Isla Isabel: A Gem in a Rockpile

We timed our 310 nm crossing of the Sea of Cortez to arrive at the remote Isla Isabel during daylight and during a calm period, as it is a fair-weather anchorage only.  To call it an anchorage is an over-statement.  Not only is there poor holding, there is minimal actual holding and instead a pile of boulders surrounding the island.  Teasing patches of sand cover hardpan rock.  The goal is to find a place to put down your anchor with tons of chain to hold your place during calm weather with minimal winds.  Also, you want to minimize line that is out, as it can abrade or get caught on the boulders.  And finally, it is important to add a “trip line” attached to the anchor that goes up to a buoy on the surface, used to retrieve your anchor backwards should it become wedged in rocks.  We anchored on the east side of the island near our friends on SV Fern, a family of three that we met four years ago in Alaska waters and now meet up with here to buddy-boat for a few weeks.  So, why go through all this anchoring headache to go here?

Isla Isabel is a true gem, an isolated volcanic island lying 18 miles off mainland Mexico known as the “Mexican Galapagos” with a huge number of iguanas and nesting birds, namely frigates and blue and brown-footed boobies.  One can walk the trails past Lago Crater (the water-filled caldera), approaching the wildlife closely and they simply look at you and go about their business.  The iguanas cross the path and you have to be mindful not to step on them, while looking up at the fluffy white frigate chicks staring down at you. 

The male frigates have inflatable red-colored throat pouches called gular pouches, which they inflate to attract females during the mating season. The gular sac is, perhaps, the most striking frigatebird feature, including the noise that emanates from them. 

The blue-footed boobies did their mating dances, known for their courtship behaviors, where males dance very specific movements to attract females.  Courtship displays of males that we saw included stretching their neck and pointing their bill skyward.  Paired birds also presented each other with pebbles or sticks, parading slowly forward with prominent display of feet. Females sat on nests on the ground and we even sat witness to newly born babies in their nests.  It was all together mind-blowing. 

I can see why this was deemed a national park in 1981 and a World Heritage Site in 2003, resulting in protection on both a national and international level.

The first afternoon, Chris didn’t feel comfortable leaving our precariously anchored Terikah, but the kids and I couldn’t stay away from the call of the island.  The next day, as it seemed the boat was staying put, he joined the excursion.  Back at the boat, we realized that our anchor chain was definitely wrapped around a boulder and holding us in place, as the trip line buoy was at a 90 degree angle to our boat, right outside my galley window (it should have been out in front of our boat!).  With a bit of trepidation the next morning (and some sleep-robbing rumination), we pulled our anchor, feeling a distinct “clunk” and stop when we got to the boulder.  However, we gave it some time to even out and we were able to loosen the chain and pull the anchor; success!  On our way with SV Fern to the mainland, next destination Chacala.