Turtle Release



An Olive Ridley Hatchling

The Box of Hatchlings

Biologist Passing Out the Hatchlings

Hatchlings Heading for the Sea

Today we had the unique opportunity to participate in the release of baby sea turtles at a local beach near Marina El Cid in Mazatlan.  Conservation programs help protect and save the endangered Olive Ridley Sea Turtles along the west coast of Mexico.  Thanks to city, state, and federal agencies as well as private organizations, the Olive Ridley has made a comeback.  Several hotel and marina resorts, including Marina El Cid, help in this effort by inviting guests to learn more about preservation practices.  Our tour from Marina El Cid included a visit to the Mazatlan Aquarium who sponsor a program to protect these precious turtles.  The Aquarium partners with local resorts so tourists can participate in the release of the hatchlings.  We got to see an adult Olive Ridley Turtle and the aquarium and saw various fish, coral, and other creatures of the sea.  The Mazatlan Aquarium includes a small zoo with prehistoric creatures like frogs, toads, snakes, crocodiles, and ostrich.  Frogs and Turtles are actually the last living representatives of the “Jurassic Period” and scientists can trace these creatures to the days of the dinosaurs!  Every summer Olive Ridley Turtles return to their native beaches to lay their eggs, venturing hundreds of miles before arriving at their birth place.  The nesting season takes place June through November; females lay about a hundred eggs and may nest up to three times a year.  The eggs incubate for approximately 55 days before they hatch.  After our tour of the aquarium, we were taken to a beach near Marina El Cid to release the hatchlings.  Hatchlings are released at dusk so they can follow the light of the setting sun; it is also believed that they can hear the sound of the ocean.  The aquarium's resident biologist gave each of us a hatchling and asked that we name our baby turtle before placing it about 20 feet from the ocean surf.  We watched as the hatchlings slowly made their way over the sand heading towards the sea.  As the surf rolled into shore, the waves washed over the turtles, sometimes flipping them on their backs and washing them up on the beach from wince they had started.  They struggled to flip themselves over and then once again began heading towards the sea.  It reminded us of the 1966 film and song entitled “Born Free,” a story about survival in the wild.  Hatchlings are dark gray in color and appear black when wet.  As they grow older, they turn an olive green for which they are best known.  Our babies, which we named Veloz and Rodriguez, will feed on algae, and when older feed on jellyfish, sea urchins, shrimp, crabs, rock lobsters, and worms.  The species Lepidochelys olivacea or Olive Ridley are medium sized turtles with a shell length of about 2 feet and weigh between 80 and 100 pounds.  Known predators of the Olive Ridley include raccoons, feral dogs, birds, the ghost crab, the sunbeam snake, oceanic fishes, sharks, and crocodiles.  Additional threats come from boat collisions, incidental takes by fishing nets, and decimated nests on beaches take a significant toll.  Turtle preservation programs have helped increase the turtle population by harvesting eggs and keeping them safe at the lab covered in their native sand.  It's fascinating to learn that eggs incubated at temperatures of 31-32 degrees Celsius will produce only females; eggs incubated at 28 degrees Celsius or less produce only males; and incubation temperatures of 29-30 degrees will produce a mixed sex clutch.  After our hatchlings had safely reached the sea, we returned to Marina El Cid where participants enjoyed dinner at the resort’s restaurant.  We had a great time with the group which consisted of Mexican, Canadian, and U.S. tourists in addition to our guide, Julio.  Julio presented everyone with a certificate, which included the chosen name for each turtle.  We certainly hope our little hatchlings Veloz and Rodriguez overcome the 10-15 percent chance of survival and live to the ripe old age of 50 years.


Rodriguez On His Way




Such a Cute Turtle Face

Adult Olive Ridley Turtle

Cold Spell!

Mazatlan Area - Marina to the north, Isla de la Piedra anchorage south

Ruben with the Finished Product

We left the bird sanctuary of Isla Isabela on Sunday, February 17^th at 2pm and arrived in Mazatlan the following morning at 2am.  Having arrived in the dark, we motored to Stone Island anchorage (Isla de la Piedra), dropped the hook and got some sleep.  After a leisurely breakfast we headed for our assigned boat slip at Marina El Cid and new home for the next week or two.  The temperatures in Mazatlan were perfect - high 70’s to low 80’s.  Recently, however, temperatures have dropped to 69 degrees Fahrenheit in the morning with a high of only 75 degrees in the afternoon, burr!!  We felt so cold, the long-sleeved shirts, fleece jackets, and long pants came out of the closet.  Yes, we are in big trouble and may find it difficult to adjust to the “extreme cold temperatures” of the north country.  We no longer question why children are wearing sweaters to school and can now relate to comments from locals about the freezing temperatures of the North.  Speaking of locals, while in Mazatlan we engaged the services of an upholsterer to re-cover the cushions in our salon.  Upholsterer Ruben came to the boat and showed us several fabric samples; after making our choice, he went off to place the order after taking our down payment.  When the fabric arrived he came back to pick up our cushions - yes, he now had our money and our cushions!  Not to worry, he returned in four days with the cushions beautifully upholstered; we were pleasantly surprised and glad to have had the work done in Mexico at a much more reasonable price than in the States.  Ruben seemed to know what he was doing from the start, we asked him how he had come to learn the business.  He said his father had been an upholsterer and his two brothers are also in the upholstery business.

Isla Isabela, More than Boobies



Isla Isabela

Lago Crater

Male Frigate-bird

Female Frigate-bird

Young Frigate-bird in Flight

Isla Isabela is a birdwatcher’s paradise offering many species in addition to the ever present population of boobies.  The island is literally covered with birds.  One of the cruising guidebooks suggests looking for the flocks of circling birds to find this incorrectly charted Island.  In addition to the variety of boobies, the island is also home to Great Frigate-birds, Magnificent Frigate-birds, Sooty Terns, Brown Noddies, and Heermann’s Gulls.  It seemed eerie walking across the island while so many birds stared down at us from every tree-top and frigate-birds flew about overhead – it was as if we were in a scene from Jurassic Park.  The island is actually a result of prehistoric volcanic activity, and the caldera of this extinct volcano is located in the middle of the island.  The caldera has since filled with water and is called Lago Crater.  Frigates, which are related to the Pelican, look rather prehistoric.  They are a long-winged, fork-tailed bird with a hooked bill.  Interestingly, frigates can’t walk very well and do not swim, so are essentially aerial creatures.  Having the largest wingspan (85 inches) to body weight ratio of any bird, they are able to stay aloft for more than a week, landing only to roost or breed.  The only other bird known to spend days and nights on the wing is the Common Swift.  Male frigates are all-black and have a scarlet throat pouch (gular pouch) that is inflated like a balloon during the breeding season to attract a mate.  Females are black, but have a white breast and a blue eye-ring, while immature birds have a white head and white under-parts.  Nests are constructed in low trees and a single egg is laid each breeding season.  Both parents take turns feeding for the first three months, after which the mother feeds the young for another eight months.  Since it takes so long to rear a chick, frigate-birds do not breed every year.  It is typical to see juveniles as big as their parents waiting to be fed.  When youngsters sit waiting for endless hours in the hot sun, they assume an energy-efficient posture - their head hangs down and they sit so still that they appear to be dead.  When the parent returns, however, they wake up and the hungry juvenile plunges its head down the parent’s throat and feeds.  Because frigates produce very little oil, they are unable to land or take off from the water so their food source is caught in flight, snatching prey from the beach or ocean surface with their long, hooked bills.  Sometimes frigates rob chicks from other seabirds, earning the nickname, Man of War birds.  We also saw Brown Pelicans and Heermann’s Gulls strutting along the beach.  Adult Heermann’s Gulls have a medium gray body and a red bill with a black tip.  In the breeding season the head is white and in non-breeding season the plumage is a dusky gray.  After breeding, the bird colonies disperse to central California and south as far as Guatemala, and less commonly north as far as British Columbia.  Heermann’s Gulls sometimes pirate prey from other seabirds, particularly Brown Pelicans with whom they keep company.  We also enjoyed seeing the numerous iguanas and lizards on the island, scurrying over rocks and hiding in the underbrush.  Visiting Isla Isabela is a wonderful stop for boaters, but the island is exposed to wind and ocean swell with a rocky irregular bottom that tends to "eat" anchors.  It has been suggested that boaters secure a rope to the boat end of the anchor chain so it can quickly be cut loose in case of bad weather or in case the anchor becomes lodged in the rocks. 

 



Male Frigate-bird looking for attention

A Serious Male Contender with a Female and Younger Frigate-bird

Juvenile Waiting to be Fed

Baby Frigate-bird

Heermann's Gulls

The Cute Heermann's Gull

A Camouflaged Iguana

Galapagos Island of Boobies




Boobies high above Got D' Fever

Blue-footed Booby

Pretty Blue Feet

Brown Booby

Brown Booby

Yellow-Green Feet of the Brown Booby

Booby in Flight

From Chacala we headed west off the mainland coast for the island of Isabela located 40 miles northwest of San Blas.  This unique island (a national park and world heritage site) is referred to as the “Galapagos of Mexico” due to its isolation and the large number of bird species including a variety of boobies like the blue-footed booby and the brown booby.  The name booby comes from the Spanish term bobo which means stupid, fool, or clown.  Being seabirds, boobies are rather clumsy on land and are regarded as foolish for their apparent fearlessness of humans.  After anchoring for the night, we took the dinghy ashore the next morning and hiked to some cliffs overlooking the sea, a favorite location for nesting boobies.  We were delighted to find blue, yellow, and green-footed boobies as well as young goslings.  One mother boobie even proudly revealed her eggs for us to view!  Boobies nest on small divots in the ground created as part of a larger colony.  Both males and females take turns incubating the eggs, using their feet to keep the eggs warm.  The incubation period is 41-45 days with a nest of 1-3 eggs; chicks must be kept warm up to a month old.  Blue-footed boobies hunt for fish to feed their young by diving from a height of 33-100 feet into the sea and pursue their prey underwater.  The Blue-footed booby has permanently closed nostrils made for diving, necessitating breathing through the corners of their mouths.  Facial air sacs under their skin cushion the impact when hitting the water around 60 mph and protect the brain from the enormous pressure when swimming to depths of up to 82 feet.  Boobies are comical characters and seem to have a human-like expression.  During mating season, the males put on a dance by raising and strutting their colorful feet in front of the females.  Perhaps not too different from human males honking their car horns to get females to look at them.  The dance also includes “sky-pointing,” which involves the male pointing his head and bill up to the sky, while keeping the wings and tail raised.  Females tend to choose males with brighter feet since the brightness decreases with age and lower fertility.  It is also believed that food-deprivation can cause a decrease in foot brightness.  After our hike along the ridge and back through the sparse forest, we motored the dinghy around the island.  From the dinghy we could see brightly colored fish through the clear turquoise water and also saw birds nesting in crevices along the cliff faces.



Nesting Booby with Feathers Fluffed



Brown Booby checking her Eggs



A Family of Boobies



Baby Testing His Wings

Picture Perfect



Picturesque Chacala

A Pelican Visitor

Beautiful Beach and Coconut Palms at Chacala

We departed Nuevo Vallarta on February 14^th in Bandares Bay and anchored for the night behind Punta Mita on the north end of the bay.  We planned to motor for 6 hours the following day to the small village and picturesque bay of Chacala.  We arrived at Chacala in the early evening with the sun shining brightly on the beautiful beach and colorful houses and beach palapas; coconut palms lined the beach and orchards could be seen along the flanks of a collapsed volcano - a beautiful tropical setting one might dream about.  This small cove was once home to the indigenous people of the Texcoxquin who lived here for thousands of years.  The Spanish arrived in 1524 and later the Portuguese explorer Sebastian Rodriguez-Cermeno sailing from Manila, stopped here in 1596.  The notable Jesuit Father Eusebius Francesco Kuhn and his party departed from Chacala on his expedition to Alta California in 1683.  Chacala remained a small fishing village and coconut plantation for many years.  In more recent times, Chacala has become a lovely retreat for vacationers looking for a place off the beaten path.  During the 1980’s, Doctor Laura del Valle transformed the town into a distinctive destination.  She built simple accommodations to house visiting American medical students volunteering at the local health clinic, which she had founded to serve the Mexican poor.  Today the clinic serves as a Retreat & Wellness Center and still supports a variety of non-profit projects for local communities, including the neighboring impoverished farming town of Las Varas.  Today, Chacala has a population of about 300 permanent residents and remains a picturesque stop.  There are some challenges for boaters, however.  The small cove is open to ocean swell so it’s one of those rolling anchorages, and access into town is by dinghy or kayak only so a wet landing is to be expected.



Village and Beach Palapas - Chacala

Orchards On the Hillsides

Gorgeous Sunset at Chacala

A Warm Glow at Chacala

Art Walk

 




Malecon - Puerto Vallarta

"The Ladder"



Puerto Vallarta at Night

We rode the bus into Puerto Vallarta for a day in the city and enjoyed a leisurely walk along the malecon.  The numerous sculptures and benches along the waterfront make for a fun and relaxing outing.  We couldn’t resist taking in the beautiful scenery and sitting on many of the bronze sculptures designed for that interactive tactile experience.  A favorite with locals and visitors alike is “the ladder,” tempting all who pass by to climb to the top!  We felt like locals enjoying the simple pleasure of life on this quiet weekday without the cruise ships in town.  We also hiked up the hill to our favorite tapas restaurant for an early lunch and discussed our plans for heading north, so many pretty coves and islands yet to discover.



"The Chairs"

"The Couple"

Merman and Mermaid

Gods of Earth, Sea, and Sky



Reaching to the Heavens

Keep It Cool

The Genset

Genset Water Pump - Impeller and Cap Removed

Water Pump for Starboard Engine

Dismantled Water Pump

Making sure that engines continue to be cooled while running is an important part of pre-emptive maintenance.  Today Leonard worked on the Genset, he replaced a leaking hose, changed the zinc, and replaced the water pump impeller which pumps raw water for cooling the Genset.  He also rebuilt the water pump on the starboard engine which was weeping a small amount of raw water.  The lengthy process of rebuilding the water pump involves changing the bearings, putting in new seals, and sanding or polishing the inside of the pump to extend the life expectancy of the newly inserted impeller.  Like the Genset, the main engines are cooled by raw water.  A vital part of the water pump is the impeller, a rubber device with vanes that compress at a narrow point in the housing, spinning and draining out the water.  I am happy to report that our mid-trip maintenance check list is completed and we can now begin the long journey northward.

Impeller

Water Pump Removed from Starboard Engine