11/27/2010 - Isla Isabel

We pulled anchor about 1:30 yesterday from Stone Island to head for Isla Isabel.  It was an 89 mile passage so we knew we would have an overnighter.  All was going great until about 7:00 when we almost got ran over by a shrimp boat.  I was on watch and saw that it was heading for us.  It’s hard to tell sometimes out here because they have so many lights on them that it confuses the navigational rules.  If a boat’s port side (left) is showing to you then you will see a red light.  If her starboard side (right) is showing you will see a green light.  If both lights are showing then she’s probably heading straight for you.  From my chair, I could see both lights but they were on the wrong side.  It looked more like she was heading away from us.  But if that were the case, then I would just see her stern light.  Later we were to find out the shrimp boat had a triangle of red lights, some orange lights, green lights, white lights, a little bit of everything.  Christmas is getting close…. So I woke Andy up (he was trying to rest up for his late night watch).  Well, it turns out to be a good thing.  Andy altered our course slightly but the ship kept coming toward us.  After a few hair raising moments we finally saw her pass in front of our bow about 300 yards out, never slowing down or altering course at all.  Another important reason to keep good watches…

BIG FISH... not so flattering of me, but remember, it's 7:00 am

The rest of the night was uneventful until I hauled in a 25 pound Dorado this morning!!!  I saw the line zip all the way across the stern of the boat and when I went to pull it in it tried to take off.  I hollered at Andy to come help…while I pulled it in, he gaffed it and then it promptly dropped into the cockpit and went crazy.  According to my husband and son, I did the same thing.  I took the baseball bat and made every attempt at a humane one shot kill but it turned into more of a close my eyes and swat at the fish kind of game.  I made a serious mess and when it looked like the fish might actually land in the cabin, Andy stepped in and gave the final blow.  Holy cow this thing was big!!! 

The "kill zone"

Everything was calm after that and we arrived at Isla Isabel about 11:00 this morning.  The anchorage here is over a very rocky bottom and can make you a bit nervous.  But Andy dove on it and it appears that were in there tight (but not so tight we can’t get out).  We’re here with two other boats and it feels pretty close.  We saw a fourth sailboat try to come in but ended up moving out to the east anchorage.  We’re thinking of staying here another day or so depending on the weather and then heading out to San Blas. 

Isla Isabel

Here’s what the guidebook says about the island…  “Isla Isabel is an isolated volcanic island lying approximately 18 miles off the mainland coast, and 40 miles northwest of San Blas.  This very unique island has been nicknamed the ’Galapagos of Mexico,’ due to its enormous number of nesting birds and resident iguanas.  Like the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador, the Isla Isabel is isolated in the Pacific Ocean and relatively free of natural predators.”

Tomorrow we’re going to wake up and go for a hike to the top of the hill.  The caldera of this extinct volcano is filled with water so you can imagine my little volcano loving son can’t wait to see it.  Andy will do a dive in the afternoon (waves permitting) and we’ll probably head out Monday.