Isla Isabelita

Blue footed boobies.  They’re real!

We anchored on the east side of Isla Isabel but a little bit south of the ‘recommended’ position near Los Monos rocks. There were already seven boats in the very small anchorage. The anchor dragged across the rocky bottom and then snagged in a crevasse. Hmm. Isabel is notorious for eating anchors. We might become the next victim.

Regardless of the future anchor challenge we launched the dinghy and went to land on the south shore. After securing our dingy and worked our way down our first nature trail in search of the blue-footed boobies.  We trudged down roughly maintained trails under clouds of frigate birds. Instead of finding boobies we ran into to sailing compadres Ken & Monica from s/v Dulcinea. No boobies seen but running into fellow explorers was great end of the first hike.

We did two other hikes with the Dulcinea crew. First hike was to a crater lake and then to the other side of the island where our boat was anchored. More clouds of frigate birds overhead, and hundres more sitting in trees either trying to attract mates or already roosting on a nest of a single egg.

As we approached the end of the trail we heard a different bird call – something not frigate. And there they were – the infamous boobies

Our third hike was to the north – this is a very small island. We had hundreds more frigates canvassing the skies and filling the bushes and treetops.

Having seen all four prints of the compass we returned to the boat to deal with the anchor.  A second dive to explore the options lead to a lucky discovery.  The anchor was not wedge because the chain had wrapped across a small rock.  There was hope.  If we could unwrap from the rock and pull the anchor before it had a chance to set we could keep our gear and anchor again in the future.  The alternative was to cut the anchor free from the boat and then maybe try to retrieve it later…  As luck would have it we set a plan and executed flawlessly.  We were free and on our way with our anchor and pride still attached.  Just a fourteen-hour overnight sail to Banderas.