English we were able to let them know where we wanted to go. 

We finally got off at the right location and made our way to the Aquarium.  Now when you all think of aquariums you're probably thinking about the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach or some other U.S. based aquarium like the one in Boston or Louisiana.  Well this is a "little" aquarium with four sea lions, some crocodiles and a bunch of fish.  We did attend the "bird" show but as my kids learned the animals all speak Spanish. But not much was lost in the translation when the Parrot walked a tight-rope upside down to the music from "Mission Impossible." 

The kids just enjoyed getting out of the Marina for a few hours. 

Puerto Vallarta

Well we made it to Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday but it has taken us a few days to get on the internet.  I'll update the blog in the next couple of days with all of our adventures over the last ten days.  We will be in Paradise Village until January 4th. 

Leaving Mazatlan

After a week in Mazatlan it's time to start thinking about heading south.  If all goes well we will probably head south tomorrow, Tuesday, December 8, 2009.  We're restocked at the grocery store and we spent a part of the day yesterday cleaning up the boat.

The weather here has been perfect.  66 at night and low 80's during the day.  We walked over to the beach yesterday after the Mazatlan Marathon went through.  The water temperature is also in the low 80's.  Even I went in the water.

Today we're going to go to the aquarium before we leave.

We won't have wifi access until we get to Puerto Vallarta so we probably won't post again until around the 17th of the month. 

Snow cancels our trip to TEXAS

Well, the weather gods are not with us.  We went to the airport today to travel to Texas for our annual holiday party to learn that our flight was cancelled due to snow in Houston.  So we came back to the Marina where it is in the high seventies and had lunch.  Hope all you folks in  Texas have a great time. Kelly and Ryan were more disappointed then either Phil or I.  Kelly wanted to "speak English" with kids and Ryan was hoping to watch TV.  What can I say.  Wish we were there with you.

MaryLou

Old Town Mazatlan

On Wednesday, December 2, 2009 we ventured into Old Town to check out the sites and visit the large indoor farmer's market.  The kids could not get over all the butcher shops and the chickens hanging from hooks above the stalls.  It was our mission to find some interesting presents for the holiday exchange that we would be participating when we fly to Houston this month.  We managed to find somethings that we thought would work just fine.

After visiting the market we went over to the Cathedral that dominates the center of Old Town Mazatlan.  The kids could not believe that the same picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe that hangs in our church was also hanging in this church.  There is a large festival here next week to celebrate her feast day but I don't think we will be here to witness it. 

From Mazatlan our plan is to head south toward Puerto Vallarta.   Today we're going to head to the beach.  It has been unseasonably cold here in Mazatlan.  It gets down to the high 50's at night and only gets to about the low 70's during the day but we're not complaining, the sky is blue and the water is warm.  Til we write again.....

Homework on the boat

Well school has officially started here on Sabbatical.  The kids have lots of activities and work to keep them busy in the mornings.  Today we plan to venture out into Mazatlan and see the town. 

Shopping at the Super Mercado

  As you can see we needed to provision before we set out across the Sea of Cortez, so we made a run to the biggest Super Mercado we could find.  Check out what isle we are in.  I guess you know that Phil felt he needed to stock up on libations before the two day sail. 

We eventually left La Paz on Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. and arrived in the Marina in Mazatlan at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.  Two Hundred and sixty miles across open sea.  Now we're on the mainland and plan to be here until next March.  We'll be in Mazatlan until next Wednesday and then we start poking our way south to be in Puerto Vallarta by December 17th.  Then we get to decorate the boat for Xmas.  The kids think that the more lights we put on the boat the better the chance is that Santa will find us in Mexico.