A lot has happened since the last post so let’s get down to it! Long story short, we’ve been to Mazatlan, Bahia de Los Muertos, Caleta Lobos, Balandra and La Paz. Buckle up, this is going to be a long one!
We left Isla Isabel late afternoon and overnighted to Mazatlan. As you can see it was just a motor sail since we didn’t have any wind.
When we got closer to Mazatlan we were in a fog, figuratively and literally. We had plans to stay in Marina Mazatlán so we gave them a call shortly after 8am to get our slip assignment. We were told that we would need to dock at the fuel dock until they had a slip ready. They also let us know that the port was closed, meaning we could go in, but others could not leave. Which made us feel better as we were navigating with limited visibility. 
Luckily we could navigate by our chart plotter to get us to the entrance of the marina. I stood at the bow and Brad steered us in. We eventually got our slip assignment and explored the marina. They had wonderful bathrooms, laundry on site, and an amazing pool! And it was super affordable too! 
We spent a short amount of time in Mazatlán and managed to get to Mazatlán Centro which is their old town area. We had a great time checking out the gigantic market, lovely church and stumbled upon a tasty gelato shop. 
The next morning we left the marina with Silk Purse and headed to Muertos. We scheduled this to be about 36 hours. This stretch was one of our finest sails yet and we managed to sail 19 hours and motored 15. We sailed all afternoon and you’ll notice our path kind of veered off while we searched for better winds.
When I woke up for my midnight to 3am shift I came up to full three full sails and the boat speed was over 7 knots. Brad gave me the scoop on the ideal wind angles for our sail set up, showed me traffic on the radar and headed below for his nap. The boat was like a freight train through the water for my entire shift. I snuggled up with my blanket and Sydney until it was over, whew!
Views from our daylight sail…
As we got closer to Muertos we saw random splashes in either direction. Upon further investigation, these turned out to be rays jumping out of the water landing with a loud splat! So cool to watch them, and also very intriguing. We made our way into the anchorage around 3pm and settled in nicely. Jim on Silk Purse was a few hours behind and we made plans to head to shore. We’ve visited Muertos before and it holds great memories of meeting Steve from Mia, and Jim on Silk Purse.
Our stay in Muertos was a mixed bag this time around. We were waiting on a strong Northern wind to end. We had 20-30 knot winds blowing sand off the beach and onto our boats. Don’t worry, we managed to entertain ourselves just fine and pigged out on guacamole and kicked some butt at Mexican Train.
After 2 full days of hiding out, we made a run for it. No overnights this time and we left around 10am. Next stop was Caleta Lobos! We would be navigating through two channels; Ceralvo and San Lorenzo. The northern wind hadn’t broken down yet but we pushed through using our motor making 7 plus knots. The last time we went through the San Lorenzo channel it scared me enough to cry. This time was much more mellow and enjoyable.
Caleta Lobos is a fine anchorage that is usually not crowded with excellent holding ground. We dropped anchor next to a charter catamaran that turned out to be a childhood friend with his in laws and children. What are the odds of that?! 
We hiked the surrounding mountain and relished in the views they provided…
Even Sydney got to enjoy the beach again. She surely comes to life on shore! 
We decided to leave Caleta Lobos and head to Playa Balandra due to “bobos”. Which are small gnat-like bugs that were swarming outside and inside our boats. Maybe swarming is excessive, but they sure were annoying! We heard that Balandra did not have bobos so off we went! Balandra is a popular beach and anchorage due to Mushroom Rock, a rock formation that you guessed it, looks like a mushroom! For us, we were just interested in a bobo free zone! Views in Balandra…
Are ya still with me? I know this one is a doozy! The next morning we headed to La Paz to provision and get some ice cream at our favorite shop! We did all those things and managed to book a snorkel date with some whale sharks. Brad and Jim even booked a diving excursion. Both were successful and the snorkel with the whale shark was exhilarating! You are taken in by a Panga that spots the whale shark then drops you off ahead of him. Then you start looking underwater for the big shadowy figure to appear. Our experience was that you had to get out of its way to avoid being hit by his big tail! After the encounter you swim as fast as you can beside him and enjoy the views as you go. It was a fascinating experience being next to such a large creature! Here we are anxiously waiting for our first turn…
And here are a couple of stills from the GoPro footage that Brad took. We do have video on our Instagram and on my Facebook so feel free to check it out!
We had such a great time on our excursion and would highly recommend the Carey Dive Center to take you. The tours are highly regulated in an attempt to protect the whale sharks and it’s a pleasure to support their efforts.
Speaking of a great time, we had a great time with visitor Jim on Silk Purse but it was his time to go back home. In case you are wondering, we did get the bread recipe before he left! Thank you Jim, for the recipe and for being the extra push to hike and swim with the whale sharks!
Sydney is speaking again. She said she has enjoyed the long walks in Mazatlán, even the taxi ride! 
Here she is…hey it’s Sydney here. I’ve finally been treated with some respect. I’ve gone to shore, found coconuts to shred, beaches to play on, and pillows to snuggle. This isn’t so bad! But please, do NOT take me back to that dumb bird island place! Keep the tasty Mexican kibble coming, I’m going to need it for all these beach dates!!!
Well there you have it! We are glad that Sydney is in a better mood. Thanks for hanging in there and reading another post! Cheers to a happy, healthy Friday!
Before we could get underway, we had to rerun our lazy jack line that came undone. This was a simple task, but required a trip up the mast. I chose to go up snapped a few photos from the second spreaders after the repair was complete.
We left Chacala Bay in the evening so we would be sure to arrive to the island the next morning with plenty of daylight to spare. The anchorage is notorious for being rocky and swallowing anchors. It does offer a few sandy spots that are ideal to drop in, so it’s best to arrive with plenty of sunlight to see the bottom.
As we pulled up to the island we noticed just a few boats in the anchorage and a spot that looked good to drop. Unfortunately we had arrived a little early and couldn’t see down to the bottom, but fortunately we got lucky and dropped in a nice sandy patch. Yahoo! We caught up on some sleep and met up with the crew of Silk Purse. Jim has a friend also named Jim helping him crew the boat up to La Paz. It has been great getting to know the new Jim, and he came armed with a recipe to make bread. We will not let him leave until he hands over the said recipe…
The next day Jim, Brad and I took the dinghy to shore for some exploring. The last time we were here the birds were in the thick of courting season, and they had plenty to show for their flirtatious efforts. There were chicks everywhere! The blue footed boobies nest pretty much anywhere on the ground so you have to be careful and keep your eyes peeled so you don’t step too close. The mamas will lay on their nests and typically do not move as you pass by. We made our way around as best as we could and I zoomed in as far as my camera allowed. Here are some shots of the chicks we saw…
Their feathers are pure, fluffy white and we were surprised to see how large the chicks have grown. Not all boobies had chicks, but they were still beautiful as ever to photograph…
There were also the frigates that had plenty of chicks on display as well. We learned that the frigates are big bullies to the boobies on this trip, but at least their babies are kind of cute. 
We also saw some friendly lizards and iguanas. Some did their best to blend in, others just wanted a great view. I think the guy with the ocean view has his priorities right. High Five Mr. Iguana! 
Speaking of ocean views, this time we had a sunny sky to compliment the gorgeous blue waters. Check it out…
The fish camp looked picturesque as ever…
The Las Monas rocks were equally stunning and provided amazing snorkeling grounds! 
And I cant leave out the Crater Lake…still lifeless as last visit. 
This trip was certainly the boost we needed after a long stay in Banderas Bay. We felt like we were cruising, exploring, and playing again. It’s amazing what clear waters will do to your morale.
While we’ve enjoyed our time in the Bay, we are feeling the itch to get out and explore again. So with that said, here are the top 5 things we will miss about Banderas Bay…
We will certainly miss our time here and will enjoy the many memories made this season. We will have our boat tracker on so you can stalk us as we go by using this link.
We gained a new house pet, a gecko. Brad found the little guy on our anchor chain, watched him fall into the in ocean and fished him out. We rinsed him with fresh water and set him loose on the boat. We named him Fang. Brad decided it’s a boy to help balance the abundance of estrogen on board. We usually see Fang every couple of days, hiding somewhere. They say it’s blessing to have a gecko in your home, but so far I have mixed feelings about it. I’m constantly worried I will step on him, or he will jump on me and I’ll smack him on accident. But so far he’s been occupied eating plenty of bugs on board and hopefully we will see him again soon. 
We went back to Chacala for a few days just to change up our scenery from Banderas Bay. Along the way we saw dolphins and rays, but not very many whales. When we spotted the rays I was unsure what they were. All I knew is they were right in front of our boat and we were about to hit them. I ran up the bow and couldn’t believe my eyes. Groups of rays that scattered quickly as we got closer! We’ve never seen them clustered up like that at the surface. With a little research, it turns out a group of these migrating rays is called a “fever”. Chacala is one of those places that we love. It has a great vibe and there are tons of fish that visit the side of our boat all day long. 
Ok now that we got all of that playing out of the way, it was time for Perspective to have a little pampering in the yard. She needed to have the bottom of the boat power washed, sanded and new bottom paint applied. We also needed to investigate our rudder. While diving the boat Brad noticed the bottom of the rudder had some movement that it shouldn’t have had. This could only get worse the longer we waited to address it. Brad made the appointment with the yard manager for the haul out, coordinated with Vargas Marine for the work to be done and drove our boat to the marina. Brad drove straight into the sling and the haul out began. 
We had a garden of creatures growing on the rudder plate and prop while the hull was in fairly decent shape. 
Here’s a progression of the work done: we went with 1 coat of blue bottom paint and 2 coats of black. The theory behind this is once we see blue, we know it’s time for new bottom paint job to to be applied.
We had a new piece of metal fabricated for the rudder to fix the excess movement. This time they applied primer and bottom paint to prevent the garden you saw above. Fingers crossed it sticks!
All in all the boat was in the yard from Tuesday til Saturday. Once the jobs were complete it was up to Brad to drive Perspective out of the sling and anchor her solo. For the record he did a great job and didn’t even sweat it. I was not far behind on our dinghy with Sydney. 
It was SOOOOO good to be reunited with Perspective in the water! During the week we were lucky enough to stay on Silk Purse while Jim was out of town. It was a win win, we had a place to stay and he knew his boat was being taken care of. It was an adjustment going from 46ft to 30ft but let me just say Jim’s boat is fantastic! She is well built and very comfortable. Sydney was adjusted in no time and found comfy places to crash. 
Although she wasn’t into the sleepy morning selfie idea…
Sydney’s Perspective…I’m getting awfully tired of not going to the beach! My humans always have something else to do. They keep promising a Sydney beach day but I’m still waiting! Although I did get to play a lot in Chacala and I just love watching my ball! The rest of my time is spent pouting and brooding. 
You may be wondering what’s next on our agenda, besides a beach day for Sydney. Well we are planning to head North to the Sea of Cortez in the next couple of weeks. We are waiting on a good weather window and also we are hoping to have the generator fixed by then. As I type this, Brad is busy wrenching on the generator in hopes that it will be fixed for good! Once the generator is fixed we will be able to make water and fill up our tanks without bumming it off of Jim, or transporting 5 gallon jugs to and from shore. Wish us luck! As always we hope that each of you are doing great. Cheers from the crew of Perspective! 
Since we were in the marina we filled up our water tanks, vacuumed, cleaned the boat and ate plenty of ice cream. I was the overachiever and got myself a case of food poisoning while we were at it. I’ll spare you the details but buckets are a handy thing to have around. 😂
A few from our Perspective…
A few learning opportunities…Dinghy driving lessons were in session due to Brad heading to San Diego for a few days. I knew how to drive the dinghy before, but this gave me the opportunity to really learn. Or else I’d be trapped on the boat 24/7 in the anchorage. Sydney would never let me get away with that so we took our morning trips to shore and wound up at the dinghy dock for her walks. Jim on Silk Purse was a huge help on most of our trips to shore and more importantly, getting Sydney back in Perspective.
Another learning opportunity presented itself at the Marina, a suture clinic with a doctor showing us hands on how to do it. This is something I would have avoided before this trip. Knowing Brad will likely need help at some point, I figured it was my duty to learn. I awkwardly held the tools and completed my suture on a pig leg. It took lots of focus but I know I’ll be able to do it should the need arise! 
We’ve attended the local farmers market here in La Cruz. It happens each Sunday and it’s always fun to grab a bite to eat and do a little provisioning. 
The market as seen from the water…
We made our first batch of cookies on board, chocolate no bake cookies. They were tasty, but not as good as my Mom makes! 
A little slice of anchorage views…some days it’s as flat as a lake, others it’s a windy, choppy mess out here.
Sydney’s Perspective: you guys, would you believe I haven’t been allowed to exercise in 2 weeks?! I just finished up antibiotics in case I caught some disease from a tick bite. Big whoop! I did convince my humans to take me to the beach anyway…
Other than that, it’s been the consistent pouting, begging and lounging going on. I even threw in a tantrum for good measure. 
Well there you have it, some of our day to day stuff going on around here. Got any questions for us? Shoot us a comment and I’ll reply or plan a blog post around the questions. We love to hear from you! Much love from the crew of SV Perspective!
We haven’t heard the greatest things about the mooring balls but the terrain underwater drops off so quickly that it’s almost impossible to anchor there. We took our chances and hooked on to a ball with some instruction from a local. We gave him the fee to stay two nights and took him up on his recommendation for dinner at the Yelapa Yacht Club.
The next morning we had a simple breakfast on board and geared up to hike to the waterfall. The hike is about 3.5 miles each way and we were escorted by a couple of local dogs. We named them Paco, Maria and Jorge. 
The path led us out of town and up the river. Scattered along the path were houses, animals, vibrant flowers and jungle. Chris and Beth even found a cute fixer upper! 
At the end of the trail lies a very rewarding waterfall. By the end of the hike you cannot wait to jump in! Not to mention, it’s free fresh water to “bathe” in ha! We all enjoyed our time swimming, sunbathing, resting and then it was time to make our way back to town. We worked up quite the appetite!
I learned that Yelapa is a popular yoga retreat destination…
Our stay was 2 nights and it was definitely time to go when we pulled out. Yelapa tends to get a bit rolly and we had our fair share of being rocked. We definitely plan to go back to this beautiful place in the near future! Thank you to Chris and Beth for recommending and sharing such a wonderful place with us!
Enjoying lots of sunrises and sunsets…
Doing a lot of fishing and a little catching…
Sydney has been doing plenty of fetching and lounging…
Speaking of Sydney, she has some words to say…Dear readers, I had the best hike in Yelapa! 7 whole miles of things to sniff, horse poop to roll in AND eat! I made a few new friends but Paco wouldn’t leave me alone- but boy did I miss him on our way back to town. He was my bodyguard against the local dogs, would you believe I got nipped by an ankle biter?! I tried not to let it show but I enjoyed my time with Aunt Beth and Uncle Chris. I even cuddled with them! Other than that I’ve been mostly unimpressed as usual. 
We hope that each of you are happy, healthy and well! Cheers from the crew of SV Perspective! 🤗
La Cruz was a wonderful pit stop and we spent the day on the boat. We were lucky enough to hear that a whale calf and it’s family were making its way through the anchorage. We hopped on deck and enjoyed the show! The calf was breaching over and over again and it was truly a joy to see. 
The next morning we were off to Chacala. It would be a 7 hour trip that kept us on our toes! We carefully navigated through Punta De Mita and the Tres Marietta’s avoiding the shallow area in the middle. And my favorite quote of the day was “It’s your job to make sure we don’t hit any whales!” The Bay is full of whales this time of year and the last thing we want to do is hit one! We saw so many spouts, backs and tails, it was incredible and incredibly nerve wracking. Realistically we were fine because we had our motor on and the whales would hear and avoid us.
Mahi fish tacos were on our plates in about 30 minutes and oh so tasty! The next couple of hours flew and before we knew it we were in Chacala. We set our bow anchor and Jim helped us with our stern anchor via the dinghy. We caught up on our boat and headed to shore to check it out. We made it just in time for a stunning sunset. 
Chacala is a small town that actually feels like Mexico. The streets are dirt and cobblestones with small restaurants and markets on either side. In the mornings you wake to the sunlight trickling through the port lights, the sound of crashing waves on shore and the roosters singing cockadoodledoo! It is perfect here!
At night there are tons of fish that enjoy our deck lights, it is quite a site to see!
Sydney’s Perspective: Finally we are at a place that has a beach for me to play and poop on! I even have a new trick, peeing in the water. It makes my humans laugh every time! Oh and my humans caught me a giant fish that I could care less about until they are hand feeding me the scraps. Things are finally looking up, although I do occasionally miss the ice cream. 
We plan on being in Chacala for a few days and heard there is a hiking trail with ancient petroglyphs. We also have plans to move to a new anchorage that is the most visually stunning place I’ve seen so far, and don’t worry, it has a beach for Sydney too.
We stopped at a restaurant called Casa Traditional which served excellent food and margaritas. Wow, was it tasty and the service was wonderful.
The time certainly flew with the Harley crew, but that means we had a great time together. I know we will cherish the time spent and are very thankful they came all this way to spend Christmas with us!
Punta Mita, so far…
Sydney’s Perspective…things have been mediocre these past few weeks. The resort doesn’t allow dogs, who do they think they are?! But you know what, I broke the rules and showed up on NYE, neener neener! I’ve been getting plenty of walks, a few bites of ice cream and just a smidgeon of beach time. You know that’s not my order of preference. I shall punish my humans with my death glares and pouty faces. Maybe that will teach them! 
The crocodile hunt was a family event, with Sydney on board. We had her tied into the dinghy so she was forced to behave and stay in the boat. Safety first! Both Brad and I were scanning the shores like hawks and we finally had our first encounter. Bummer for us, it was over before it really began. But it was enough to spark our excitement to keep looking. Brad spotted the next two, they were 2 little guys sun bathing on a concrete slab. Very cute!
Here are the creepy crabs!
Brad was steering the dinghy and it became somewhat like a video game. He was dealing with currents, obstacles, and trying not to run aground in the shallow areas. He did a great job and nobody got their eye poked out by low lying sticks. What more could you ask for?! By the time our trip up and down the estuary was over, we counted 9 crocodiles or cocodrilos as they call them here in Nuevo Vallarta. Each of them were very exciting and tricky to catch on camera as they were quick to scurry into the water once they saw us. 
Estuary views…
We are amazed that 50 days have happened in the blink of an eye and are both afraid our time on this adventure is going to zoom past us before we know it. Can’t wait to see what the next 50 days has in store for us, and can’t wait to share it with all of you!
As you look down the beach is covered in little coral pieces.
As you look forward there are fishing shacks and nets along the shore. We made our way to a trail that lead to an abandoned research facility. It was huge and unfinished, which is a bummer! We saw plenty of iguanas along the path, lizards, and of course birds!
This part of the Island is saturated with frigate birds and their nests. In the trees you’ll find females laying on their nests, juveniles hanging out in the branches and males with their throats puffed out for all to see that they are ready for love. I was so surprised to see that the frigates are not territorial and did not seem to mind humans coming so close. 
We back tracked and headed to the fishing huts to find the start of the next trail. This one would lead us to Lago Crater. As we made our way up the path we found plenty of holes in the ground which belonged to crabs. I felt creeped out, Brad was fascinated! One was a little irked as it came out to say hello. It reminded me of the crabs you see in cartoons. He came out with arms spread wide and ready to pinch!
The paths along the island are well maintained and marked which makes it easy to navigate. As you walk the path your ears are inundated with bird noises- it was pretty cool to stop and just listen. We went up a steep hill and came down the other side to the crater. It’s full of stagnant, rain water and from what we could tell, no wildlife present in the lake.
We followed the path further and were halted to a stop when we both heard a whistling noise. Was a researcher trying to get our attention? Nope, it was a blue footed boobie talking. We kept going down the path that ended at the ocean cliff. There were boobies everywhere! They were so cute with their bright blue feet as they waddled around. We saw a couple of the mamas laying on their nests while most of them were in the thick of courting season. A pair will do a little dance and I suppose the rest is history if the partner likes the dance moves. I spent way too much time geeking out with the camera and Brad caught some great footage with the iPhone. 
Perspective on anchor…
The gorgeous cliff views…
We peeled ourselves away and walked back to the fishing huts and decided to do another path that leads to a lighthouse on top of the hill. The hike was very steep, but not too far so it was manageable. We enjoyed the burn going up because we had been restless on the passage coming down. We needed the exercise! As we climbed higher and higher the views got better and better. 
At the top there were more boobies. We walked around while taking in the amazing views below us and made our way back down. 
Brad found one last area to explore, this was my least favorite. It was low tide and a portion of rocks were exposed. As we climbed up the rocks and peered down, we saw tons of crabs scurrying away! They reminded me of spiders! The crabs were a shiny black and a few were red. I’ve never seen black crabs before. Also located on this stretch of rocks are brown footed boobies. It was interesting that each bird was segregated to their own sections of the island.
This was by far my favorite place of the trip making any uneasy parts of the passage completely worth it. It’s times like this that need to be savored because there will be other tough times coming up.
