Sayulita

Yesterday we took a trip over to Sayulita - a quintessential surf-town. The waves were virtually non-existent so we just walked around, had some lunch and a coconut.

But it hasn't been all fun and games around here. Most days Mike has been working on the boat and I've been busy creating websites - most notably the website for my dad's new TV show Travel Secrets Mexico.

Vendors selling Huichol jewelry 

More photos of Sayulita here

We are looking for a bigger boat, so Camille is for sale. If you know of anyone looking for a boat please pass on this link.

Beware ATM Fees in Mexico

In order to pay our rigger in La Cruz we had to get cash from an ATM machine located at the marina - a US dollar only dispensing cash machine. We normally only take cash out of ATM machines located within an actual bank building but La Cruz is a small fishing town without a bank.

Our bank refunds all fees so I was not worried when I saw there would be a 45 peso fee (about US$3.50). The ATM also stated that the exchange rate would be 14.75 pesos to the dollar. This is where I should have paid more attention!

My US$400 withdraw ended up showing up as US$465 at our bank!

How did this happen you ask? After many emails with the ATM company they finally explained to me that rather than taking $400 from my bank directly, they first converted the $400 I withdrew into pesos at their rate of 14.75 which makes 5,900 Pesos plus the 45 peso fee. This total amount is sent to my bank which converts back to dollars at their rate. This rate varies with the market but was around 12.70 at the time.  So Cashola made a $65 profit on my $400 withdraw!

The owners of the ATM machine (a big chain here in Mexico) has offered to send me a refund check for US$25. I also received a $10 fee refund from my bank but I'm still paying $30 for this transaction. So now we only withdraw pesos and certainly don't use the US $ dispensing machines. 

Mahi Mahi

by Mike -- We talked to almost everybody we met about the mahi mahi (aka dolphinfish, dorado). Where are they? Have you caught any? Has anyone caught any? The consensus has been that it was a very late spring (hard to believe for us that the weather has been cooler than usual as we melt away). So the argument went that the mahi mahi will not "show up" until the water and air temps start warming up.

We waited patiently wondering what we needed to do to catch one of the most beautiful fish in the sea. We finally started hearing stories of other people catching them close by. A few nights back we had the neighbors over for sundowners and we discovered the trick. The neighbor had been onboard a fishing charter a week before and he told us how the captain put them on fish.

Just spot a large patch of sea weed and they will be there. Ah hah! I did not know this.... Crossing the Pacific last year catching a mahi mahi was easy enough - just throw the hand line out and wait awhile - sooner are later you will have a fish.

So as we were transiting between Loreto and La Paz we found a large patch of seaweed and pulled up to it rod in hand. And there they were... dozens of beautiful mahi mahi swarming around the boat and following the lure back to the boat. That is all they did though - even after I boarded the dinghy and trolled, casted and cursed for a better part of two hours. Skunked. Not even one hit.

As the wind started to pick up we left the patch of sea weed and school of mahi mahi behind. When we pulled away I threw out the hand line more out of habit than hope. I kicked back in the cockpit and after a few hours, I just about had my eyes closed, when Verena said "that line looks a lot tighter than it normally does". Argh, the line must just be fouled with seaweed again I thought to myself as I got up and started pulling it in. Whoa the line pulled back, stop everything... Fish On!

Mahi Mahi Tacos with Mango Salsa (just add fresh mango to your favorite salsa - we like Herdez Salsa Casera)

Sea Turtle Rescue

This is the (true) story of how a dorado saved the life of a sea turtle....

>>Be sure to watch the video at the end<<

Also published in 48° North Magazine's September 2012 issue.

After an early morning start from Mazatlan, we headed for Puerto Vallarta. Mike was napping below and I was whiling away the time of my watch with a good book in our sunny cockpit. There wasn't much of a breeze and just a few clouds. Being "on watch" simply means we look around every ten minutes or so, making sure we are still on course and no other vessels are in sight. Occasionally we also check the fishing line that always trails our boat. Most times it seems to repulse any fish in the area but not this morning! I yelled down to Mike that we had a fish on the line, slowed the boat and started reeling it in. When I saw a bright yellow flash I knew right away it was a dorado. We'd be eating good tonight! As soon as Mike heard me say "dorado" he was up on deck with the camera, ready to document the occasion. As I got the beautiful fish close to the boat Mike took a couple of photos and then the fish had one big burst of energy and shook himself free of the hook. So much for fresh ceviche and fish tacos....

While we were lamenting our loss, I spotted something white floating not far off the port side of the boat. We usually don't go out of our way to investigate trash for fear of getting line or netting, that may be attached to it, into our prop. But this thing looked odd to me,  it appeared that something was swimming very close to white flotsam. I took the boat off autopilot and steered over to it. Mike went up on deck to spot any debris that might foul our prop.

As we approached, it became clear that the white flotsam I had spotted was a makeshift buoy made out of a white plastic jug and a 2 liter soda bottle. And tangled up in it appeared to be a sea turtle! At first glance we thought the turtle was dead because we saw what looked like white bugged out eyes, but as we approached the turtle started to thrash around. We later discovered what looked like white eyes on top of the turtle's head were actually two white barnacles attached just above each of the turtle's eyes.

Now that we knew the turtle was still alive we had to try and rescue it.  We formulated a quick plan and pulled some gear together. As we approached the buoy again, we noticed a line trailing down that probably had a shrimp or lobster pot at the end of it. We also noted which direction the current was pulling it and made sure to make subsequent approaches from the opposite side to keep our prop clear. While I pulled up to the buoy Mike was on the bow trying to toss a loop of line over the jug.

The current, swell and waves kept pushing us off target and after several tries we decided to try backing up to it so Mike could use our swim-step and be closer to the water. Every time we approached, the poor turtle started to panic and tried to dive, but with the buoy attached to one flipper it could barely dive a foot deep. After several tries Mike was able to grab a hold of a short line attached to the buoy and get our rope around the jug so he could pull the turtle close to the boat and remove the buoy from the turtle.

With the whole contraption firmly attached to our boat we were taking a short breather when we realized that now the turtle was being pulled under water and no longer able to come up for air. So Mike just started pulling the whole thing toward the boat and cut the line that was dragging everything down. But the turtle was still attached to the white jug. Mike pulled it onto our swim step and once the turtle was on deck he cut away the line that was wrapped tightly around the turtle's flipper. After letting the turtle rest a while Mike pushed it back into the water and it dove off in a flash. Viva la vida!

So you see, if it hadn't been for the dorado that made us slow the boat down, I probably would have missed the white buoy all together because I wasn't due for a look around for another ten minutes. And if the dorado hadn't gotten off the hook we would have been too busy dealing with it to spot the buoy.

And that is how the dorado came to save the sea turtle!

In hindsight, we wondered if we could have done things differently. There was a 3’ to 4’ swell, the current was running at about 2 knots and we were over 20 miles from shore. There were just the two of us on the boat. We later emailed with a marine conservationist and were told that the best way to approach a distressed marine mammal is for the rescuer to be in the water. We had considered this as we formulated a plan for the rescue and we were just not comfortable with going into the water. Considering the sea state and the risk to ourselves and our boat we still believe that we made the right decisions.

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Crossing the Sea

Leaving Baja in our wake

We're in Mazatlan after our third crossing of the Sea of Cortez. We're on our way to Puerto Vallarta where we will be spending the summer (aka hurricane season). Since early July we've been making our way south from the Loreto area and now all that is left is one overnight trip.

We had a very long swell on our crossing which we're attributing to the two hurricanes brewing down south. After the calm of the Sea it was nice to feel the motion of the ocean under our keel.

Cooling off during the crossing

Dorado! (aka Mahi Mahi or Dolphin fish)

Mahi Mahi Tacos with mango salsa

Marina El Cid in Mazatlan

Marina El Cid in Mazatlan

Caleta Partida

The Caleta Partida anchorage between Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida has to be one of our favorites. The snorkeling is great, there are sea caves to explore, and white sand beaches and private coves to paddle to. We already spent some time here in May and went to the sea caves. This time we were a bit in a hurry, because we are on our way back down to Puerto Vallarta to spend the summer, but we took a day off for July 4th.

This was my first 4th spent outside of the US since coming to the country in 1988. Without fireworks it didn't really feel like Independence Day but we played a few patriotic songs on the stereo to celebrate. I became a citizen of our fair country in 1992 and I'm still proud to be an American (in Mexico)!

My parents and me in 1992 after becoming US citizens

Icons on map are clickable for more information on anchorages, marinas, snorkel spots, etc. Zoom out for others.

Mike snorkeling

Sea Lion

Isla Coronados

After a week on Isla Carmen we were pleased to find out that the anchorage on Isla Coronada had a much better breeze and the nighttime temperature inside the boat was in the low 80's - making sleep much more comfortable.

We had been warned about bees here but the first few days were peaceful... until the bees found our boat! Our swimstep collects puddles of fresh water when we rinse after swimming and the bees were thirsty. Luckily they were not agressive and no one (on our boat) was stung.

The beaches are beautiful white sand and the shallows perfect for wading. While I was standing knee deep in the water talking with Kyra and Rick from sv Nyon I felt something slimy pass by my leg. I shrieked and looked down to see a huge eel. After we all ran back to the safety of shore Mike started splashing around and the slimy creature swam right up to him.

Thanks to s/v Nyon for having a camera at the ready!

Icons on map are clickable for more information on anchorages, marinas, snorkel spots, etc. Zoom out for others.

This is the life! Photo by sv Nyon

Dolphins in the anchorage

Turtle in the anchorage

Playing Farkle on the beach with sv Nyon, sv Javier, sv Lion's Paw, sv Eagle, and sv Time Piece 

Heading home

Moving on to the next anchorage in a flat calm Sea of Cortez