February 26, 2015 - Santiago Bay and "a three hour tour"

Today we planned to motor back to Carrizal where we had snorkeled last week.  It is on our route back north and the water was so clear that we wanted to return for another look at the reef, and the beautiful fish that call it home.  After lunch we pulled anchor and left our very roomy anchorage in Santiago Bay.  The winds were calm and the water was quite smooth.

Kevin helps Kathy make peanut butter cookies this morning.
Yummy!!!!  BTW-only cool time of the day!

As soon as we rounded Punta Juluapan we encountered strong winds and seas.  We slogged along for about 30 minutes until we reached Ensenada Carrizal.  Unlike our previous stop there, where there were just a couple of boats, we found the bay filled with three times as many boats.  This is a large number of boats for a small bay.  To make matters worse, the wind was blowing in the mid 20's and the ocean swell a bit larger than a week ago.  It was a completely different place this time around, and it didn't seem very appealing today.

We circled the anchorage looking for a decent spot to drop the anchor, but the boats were a bit too tightly packed for comfort, and the few available locations were a little deeper than desired.  We talked to our friends on sv Zoe B who anchored there yesterday (and still there today) and they informed us that the snorkeling wasn't very good this time.  The water had been churned up by the wind and waves and visibility was terrible now.

The water starts to get rougher in the 25 knot winds.

After a few minutes of discussion we decided to head north to Barra Navidad, but as soon as we left Ensenada Carrizal and began our trip to Barra, the sea conditions worsened.  Not wanting to bash our way through the waves for the next 3-4 hours we decided to just turn around and head back to the calm, and uncrowded anchorage of Santiago.  It was a smooth ride back to Santiago since we were travelling with the wind and waves.  There were several Booby's following us and diving for fish close to our boat as we neared Santiago.  We were back in about an hour and re-anchored soon after.  Ah, it will be nice to sleep tonight not having to worry about being anchored close to a rocky shoreline, and so close to other boats.  Also, Santiago has far less swell, no wind waves, and we are hundreds of yards from the next boat (compared to perhaps 40-50 yards in Carrizal).  It was a good decision.

A Booby ready to dive into the water for a quick snack.  They are fast birds
and very slender.  They can dive surprisingly deep and are very fun to watch.

Here's a good look at a Mexican Booby in flight.

Unlike the crew on the SS Minnow, our 3-hour tour ended well, with no drama, even though we made no forward progress at all today.