Isla Isabela revisited

 It is almost exactly a year since we were last in Isla Isabela. This time we motored most of the way but arrived just before dawn having left Mazatlan at dusk on a high tide. Given the tricky anchoring we furled the sails and drifted until there was sufficient light. As we rounded the south eastern end of the island we spotted two other boats in the anchorage, one of which was Kevin on Andante, who we met in this exact spot last year!

We spent a relaxing 4 days on the island and met another cruising family on Shawnigan, with the enchanting 2 year old Taj who paddled solo on his own Kayak to see us, not that he could speak yet at that age but he was quite the socialite. Katya made friends with their two daughters Nima and Alamee. Other boats arrived and departed the anchorage and eventually we departed at 3am with the winds howling. We left at 3 am for two reasons, one to make sure we rounded The headland to Banderas bay in daylight and second we wanted to make the most of the wind that was blowing. I am always a little tense when leaving or entering an anchorage at night, having to rely solely on our instruments to navigate our way around the obstacles. It's good when you have a full moon as the light, even a small amount makes it so much easier. 

We had a great sail through the night with 15-20 knots on the beam and we made great time to the entrance of Banderas bay where we beat our way up-wind to La Cruz before where we dropped the anchor in the familiar spot just before a wonderful heavy downpour started. Welcome back!