Dave and Stella go pelagic

We have been seeing the odd turtle all trip, even bonked one and span it a bit coming down, but now we were seeing more turtles than whales, a dozen or so each day. We put in at Chamela for the night but didn't stop or go ashore, then onto Ipala (the town of Texuanmixtle) to anchor for dinner and get some sleep before tackling Cabo Corrientes in the early hours. We rowed ashore to eat and on the way saw a turtle caught up in the fish traps - unlucky number 13 of the day. We freed one flipper and his neck before realising this rope had been tied delliberately. Being in full view of the village and not really knowing if they are protected in Mexico, and not being able to free the other flipper without going back to the boat for a knife, we gave up, feeling rather pathetic. It was quite an experience holding up one flipper while Stella tackled the rope on the other one. We think it was either a green or a hawksbill turtle. We found out later that turtles are protected in Mexico but there is a lot of "hunting" (not quite the right term for scooping one of these trusting creatures up in a net) - it seems the rescue sanctuaries are maintaining the poachers in stock. It cast a pall over the evening.
We left at 4am and enjoyed a quiet passage round the Cape, picking up a stray kayak on the way - no occupants but having gone over to it we decided to put it on deck.