Wanted…

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one whale for hit and run incident, Christmas Day…

Ok, in all fairness, I suppose it could go either way… I’m sure our friend (sistership pictured above) isn’t too thrilled either. It was an unfortunate surprise for all parties concerned when our J/120 happened upon a couple of whales while on a leisurely cruise a couple of days ago. The startled skipper turned hard, and the startled whale dove quickly… but as the tail gave a mighty shove for the inky-deep, the flukes lightly grazed the port bow. And when one of these beauties weighing lord-knows-how-many-tons (and that’s a precise measurement, metric of course) grazes something, they leave a path of destruction. The bow pulpit was tweaked off to starboard bending a stanchion as it went, the headfoil was snapped clean in two, and the harken furling drum was bent. The crew reported that there was plenty of whale skin along the side of the boat…
And that was a glancing blow?! We can only can imagine what the force of a direct hit would do!
The upside is that there are more whales around the Bay than we think we have ever seen. And they really are spectacular. Being in quiet sailboats means that we don’t scare them away, but also that we have to be on the perpetual lookout…

Dear Santa….

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…all I want for Christmas is a fine sailing ship. A schooner would be nice, but whatever you see fit would be fine. My tree isn’t so big, but I’ll make some room under it in case you bring along something nice…


The beautiful Italian built schooner Seljm, holiday-ing in Puerto Vallarta. The weather isn’t wintry, but it takes pretty stout holiday spirit to get a tree up there…

Happy Holidays, everyone…

Something BIG for Christmas…

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The big boys and girls are back in town… yes, the whales have returned to Puerto Vallarta. And they are spectacular this time of year. It is a rare day when we don’t see them in fairly close range. And being in sailboats, they really take very little notice of us…

These are some truly amazing animals, and we are fortunate to be able to enjoy them in a setting like this. In the next couple of months, we’ll be seeing the calves getting comfortable and preparing for the journey back north.

Happy holidays and peace on earth indeed…

2008 Banderas Bay Blast

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So a little over a week ago (I know, I am slow getting these postings up), the Banderas Bay Blast was down here in Mexico. It’s a fun-filled informal race/rally, with everyone sailing to La Cruz the first day (and being hosted in the NEW marina) there, then out to the anchorage at Punta Mita for the second night (fiesta ashore!), then the fantastic downwind run back to our Paradise Village Marina the final day.

As usual, the weather didn’t disappoint (but I missed the first day, and I hear it was a bit light). I caught up with the fleet at La Cruz, just in time for all the shoreside fun at the new marina Sky Bar… what a great facility. I hear the food there is good too, but we adjourned and headed to Philo’s restaurant/bar for some refreshements and live music.


On Thursday and Friday, Richard and Dona of Profligate were kind enough to have me aboard, along with a small but fun bunch, and we had a great time. That’s J/World coach Eugenie posing in front of Richard and myself (well, somone had to do the sailing!). The upwind leg out to the point saw us getting beat up by the likes of the J/160 Blue (and a ton of other boats, but, well, we were the RC boat too, so we had to pull up anchor and head off after everyone else started). We took it all pretty easy…


a really nice day on the water… and what a crew we had…

Everyone anchored in the marina, and headed ashore for good times and the annual meeting of the Punta Mita Surf and Sail Club… dinner and drinks at Margarittas and the Blue Water Grill. Then back to the boat for a quiet evening, hanging on the hook in Mexico. And despite the cervezas and tequillas, we still managed toget up pretty early and go catch some surf down the beach at La Lancha. Then it was back to the boat, and off on the run back to Paradise. Whales, dolphins, and 15 knots of breeze. Profligate loved the conditions, and we weren’t complainig at all either. Here she is (on a different day)…

 


Anyway, that’s the report of he 2008 Banderas Bay Blast…

We are now into a great December down in Mexico, looking forward to a busy Christmas season. We have lots of sailing and bareboat charters going on, a racing week, and learn-to-sail classes. And of course we are getting ready for such special events as the Banderas Bay Regatta in March. Flights to Mexico are about as chape as I have seen them (it’s a three hour, $250 trip from San Francisco!), so the excuses for missing out on the fun are few and far between…

All the best,

Wayne Zittel and the J World Team