There is a mysterious magnetic force which holds boats in ports; it seems that no matter what the plan is, there's always something essential that resists resolution; for us it was propane. Propane fuels our stove, oven and BBQ; we carry two small 11 lb. bottles and one will last us about a month. We started working on getting our empty refilled last week. After several days of delays by El Cid it ultimately reappeared with the explanation that it had a bad valve and couldn't be filled. After some thought the Captain concluded that the problem was due to the fact our tanks are designed to be used in the horizontal position, not the typical vertical. The propane yard is in very rural Mazatlan, about 100 pesos from El Cid, and after trying several methods by several people the valve was pronounced bad and the tank carried off to the back yard where it was chained to a frame and a 5' long wrench applied to wring off the valve under the supervision of three propane technicians and the cab driver. Meanwhile, the Captain is in a state of high anxiety; will this new valve will work with the boat fitting, and have we just defeated the horizontal capability? Now the propane goes in easily, pesos spread around to the team, and back to El Cid where it works great.

We slid out of the marina about 4pm, waving goodbye to the pools, bikinis, margaritas, and friends on the dock. A nice reach/run with winds to 18 knots until midnight when the wind died and diesel took over. Anchor down at Isla Isabella at 7 am, breakfast, dingy mobilization (don't ask how many cases of wine it was under) and the shore party embarked.

Los pescaderos on Isla Isabella seemed quite genial, more amused than annoyed at our daytripping through their workplace. We had a brief reminder that English is not the universal language, which provided a great opportunity to practice reading Spanish - only one of us didn't understand what "no molesta la fauna" meant but he does now.. Continued our adventure up the mountain, slid back down without any broken bones and finished up back at the mothership with hands in for a refreshing dip. All this before lunch. Now it's siesta time.

Safety tip: Never, under any circumstances, grab an iguana. Should you be so foolish, you will soon have blood spewing from numerous newly-created orifices. It turns out that they have very sharp claws. Other then this bit of foolishness, the shore party saw lots of boobies (blue-footed and brown), frigate birds, tropicbirds, pelicans, Heerman's gulls, and bird poop. This is one interesting island!