My crew slept in. They were sleep deprived when they first flew to this time zone two hours ahead of home. And we had had a busy time the previous two days before disrupting everyone’s normal sleep with an overnight watch schedule.

After a leisurely breakfast we decided to head off to Islas Tortugas and see if we could do some snorkeling. Along the way, we spotted something shiny in the water ahead, wet and glistening in the sun. When we passed, we realized that it was two turtles in the act of having sex (pictured). We joked about how they had gone so far out from land to find some privacy and then we were there photographing the “turtle porn”.

We headed around the rocky southeastern tip of the Tortugas and into the lee of these islands protected from the southerly ocean swell. There was a good spot to anchor away from the popular beach where a lot of day boats had disgorged tourists. We all spent some time in the water looking at brightly colored fish. Jane found some “treasures”on the beach: worn shells, a crystal rock, and a strange fruit from a tree she wanted to try and identify.

Then we raised the anchor and ran a narrow channel northward. The Navionics electronic chart had conveniently placed way points to mark the channel. But I found myself wishing that I had running depth data as I passed through. We worked our way around the west end of Isla Cedros and anchored in the space between Cedros and Isla Jesusita. Our anchorage was surrounded by jungle vegetation, a tropical forest. We could see a few dwellings, but not many. A panga fished nearby for a while and then left.

However, the bay was alive with activity. There was a patch of disturbed, roiling water. Pelicans were diving on these small fish. Possibly they were brought to the surface by larger fish who circled and gathered the school into a tighter formation. The pelicans continued to fish until dusk fell and we could no longer see them. As we dined outside under our solar powered lights, we could still occasionally hear them hit the water as they dove on fish.