Back in La Cruz: Whales

We are back in La Cruz, Banderas Bay. We had an easy overnight sail from Bahia Chamela. There wasn’t much wind in the forecast, but we made the most of what there was and actually sailed most of the way. We had to use the engine for a few hours during the night but found we could sail in as little as 5-6 kts of breeze. We didn’t sail fast but that’s okay.

I don’t mind sailing slowly. Well, I’m learning to not mind sailing slowly. What I don’t like is when the sails and rigging start banging. This happens when there isn’t enough wind in the sails to counteract the motion of the waves and swell. A month or so ago I was talking with the crew of SV Gaia. They have been cruising for years. They have spent over 25 years between Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska and Canada’s west coast. They don’t like to motor. I asked them how they deal with light winds and the banging. Their response was that if the wind drops and things start to bang, they lower the sails and go for a swim. We haven’t tried this yet, but we are getting better at sailing slowly.

We were lucky to see some whales in the distance as we left Bahia Chamela. Then, shortly before dark, we were visited by a large group of dolphins. Sometimes when we encounter dolphins they stay with the boat for a while and swim alongside or cross back and forth just in front of the bow. These dolphins didn’t stay long. We were heading north and they were heading south. Several of them did divert over our way to check us out. None of them stayed around long but we did see several surfing down the waves and one or two rocketing straight up into the air reaching a couple of meters above the water.

Mother nature’s show continued as we neared the La Cruz anchorage. Two humpback whales surfaced very close to the boat. We cut the engine and watched as they surfaced and breached several times. We drifted and enjoyed the show for ten or fifteen minutes until they eventually moved along passed us.

Now that we’re in La Cruz we’ll complete a few boat jobs and do our final preparations for our jump across to the Marquesas.