20.8N 105.5W. Punta de Mita, Nayarit, Mexico.
Sometimes a little sailboat gets no respect. I am not talking about the probable lack of respect some larger-newer-sleeker boats may have towards our “classic racer style” (lively) well-sailed (a little beat up looking) little (a bit over 35 feet and six tons “dripping wet”) 1969-era (old) Cal Cruising 36 sailboat. No, I am talking about others...who apparently because of their superior size and stealth feel that they can simply do whatever they want to us like we were just a plaything.
Believe or not, we were bumped by a Humpback Whale! To be clear, Gitano del Mar didn’t bump it…it bumped or slapped her! We were under-sail from Punta de Mita to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. There was just enough wind to let us sail at just over three knots and we decided to sail the whole way to the anchorage no matter how long it took…just sit back and enjoy the sail. The bay was pretty busy that afternoon with over a dozen other boats underway around us…fishing boats, whale watching boats, cruising boats…all under motor but us. Needless to say, we were keeping watch on the traffic and our route as we meandered to our destination. At one point, however, while we were both in the galley munching on a leftover piece of our favourite BBQ chicken…the boat lurched port-side. It lurched more than the usual-for-that-day swell that was pushing our boat…it actually felt like a bump with the boat quickly righting herself. We both looked at each other and said “what was that?” I popped out to the cockpit in time to see a slick (of stilled water) pass by our port-side….from past experience it was a slick the size of that left by a whale. We were both looking at the slick and thinking “no way”…there was no way that we hit a whale….there are too many boats…making too much noise… We kept looking around our boat trying to figure out the source of the “bump” and sure enough in less than a minute we sighted four Humpback whale spouts just to our stern along with a flipper wave. A Humpback whale can reach fifty-two feet and weigh over fifty tons...more than three times the size of Gitano. The only thing we can think is that the group of four included at least one lively yearling…very playful...and our boat looked like a cute little bath toy…"let’s just slap it around and see what it does." It was an exciting moment and one of the closest whale sightings of the season.
Sometimes a little sailboat gets no respect. I am not talking about the probable lack of respect some larger-newer-sleeker boats may have towards our “classic racer style” (lively) well-sailed (a little beat up looking) little (a bit over 35 feet and six tons “dripping wet”) 1969-era (old) Cal Cruising 36 sailboat. No, I am talking about others...who apparently because of their superior size and stealth feel that they can simply do whatever they want to us like we were just a plaything.
Believe or not, we were bumped by a Humpback Whale! To be clear, Gitano del Mar didn’t bump it…it bumped or slapped her! We were under-sail from Punta de Mita to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. There was just enough wind to let us sail at just over three knots and we decided to sail the whole way to the anchorage no matter how long it took…just sit back and enjoy the sail. The bay was pretty busy that afternoon with over a dozen other boats underway around us…fishing boats, whale watching boats, cruising boats…all under motor but us. Needless to say, we were keeping watch on the traffic and our route as we meandered to our destination. At one point, however, while we were both in the galley munching on a leftover piece of our favourite BBQ chicken…the boat lurched port-side. It lurched more than the usual-for-that-day swell that was pushing our boat…it actually felt like a bump with the boat quickly righting herself. We both looked at each other and said “what was that?” I popped out to the cockpit in time to see a slick (of stilled water) pass by our port-side….from past experience it was a slick the size of that left by a whale. We were both looking at the slick and thinking “no way”…there was no way that we hit a whale….there are too many boats…making too much noise… We kept looking around our boat trying to figure out the source of the “bump” and sure enough in less than a minute we sighted four Humpback whale spouts just to our stern along with a flipper wave. A Humpback whale can reach fifty-two feet and weigh over fifty tons...more than three times the size of Gitano. The only thing we can think is that the group of four included at least one lively yearling…very playful...and our boat looked like a cute little bath toy…"let’s just slap it around and see what it does." It was an exciting moment and one of the closest whale sightings of the season.
werd (as SK would say)….
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