The Living Sea
03 December 2013 | Pacific Ocean enroute to Puerto Vallarta
Sunny, light winds
With a promise to return to Mazatlan to get better acquainted with this delightful city, with left in the morning, loudly saluted by Scott & Connie on Traveler who blasted horns to announce our departure. We would have liked to explore more of the Colonial parts of Mazatlan, but feel pressured to keep moving since we have family scheduled to arrive soon. Actually, we should have plenty of time to arrive in Puerto Vallarta before our son and family arrived on December 29. But we never know when the weather will get ugly. Traveling to meet guests is an anxious and dangerous process. It can be difficult to resist the tyranny of the airline schedule, and many sailors have made very bad decisions to leave in dangerous weather because they are scheduled to meet guests.
As forecast, we had winds out of the NW, the predominant pattern this time of year. But, unlike the prediction, the winds were light so we motor sailed the entire way. The sea life was incredible. We saw numerous humpback whales, many dozens of porpoises visited us. Several times, while on night watch, I suddenly heard a loud "whoosh" right next to the boat and looked out to see porpoises shimmering in a phosphorescent sea. We saw numerous turtles, which is evidence that we are now in tropical waters. Sometimes sea turtles are called "speed bumps" because of their habit of napping on the surface until, just prior to collision with a boat, they suddenly dive out of danger.
The night watches were stressful, because of numerous fishing boats of different kinds. The most challenging of the fishing boats are the small "pangas" that lay out long fishing nets or baited long lines. We not only have to avoid hitting the boats, we have to avoid getting tangled up in the nets or lines. On one occasion the Admiral summoned me from sleep to help sort out the myriad of boats/nets/lines surrounding us. At least most of the nets had a lighted buoy at each end, which we were grateful for. When we were sailing in Guatemala and El Salvador, most of the lines/nets were not lit which created many close calls.
The photo shows a male (probably)Humpback Whale breaching as we neared our destination.
It's a Wonderful Life - On Adesso!