The Great Shakedown Cruise

December 23rd

We made good time after departing San Blas at 0730, arriving and dropping anchor in Chalaca Bay at 1115. Although we only stayed here for one day, we made the most of it right from the get-go. Right after we'd anchored, a gentleman swam up to the boat from the beach. Introduced himself, Tom, and we traded information via the four W's.

We then dropped the dinghy into the water, climbed in and tied up at the "dinghy dock", which was, in fact a panga pier. We attempted to check in with the Port Captain, but found out he's off for the weekend, and if we were still here on Monday, we could check in then... for such a small place, there were MANY photo opportunities, and we are happy to share them with you (after culling about half of all photos taken). They are captioned when appropriate, but basically we visited a very small beach town with a small bay out front...

Yup, we had a really good day. We'll catch a few winks and head for La Cruz tomorrow....

December 20th

After having our hull cleaned and water tanks topped off this morning, we finally pulled out of our slip in Mazatlan at about 1420 to take advantage of a one-hour break from ongoing dredging operations in the entrance channel. With a new addition to our crew, namely son Steven, we pointed out of the harbor and towards the south for an overnight cruise to Isla Isabel, the so-called Galapagos of Mexico.

December 21st

Unfortunately, we arrived a bit too early the next day (0530), so we had to just drift about until the sun came up and we could see well enough to enter the southern anchorage. More misfortune befell us as, upon entering, we saw that the anchorage was full. We waited an hour to see if anyone was preparing to depart, but nobody was a likely candidate. So we took some photos and pointed the bow of Shakedown south once again and headed toward San Blas.

Getting out of Mazatlan through the narrow entrance

First sighting of Isla Isabel

It was full at the "Inn" as both good spots were occupied

Some of the birds in flight

Nice rock formations and more birds

More of the Island

Heading towards San Blas area

Based on what we've heard and read in the guide books about the wealth of biting flying bugs, we decided to forgo the estuary anchorage near town and head for Ensenada de Matanchen, which was only about 3.5 miles south of the San Blas entrance. We found this to be a really nice anchorage in what seemed to be the middle of the bay.