Well we are back in La Crux....We set off for a few days to explore the north entrance of Banderas Bay - a place called Punta de Mita. It was a fun time - we hung out at the beach one day and on the second day we explored some some islands called Tres Marietas. It is a national park so the only place you can step ashore is on the beach and there is only one...and it takes a bit of determination to land a dinghy on it. The surge is quite strong and there are lots of rocks, but Craig is now well practised at timing our landings, so it was no problem! The view from the island with its tunnels and caves...rock outcroppings...and foamy waves was absolutely breathtaking...unfortunately we forgot the camera on Journey...sorry!!

On the return from Punta de Mita, we decided we'd try our luck at fishing again...which had run dry in recent trips. We must have gone through a school of fish as we caught two at the same time. Craig and I each had a rod that we were reeling in...we were all frantic trying to get the boys to grab the net etc and was further chaotic when they criss-crossed and our lines were tangled!! We landed two Bonitos that were very yummy. We breaded them and fried them up that night and then the next day invited a dock neighbor over for dinner and had the rest in fish tacos....yummy!!

While we were on Isla Isabella we acquired some new pets...Jordan and Marcus found tons of hermit crabs. Since they are both so desperate to have another pet, we (reluctantly) agreed to let them keep a few hermit crabs on Journey...in the cockpit only...definitely not inside!!

We had 5 of them...Jordan's were: Darkstripe, Crazy and Snow. Marcus' were: Fireball and Whitestripe. The one featured on the blog is Fireball...the biggest of the bunch. Jordan and Marcus took great care of them...feeding them bits of apple and celery. They would even hand feed them as they felt more confident they were getting the food they needed. (p.s. if you are curious about their names, Jordan is very 'into' the Warriors book series that features various cat clans with similar names).

Unfortunately, they didn't survive our trip in Guadalajara, so you can imagine the boys were crushed at the loss.

Alas, we are now back to a crew of 4 on the boat....

We had hoped to be on route further south by now, but there are large ocean swells due to a storm off California...we hope to leave on Tuesday.

We hope all is well with you...lots of love Mel