Spring in the Gulf of California

We finally departed La Paz on April 11th, after 14 weeks of extensive boat projects. Although there was a fresh breeze from the north, we decided to go anyway, just to cast lines and get out of the marina. It's amazing how that simple act can so radically change your attitude. The focus shifts from "to do" lists, projects and the fishbowl-like life in the marina, to what's right in front of you. Sun, water, wind and the boat, simple as that. It always feels good to cast off, but this time was especially sweet.

During our time in La Paz, we managed to get A LOT of work done on our boat / floating home. Mark put weeks into our electrical system, installing new batteries and solar panels, rewiring old solar panels, relocating our starter battery and installing a new alternator on the engine. He also spent weeks on the engine, rebuilding the starter, going through the entire cooling system, re-insulating the engine room and aligning our new propeller shaft (a VERY time consuming and delicate business). There were also days of plumbing, replacing overhead panels, installing new electronics and more. I spent weeks at the sewing machine, to the point that some of our dockmates starting teasing Mark that he was running a sweatshop and keeping me at work below decks :) On a boat of this size, everything needs to have its place, and everything needs to be secured for sea. So, I made "hammocks" and hanging pockets and storage bags of various shapes and sizes to stow our clothing, galley items and found extra stowage in the head. On a more "homey" note, we had new cushions made and I sewed pillows and curtains to match. In short, it was a super productive time, and we were able to reap the benefits of our work almost as soon as we began our trip in the Sea.

For the first day of our voyage, we just went a few hours north of La Paz, and anchored in Puerto Ballena, Isla Espiritu Santo, at a place we call The Cliffs of Insanity. The feeling of being anchored in a beautiful bay, with just one other boat in sight, is indescribable. Mark and I have decided that we wish we could bottle the feeling and share it with family and friends. We spent one more night at Espiritu Santo, then sailed north to Isla San Francisco, to hole up for a few days while a strong northerly wind blew through. Our first night there was graced with a magical sunset, pink clouds over glassy lavender water (photos forthcoming). Sitting at anchor, and waiting out the blow, I took time to actually read... for pleasure... two whole books, in three days! Although some may have found it frustrating to stay in one place, we took the opportunity to switch gears and RELAX.

Once the wind dropped, we set out, northbound in San Jose Channel, and had a decent day's sail to our anchorage at the north end of Isla San Jose. That night, we went out on deck in the last light of dusk and heard whales blowing nearby. It was so still, with no human sounds other than our voices. Picking out their location by sound, just at the edge of our vision, we heard and saw a small rorqual whale surface. At first, we thought it might be a Bryde's whale, since we'd seen one earlier in the day, but a minute later, we were proven wrong. The small whale surfaced again, followed immediately by a very large whale, and we realized it was a fin whale cow with her calf. The sound of their breathing in the dark stillness, the long, explosive exhalations, followed by shorter, resonant inhalations, was pure magic.

We left that anchorage the next morning, for a long day's run up to Isla Monserrate. Intermittent southerly winds meant that we were able to sail, or motor-sail for most of the day, and we made good time passing Islas San Diego and Santa Cruz. As we came around the east side of Monserrate Island, the breeze freshened, and we had an exciting run into the anchorage on the north side of the island. Locals refer to it as Yellowstone Beach, but we know it as Playa de Oro. It proved to be a great spot to explore and provided good protection from the strong southerly winds that blew every night. We took a hike one day, with some new friends from the sailboat Ladybug II, and then shared dinner and sunset with them that night. We got a tip from another sailor that the Space Station would be passing overhead one night, so we were able to watch that. Also had a perfect view of the full moon rising just after sunset, and the full moon setting just before sunrise the next morning. Snorkeled a little and swam every day, although the water is colder and cloudier than it normally is at this time of year due to La Nina conditions.

From Monserrate, we motored over to Puerto Escondido, for the one "pit stop" of our trip. We took a mooring for the night, which meant we could refill water, do some laundry, buy a few groceries and top off the fuel tank. It was a hit and run, but we made good use of the facilities. Then we found our favorite anchorage of the trip. We decided to head over to Bahia Marquer, on the southeastern shore of Isla del Carmen, and found a beautiful spot! We had a great view of the sunset behind, and sunrise light on the Sierra de la Giganta, and cool, fossil-bearing white cliffs just ahead of us on shore. We explored a little on land, and found layers and layers of fossilized sand dollars, bivalves and what I think were sea cucumber endoskeletons, very cool. Explored the shoreline by dinghy, and swam every day, but the viz was too poor for much snorkeling. A pod of bottlenose dolphins routinely cruised through the anchorage, and we were even able to see them at very close range from the dinghy. We turned off the outboard and they passed right by us. We could see their bodies in the shallow, turquoise water, as well as the mist from their blows when they surfaced in front of us. Marquer proved to be a quiet anchorage, where we were able to watch stars at night, and listen to only natural sounds for several days.

We took one day to motor up to Loreto, and anchor off of town for a quick visit. A little stroll up to the mission (first Spanish mission in the Californias, established in 1697) and some tacos for lunch, and then we were back in the dinghy, and out to Cheers. We had a great sail east toward the north end of Carmen Island, and ultimately returned to Bahia Marquer. Our next anchorage was out on the northeastern tip of Carmen, at Punta Perico. We only stayed a night, as it's a very exposed anchorage and some friends invited us to dinner back at Isla Danzante, but it was peaceful with dramatic rock formations onshore. In the morning, before getting underway, we watched what we thought was a mobula (small manta ray) being chased by a larger predatory fish, as it thrashed at the surface. Turns out it was actually three mobulas, and we think they may have been trying to mate, since they swam right up to our stern, oblivious of our presence and were practically on top of one another.

Our last anchorages were on the west side of Isla Danzante, where we went to meet our friends Dick and Bev from S/V Mistral. We hadn't seen them since La Paz, and it was great fun to catch up. They've been cruising all over the world for the past 27 years, so it was fun to share stories, good wine and dinner. While anchored at Danzante, we saw some of the most incredible bioluminescence either of us has seen. On the dinghy ride back to Cheers from Mistral, we watched the glowing green trails of fish running away from us. Once we were back aboard, a pod of dolphins came blazing through the anchorage, leaving the same sparkling trails as they passed. Since the moon is waning, we had dark skies with millions of stars visible, and water calm enough to see the bright stars like Sirius and Betelgeuse reflected in it. We sat on deck every night there, watching and listening. On our last day, we moved south to another spot for the late morning and early afternoon, and had the incredible good fortune to see a group of bottlenose dolphins swimming back and forth in the shallows near shore. They had three very tiny calves in the group, as though three of the females had given birth very recently. Since they came very close to us several times, I was able to get some nice photos.

Now, we've started our passage north to San Carlos, leaving Baja California behind until November. It's a lake at the moment, as we motor past Isla Coronados, but we're hoping for a southeasterly breeze so we can sail some this afternoon. The forecast is calling for strong northerly winds starting tomorrow afternoon, so we'd like to get to the other side before they hit. It should take us about 26 hours, and we'll post photos when we get there.

Arctic Exploration

Svalbard, High Arctic, July 2009

Michelle and I had been on the waitlist for a voyage on the National Geographic Explorer to the arctic. The trip is titled in the Land of the Ice Bear and we were very hopeful that we would be able to take advantage of already being in Europe and one of these trips fit nicely into one of our breaks from the Panorama. Luckily for us they had an available cabin and we made the cut! July 25th we flew from Athens to Oslo, Norway and we were able to explore Oslo at least for an evening. The next day we caught the group flight from Oslo to Longyearbyen which is the main town on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. We went along with the normal group tour to explore the town and then boarded the Explorer late in the afternoon. It was great to get to see the new ship but even greater to catch up with some old friends. When we saw our cabin we were amazed. Michelle and I haven’t had that much living space in as long as we can remember. It was a lower category cabin but to us it was huge!
Our first day out found us cruising in Hornsund which is one of the southernmost fjords in the Svalbard area. Two polar bears were spotted on the beach. The first was obvious but the second wasn’t spotted till much later and it was a testament to how well they can blend in. That afternoon we landed at Gåshamna (Goose Harbour) and took a hike around the area. By the time we returned to the ship the wind and chop had picked up which made it a wet and windy Zodiac ride back to the ship. Man, that was some cold seawater on my head.
On our second day out we cruised through the ice in the fog which was a bit surreal. During the day we landed at Diskobukta on Edgeoya Island for some more exploration of the area. The landing showed signs of earlier whaling days and the number of animals that must have been taken during the active whaling of the 17th century. Late in the day a polar bear was spotted on the open ice and it was a great site. He wandered around the ship and seemed a bit curious as to what we were and where we were going.
We spent the next day wandering in the ice. It was too foggy to go ashore (can’t see the polar bears) so the ship searched in the ice for wildlife. Lots of good ice and late in the day great sightings of a polar bear mom and her cub that wandered by the ship along the ice edge.
The fourth day started with some distant views of a number of polar bears on the shore at Bjorn Sundet. There were many to be observed and counted during the early hours of the morning as well as an arctic fox that arrived on the scene. Later on the ship ‘bow’d’ up to Kapp Fanshawe and the thousands of birds that lived there. From here the ship steamed north, as far north as possible. We were headed for as close to the North Pole as we could get in the time that we had. Around midnight (It never gets dark this time of year, at all) we had a celebration of sorts as the ship reached 80 40.43 N, 15 59.15 E and we passed through a section of the Polar Ice Basin. It was pretty cool to be less than 600 nautical miles from the North Pole and be able to go back to a warm bed for the night.  This was a new record for the National Geographic Explorer.
Day 5 found us approaching Moffen Island to view some walruses hauled out on this isolated spot. Later on in the morning the ship motored into Woodfjorden, and made a landing at Kileneset. There was an old German weather reporting station there as well as a number of reindeer as we explored the beach and the surrounding tundra. In the afternoon the ship repositioned to Monaco glacier for an afternoon of Zodiac cruises and kayaking. I went for a Zodiac ride and Michelle opted for the ‘long’ massage for the afternoon.
On the last day we spent the morning out to the West of Svalbard in search of whales. Blue whales and fin whales appeared regularly with lots of good views from the ship. Eventually we ran out of time but not out of mammals in that they continued to appear as we made our way back towards land. Late in the afternoon, actually it was after dinner, we landed at Prince Karls Forland to view some walruses hauled out at a bit of a closer range. It was a good, last photo opportunity before we packed everything away in preparation to return to Greece.
We had a blast and it was great fun to catch up with Mike Greenfelder, Kendra Nelson, Ryan Wallace, Steve MacLean, Tom Ritchie, Jason Kelley and Kim Heacox. We boarded the group flight with the rest of the guests for Oslo and laid low in the hotel for the evening. Before we knew it we were back aboard the Panorama in a totally different geographic area with drastically different air and water temperatures. Just how did we get to and from the arctic in a little over a week? And was that really a polar bear, two, three or eight that I was looking down on? It’s crazy when you think about it. It was more than a 40 degree change in latitude and a 40 degree change in water temperature. The Arctic was great fun but we’d much rather swim in the Mediterranean when you get right down to it.

Spain

In the nearly two months since our last post, we’ve been on the move. A lot. We finished the first 6 weeks of our charter season, spent two days in Athens, and then headed for Madrid. Our oldest nephew Preston was scheduled to fly from Dallas-Ft. Worth to Madrid, for his weeklong holiday with us. Mark and I had a few days in Madrid before Preston arrived, so we scoped out the scene and finalized our plans for the week.

We arrived in the early evening (8 PM, practically the middle of the day to Spaniards!), on a Saturday and were amazed by the fabulous parade of people near our hotel. After a quick unpacking and freshening up, we walked the short distance to the Plaza Mayor. Street performers and musicians, young couples and families with kids, tourists and locals alike were all out in force for a madrileño summer Saturday night. Around the corner, we found the Mercado de San Miguel, a large public market, similar to the Ferry Building in San Francisco. It seemed that some people were shopping, but most were moving from stall to stall, sampling fresh oysters at one, vermouth at another. We found an overpriced restaurant nearby, and sat for a leisurely Spanish dinner, complete with a bottle of rioja and a street-side table for people watching. The next morning, I woke up early-ish (7 AM), and had the idea that I’d take my camera out to the Plaza, to watch the city waking up. I was envisioning little mom & pop groceries and fruit stalls raising their metal gates, housewives stopping by the bakery for the day’s bread... Clearly, I had no idea of Spanish life, because what I found was the city going to bed! Young men and women still dressed for the warm evening before were talking animatedly as they huddled together for warmth in the chilly morning breeze. I walked for blocks, seeing almost no one starting their day, but many going home after a long Saturday night. Can you say paradigm shift?

We visited the famous El Rastro flea market that Sunday, and made the requisite visit to the Museo Reina Sofia for a look at Picasso’s “Güernica”, and a sobering lesson in Spain’s 20th century history. We also spent a relaxing hour and a half at the Medina Mayrit “hammam” – a series of baths and steam rooms built in an underground cistern, following the Arab design of the 12th to 14th century. When Preston’s arrival date rolled around, we were at the airport nearly an hour before his arrival, and, of course, his flight was delayed. Neurotic Aunt Michelle had to wait almost two hours before Preston walked through the doors with his American Airlines escort. We hopped in a cab and headed to the small hostal recommended by family friend Cathy Bingman, checked in, dropped our bags and went in search of food. A sightseeing walk and visit to the temporary Matisse exhibit at the Thyssen-Bournemisza Museum filled that afternoon, and then we returned to the hostal to clean up for our dinner invitation. Friends of Mark’s dad (Kirk and Cathy Bingman and their children) have been living in Madrid for several years, and we were invited to their home for dinner. We learned the Madrid subway and found their place, and were then treated to unbelievable hospitality. Sangria and Sprite and great conversation flowed for the next several hours, and I was really reminded what a treat it is to be invited into a home when you’re traveling.

We left Madrid the next day, by rental car with me at the wheel. I think Preston was convinced he’d die on more than one occasion that day, but we had a beautiful drive through La Mancha (think Don Quixote) and into Andalucía. In the late afternoon we arrived in Granada, and followed the slightly confusing directions to our room rental in the old Albaicín. This time Preston was SURE he was about to die, as he got a lesson in how a married couple can argue, loudly, and still love each other. We had a late lunch under the Alhambra, a swim in our little pool and then Preston crashed. In the next few days, we wandered around Granada, finding the old silk market and the cathedral and having a trio of gypsy women read our palms and give us rosemary stems, for 5 euros each! I gave two of the stems back, and thanked them for the palm reading. On our last day in Granada, we had a guided afternoon tour of the Alhambra, the last fort in Spain to be occupied by the Moors. We spent over 2 hours walking through the grounds and buildings, in gorgeous late afternoon light, and were only disappointed that the famous lion fountain was under renovation. Check out the photos.

Then it was on to Ronda. We drove south to the coast, fought hordes of traffic along the Costa del Sol, and then turned north into the mountains. At one point, we stopped for the view, seeing Gibraltar out to the west of us. When we arrived at our fabulous little hotel (Hotel Enfrente Arte), and the front desk clerk Dimitri gave us a little tour, all Preston could say was “this is great, this is really great”. Music to this auntie’s ears. For the next few days we wandered around this beautifully scenic old town, touring the excellently preserved Roman (or Arab, depending on which sign you read) baths, walking the old city walls and shopping for a few gifts for family. One day we even drove out of town to the nearby Roman ruins. We celebrated our last night in town with a fantastic dinner at a little place called Casa Maria. A reserved table on the “terrace” proved to be in the plaza across the street, and the menu consisted of choosing red or white wine, salad or tapas, and meat, chicken or fish for the entrée. Everything was delicious, and Preston even tried some excellent Spanish wine (his verdict, “it’s an acquired taste”).

We drove back to Madrid the next day, making good enough time to turn in the rental car, check back into the hostal, show Preston the Plaza Mayor and have our photo taken in front of the Museo del Jamón (museum of ham)! We were invited to the Bingman’s for another dinner, this one in celebration of Preston’s upcoming birthday. It was a festive night, followed by a quiet goodbye the next morning. As the airline escort told Preston it was time to go, he said to us “Thanks. Thanks for a great trip”. More music to this auntie’s ears.

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

From Mexico to the Mediterranean

Greetings from Athens,

Spain, June 2009

Greece & Dalmatian Coast, 2009

We are officially slackers with regards to our blog.
Since we posted last I brought the ship south from Alameda, CA. after a good shipyard. Our Baja season on the Sea Lion went very well with better than average weather and good wildlife. The grey whales left from Magdalena Bay a bit early so we spent some time getting guests to and from San Ignacio lagoon but with good success. During our January break Michelle and I headed north to Texas and Tucson to visit with family and then retreated to Baja. During our spring vacation we made good use of the time on Cheers and journeyed north to Loreto and back to La Paz, seeing some old friends (Shawn Breeding and Heather Bansmer) and making some new ones along the way. The sailing was good, the anchorages were a tough call (where will it blow from tonight?) but all in all it was a great time.

In early May we buttoned up the boat after stripping all of the canvas for hurricane season. In the midst of this we managed to pack up our gear for a six month tour of the Mediterranean and the Dalmatian Coast. Hmm, I think that I forgot to mention this. Michelle and I were asked to come as a team to manage a sailing ship that Lindblad has chartered for the Greek Islands and the Dalmatian Coast. The name of the ship is the Panorama and Michelle worked on it for that last part of this same itinerary last year. Last year, things didn’t go so well so we were “guardedly optimistic” going into this.

It turned out that the management company for the ship had made some significant changes in equipment and personnel which made our lives much easier. We headed out from La Paz in May, kissing our boat (Cheers) goodbye and headed across the Atlantic. Upon arrival into Athens Michelle got busy preparing for the season and I head to Crete in order to board the ship early and check out the situation. Shortly thereafter we met in Athens, got everything together with the help of fellow staff members Sharon Grainger and Linnea Sjorberg and headed out on our first official voyage of the season. We started with a week in the Greek Islands and then we were off for the Dalmatian Coast. The Dalmatian Coast voyage began in Athens and included stops in Itea and Ithaka (Greece), Sirande and Durres (Albania), Kotor, Montenegro, Dubrovnik, Mljet, Korcula, Sibenik and Hvar (Croatia).For the voyage back to Greece reverse the order. We found great people in countries with diverse backgrounds, beautiful countryside and a ton of culture to absorb. After going up to Dubrovnik and back again it was good to see Greek waters on the horizon. We had a few more voyages in the Greek Islands and then we were off for a break. The Greek Islands itinerary usually includes stops on Dilos, Mykonos, Santorini, Milos, Follegandros, Polliegos, Sifnos and Kythnos. Granted we shift this around due to weather and dock availability but you get the idea. We had a mix of calm and windy weather but there was always sun and you can’t beat a daily dip in the Mediterranean. After three trips in the Greek Islands we packed everything up for a short break and headed to Spain, but that’s another entry. All in all things went very well for our first run on the Panorama.

Take a look at the link “where’s the Panorama” to check out the daily expedition reports from this season.

It's about time!

Okay, okay, okay. So I'm incredibly lame and haven't posted ANYTHING in 6 months. Sorry, it's been a little busy.

Since our last post in May, we've taken Cheers out to the islands on four separate trips, we've worked in Southeast Alaska for 9 weeks (me) and 12 weeks (Mark), I spent 5 weeks working in the eastern Mediterranean and Mark came to join me near the end of that time so we could explore a little together. Whoa. Incredible experiences, but LOTS of time on airplanes and in airports.

Here's the brief synopsis, with some photo albums to do most of the talking.

It was pretty bloody hot here in La Paz this summer, so we got out to the islands whenever possible. We went out for a week in May, a week in mid-July and 2 weeks in late October / early November. We also went out for a week with our 13 year-old nephew, Collin, which was great. We explored a little at Isla Cerralvo, and spent a lot of time snorkeling, swimming and diving at Islas Espiritu Santo, San Francisco and San Jose. The water was so warm and clear! Completely different from what we're accustomed to when we're working here in the winter. We watched as many sunsets and moonrises as possible, and stargazed nearly every night. We even listened to election night coverage on our satellite radio while anchored at Isla San Francisco under a star-filled sky! Don't you know we feel incredibly lucky?!

Summer 2008, Cheers cruising and Collin's visit

Our time in Alaska was also great. We had good weather in June and early July, with great wildlife sightings on every trip. Check out the photo album to see some of my highlights.

Alaska 2008

My time in the Mediterranean was, well, interesting. The places we went were amazing, and I loved being immersed in new cultures. You'll see from the photo album that I went a little nuts. Unfortunately, the ship that Lindblad had chartered was far from ideal, and I faced some of the biggest challenges of my Expedition Leader career. No stories here, but I'll tell you in person if you ask.

Mediterranean 2008

Mark & Michelle Mediterranean

It's now mid-November, and Mark's just gone back to work on NG Sea Lion. He'll be in Alameda, California for the next month, or so, working the annual shipyard. In mid-December, he'll bring the ship down to La Paz, and we'll both work one trip, over New Year's. I'll try not to be such a lame-o, and post more often. At least a few photos now and then.

Take care & Happy Holidays!
Michelle

Out and back again, to Europe that is.

Underway on board the National Geographic Endeavour in the English Channel

I was at home on vacation in La Paz and Michelle was just about to get off of the Sea Lion when my good friend Dwayne Stevens gave me a call. He asked if I was interested in joining him on the National Geographic Endeavour to help him with a safety audit. The ship was just about to leave dry dock and head for Europe on a repositioning voyage with guests on board. I talked to Michelle when she got off for vacation a few days later and she was gracious enough to insist that I go with Dwayne and not miss this opportunity. It was going to be a good chance to spend some time with a good friend, observe another ship from our fleet in action and cruise the western coast of Portugal, Spain, France and then to Great Britain. Not a bad work week for a sailor.

On May 4th I boarded a plane in La Paz for Lisboa, Portugal via Mexico City. The flights went very well and my bag actually arrived on time as well. Due to a delay Dwayne and I had a night in Lisbon together before Endeavour arrived. There was a nice waterfront strip across from the hotel so we were able to take in some local cuisine before we dropped in our tracks due to the time change. The next day we boarded the ship in Lisboa and started our ship inspection while the guests were in town on tour. Later in the day the Endeavour got underway for Oporto, Portugal. That night we were able to catch up with Isaac Klinger and Beth Anne Robertson both are co workers with Lindblad, former crew and good friends. There were also many of the natural history staff on board that I have worked with on the Sea Lion so lots of familiar faces on the ship. There's a young guest named Lisa from Alberta (possible Lindblad recruit) and Kay (repeat guest and almost staff member) that were part of our troup.

We arrived in Oporto, Portugal late in the morning and the guests were ashore for a tour of the town and a local distillery. Dwayne and I continued with our safety audit in order to make it into town later in the day. The skies were cloudy with some rain in the morning but the skies opened up to sunny and warmer in the afternoon. Our time in Oporto late that afternoon and evening was delightful. It is a beautiful city built on two steep shores overlooking the river. It was a great dinner with some exceptional seafood. We basically had the place to ourselves. As the gang exited the restaurant (Isaac Klinger, Jason Alexander, Beth Anne Robertson and a guest Lisa Laurenson joined us) the sun set and the light on the far side of the river was great. Upon arrival back at the ship they pulled the gangway and we were headed for Spain.

On Thursday, May 8th the ship anchored off of Finesterra, Spain and the guests were tendered via zodiacs to shore. They departed for Santiago de Compostella for the day but we stayed aboard to continue the audit. It was a nice ride up the coast of Spain and the ship was very quiet which made for some productive interviews. In the evening the ship docked at La Coruna, Spain the guests came back aboard and we departed for France. For the next day and a half we were underway crossing the Bay of Biscay in route to Sta. Malo, France. Dwayne and I finished up the safety audit and a few other items in order to take advantage of the next port call.

Last night we arrived in St. Malo and got to watch the ship pull into a small lock chamber that guards the tiny and very old harbor basin. It was fun to watch and the night lights on the local fortifications were great. After the ship came alongside Dwayne and I went ashore and ventured inside the fort's walls. It's really a small section of St. Malo that is the original sight of the city center that had been protected by the walls. We found a local cafe, had a glass of wine and then turned in for the night.

Today we joined the guests for a trip to Mont Saint Michel. This is a local abbey or cathedral located on the north shore of France that could not be anymore picturesque. It's built on a small island serviced only by a narrow causeway and then surrounded by tidal mudflats and pasture land. Over the centuries many have made religious pilgrimages to this site and this still continues today. For our visit it was a local holiday so there were many visiors to just see the site and take in the great views. It was sunny and warm and you could see quite a ways from the top. It's hard to believe what they were able to construct on a rocky islet back in this day. For the afternoon we opted to have lunch off the ship in St. Malo and it was delicious. French food by no means comes fast nor is it light but man is is delicious! Cheese, cream crepes and a dry white wine. Over two hours later we arose from the table and wandered the streets for some shopping. The ship had to depart the harbor due to some low tide levels so we made it back to the ship via zodiac. We were second to the last boat back and everything was stowed quickly, the anchor aweigh and we are now off for Portsmouth. As we departed the harbor the number of sailboats returning to the harbor was impressive.

We are now heading across the English Channel for Portsmouth, England and the end of our journey. I'll be heading back to La Paz via London and Mexico City while Dwayne, Isaac and Beth Anne all return to Seattle. It has been a lot of fun as well as very educational and it was nice to ride under another Captain's command. I truly enjoyed getting to catch up with everyone especially Dwayne.

It's time to get back to Cheers, grab Michelle and get out in the Sea of Cortez for a week. A day on the water is always a great day in my book.
Cheers, Mark

Home Again

La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Working, April in Baja

Wow. The 7 weeks since my last post certainly flew by in a hurry. Mark went back to work on March 1, and I followed a week later. We wrapped up another Baja season on the Sea Lion, running for 6 weeks straight, and now taking a few minutes to reflect.

The wildlife was amazing, as it nearly always is down here, and we traveled with some really wonderful people. Between the morning laugh-a-thons at the staff breakfast “meeting” and some great conversations with guests that have been sailing with us for years, the good parts far outweighed the frustrations. I’m really not sure how to collapse six amazing weeks into a single blog entry, but I’ll try to give the highlights. The photos say a lot.

My first three weeks of work were the last three gray whale trips of the season. It’s such an amazing time to be in Magdalena Bay, with the calves getting bigger and more playful and the moms giving them a little more freedom. I was fortunate to have a couple of incredible friendly whale encounters. To watch a wild animal that was hunted to near extinction voluntarily approach my boat, roll underneath and look up at me, is nothing short of miraculous.

The last two trips were Photo Expeditions – without doubt my favorite trips of the year. On these trips, we go north in the Gulf of California, to islands we visit only a few times per year. We saw every species of marine mammal I could have hoped to see, and good sea conditions for watching almost all of them. My absolute favorite though, was a glorious flat calm morning, when Mark was getting tired and a little crabby about being directed by me and the photographers, on how to drive around some dolphins. As we pulled away from the dolphins, I asked if I could drive the ship, so he could listen to the weather forecast. We spotted a large pod of pilot whales out to the east, and I turned the ship toward them. It’s funny, because I’ve never really driven the ship before, but I’ve watched Mark do it for years, and it came pretty naturally. My heart was racing as I tried to get as close as possible for the photographers, without causing the animals to change their behavior. For nearly an hour, I was able to keep the ship right beside this pod of about 50 short-finned pilot whales, while the photographers fired away. Unfortunately, I have no photos of my own, but I couldn’t stop smiling for the entire day.

I’m still learning how to photograph whales, and need to buy a longer lens, so the diversity of our whale sightings isn’t well depicted in my photos. However, we had it all... fin whales surfacing through glassy water in early morning light, humpbacks breaching right next to the ship, my fourth killer whale sighting in 10 years, blue whales, sperm whales and so many dolphins that even I could take a few decent pictures.

We also stopped at Isla Rasa, a tiny island where 95% of the world’s population of Heermann’s gulls and elegant terns nest. The sight and sound of this island is incredible, with half a million seabirds courting, defending territories, mating and, fortunately, still finding enough food to raise their young. They’re both such beautiful birds, and their courting displays are fantastic to watch.

We leave Saturday, for a few days in Seattle, then Mark flies to Lisbon for a week with Dwayne on the Endeavour. Although they’ll be working on an audit, I imagine they’ll be able to do a little sightseeing and catch up with each other. Once Mark gets home, we have a week to take Cheers out, for a little diving and island exploring.
More later, Michelle