We had a fabulous week with Bryan sailing to the islands north of LaPaz for relaxing, small boat sailing, snorkeling, kayaking, and fishing. We saw incredible sealife--dolphins, seals, jumping rays, turtle, and most special: breaching fin whales!
Here is a shot of the dolphins swimming off our bow as we left LaPaz. We were overwhelmed with their presence and playfulness around our boat.
We anchored in Caleta Lobos to wait out a day of strong northerly wind. We put the sailing dinghy in the water and with Alan in the kayak and Bryan in the dinghy they tore around the anchorage.
Then we headed up to Ensenada Grande for a few days in a beautiful anchorage with tall red cliffs, blue-green waters, and sandy beaches. We kayaked and snorkeled and had siesta!
The we sailed back to LaPaz. We had a great sail and Bryan could totally experience the difference in sailing a cat vs monoholl. CATS rule. On our sail home we experienced the breaching whale. We were fishing and Alan saw an area with many pelicans and a bit of water disturbance. So he opted to head that way. I was scanning the water disturbance and suddenly a huge whale just lifted out of the water! This was less than 1/2 mile from us. And the whale breached again. We all screamed! (Sorry no pictures -- it is too incredible to watch through a camera lens! Plus you never know where they will come up.) There were only 2 other sailboats in the area and we all slowed/stopped to watch. And after 4-5 breaches the whale rolled and submerged. He was next spotted well off our beam and by his markings we knew it was a fin whale.
As we approached the LaPaz channel, the Mexican Navy approached and did a boarding. We showed them our import permit, Coast Guard papers, passports and visas. He asked to see our communication equipment (VHF radio). All was done quickly and professionally. We gave them cookies as they left!
We got into LaPaz and had the hook down by sunset. Two thumbs up!
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