Chacala 2.19.09

We left the anchorage at 7:30 this morning, heading to Chacala with a couple boats heading the same way. S/V Optical Illusion, S/V Precious Metal, S/V Warren Peace, S/V Twins, & M/V Wanderer were all headed the same way, around the same time and formed a line down the coast as we all cruised at different speeds. S/V Optical Illusion was in the marina and told us a harrowing tale yesterday – they hit a whale! Luckily, there was no damage to the boat except for some deep scratches on the hull, but nothing major. They said it must have been sleeping and they hit it on the side and kind of rolled off of it. Scary.

We had some amazing whale activity during the day! We watched in awe as one whale did a tail-flap, slapping the water with its tail for about 5 minutes! Luckily, I got some of it on video and can't wait to post it. It's part of the mating call – I forget whether it's the male or female, but one sits at the surface slapping the water with her tail while the other does the spectacular breeches. We saw a lot of spy-hopping, where the whale just comes out of the water about ½ way, and lots of gracefulbreaths at the surface. I know I've said it before, but I never cease to be amazed by how amazing these whales are. And it's such a treat to see them so often! We didn't see many turtles this trip.

We arrived in Chacala around 3:15, although we moved out of the Central timezone so we gained an hour. The motorsail was nice – it was a sunny & clear day – we had a spectacular sunrise as we were leaving La Cruz and the swells were large, but long period so it was a comfy ride. There was a red algae bloom at the entrance to the anchorage turning the water blood red. We anchored along with 3 others in the anchorage (before the cavalry arrived behind us!) and were visited by S/V Deerfoot who highly suggested putting out a stern anchor as the anchorage gets incredibly rolly in the evening. He said he didn't put a stern anchor the previous night and it was his worst night's sleep in 30 years of cruising! Duly noted…we threw a stern anchor….and it was fine. It was very rolly and the boats that did not put one out were doing the twist around 3am! The town was beautiful – bright colors of yellow, burnt orange, & blues. The area was reportedly devastated in 1992 with Hurricane Kenna but theyhave rebuilt a lot and it looked very welcoming. We didn't go into town…we'll stop here next season and check it out.

Tomorrow we're heading to Mantanchen Bay! The final pit-stop before Mazatlan…Rene