Tsunami Spotting

We woke up early and turned on one of the HF radio marine nets (which usually comes in a distant second to NPR). Didn’t take long to hear of the destruction in Japan and the possibilities of tsunami waves cutting across the Pacific. Fortunately we had Banda Ancha internet connectivity allowing us to sift through the random info on the nets with real info on the web. We checked the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center site. They put out an update every hour. Their schedule had the first wave hitting our area at 19:30zulu, or about 1:30pm. We were the only boat in the anchorage, Ensenada Carrizal. This is a narrow, steep-sided little bay. It didn’t look like a good place to try surfing a Tsunami wave into the beach. We hung around for a few hours and then headed out. We did some lazy sailing for 4 hours in Bahia de Manzanillo, around the freighters and tankers (photo above). They’d all headed out of the port of Mazanillo into deep water anchorage to wait it out.
There wasn’t much damage in this area. A freighter that decided not to leave the port needed two tugs to help stabilize his position in the harbor.  The captain sounded a little panicked as he requested them. A few places had some dock issues. The lagoon in Barra de Navidad had a water pipe break loose from the bottom and block the entrance. A lot swirls in the water and buoy's being dragged under in the currents. Just a little excitement on our side of the Pacific. We’re sorry to hear of the real devastation that hit the other side.

While hanging outside in the bay killing time we kept sailing through these huge flocks of rays who were cruising just under the water surface.

One broke off from the flock and started to chase down our dinghy.

We did get an early evening snorkel in at Ensenada Carrizal before we left the next morning. Water clarity was better than it has been since we left Baja and there was a lot of live coral.

Chris heading off into the deep.

Proof that Paul gets in the water too- when it’s 70 or above. (We’re still waiting for tropical water temps.)

The sunset at the anchorage at Las Hadas resort that we came into once we figured the Tsunami scare was over. This is the beach that Bo ran down in the movie “10”.

A pod of playful whales passed us on our way to Enenada Carrizal, this shot was taken near Piedra Blanca (on the right).

Speaking of whales, here’s the first person report on the whale that had the run in with Pearson 367 Luffin It in Tenacatita Bay: Luffinit. Sounds like they didn’t see the whale and the whale didn’t see them, rather than a case of aggravated assault on a sail boat. Lots of damage– hope these guys had  good insurance!

Paul