We returned to Mexico on February 28th after leaving Zoe out of the water for 9 months at the Opequimar shipyard in Puerto Vallarta. In preparation for the crossing to French Polynesia, we had planned about fifteen days of maintenance work, but as often happens, it took more time, and we had to move from the shipyard. In mid-March, we anchored in La Cruz, waiting for a berth to become available in the marina to complete the final interventions. Once those were finished, we felt it necessary to perform a trial run to verify the correctness of the many interventions carried out. Among other things, we replaced all the rigging, all the through-hull fittings, added a hydraulic autopilot directly connected to the rudder, and installed the Starlink satellite system.
Orcas
During the trial run, we hoped to see some whales, which is very likely in the bay of Puerto Vallarta; however, we were also aware that these magnificent creatures were already on their way back to the cold northern seas. What an incredible surprise it was then to see an orca darting out of the water just a few meters from our boat, followed by a calf and another adult, who followed us for several minutes, performing dives and resurfacing that thrilled us. This outing at sea was also an opportunity to once again enjoy the spectacle offered by the various seabirds that we have come to know over the years in Central America: the gannets, which with their streamlined bodies look like projectiles launched into the water, the small white terns with black heads that move in groups, squawking loudly, the friendly and majestic pelicans, and finally, soaring above all other birds, the frigates waiting for some fish to escape from the beak of some unlucky creature.
After a few days of sailing that allowed us to verify that everything was working properly, we returned to the marina for the final preparations, such as cleaning and provisioning the galley, a rather challenging activity considering that in French Polynesia, we will find few supermarkets!
The last surprise that Mexico gave us was the exciting and rare spectacle of a total solar eclipse, which we were able to admire thanks to a plastic “filter” found on the street by Gemma.
Back to Mexico
We returned to Mexico on February 28th after leaving Zoe out of the water for 9 months at the Opequimar shipyard in Puerto Vallarta. In preparation for the crossing to French Polynesia, we had planned about fifteen days of maintenance work, but as often happens, it took more time, and we had to move from the shipyard. In mid-March, we anchored in La Cruz, waiting for a berth to become available in the marina to complete the final interventions. Once those were finished, we felt it necessary to perform a trial run to verify the correctness of the many interventions carried out. Among other things, we replaced all the rigging, all the through-hull fittings, added a hydraulic autopilot directly connected to the rudder, and installed the Starlink satellite system.
During the trial run, we hoped to see some whales, which is very likely in the bay of Puerto Vallarta; however, we were also aware that these magnificent creatures were already on their way back to the cold northern seas. What an incredible surprise it was then to see an orca darting out of the water just a few meters from our boat, followed by a calf and another adult, who followed us for several minutes, performing dives and resurfacing that thrilled us. This outing at sea was also an opportunity to once again enjoy the spectacle offered by the various seabirds that we have come to know over the years in Central America: the gannets, which with their streamlined bodies look like projectiles launched into the water, the small white terns with black heads that move in groups, squawking loudly, the friendly and majestic pelicans, and finally, soaring above all other birds, the frigates waiting for some fish to escape from the beak of some unlucky creature.
After a few days of sailing that allowed us to verify that everything was working properly, we returned to the marina for the final preparations, such as cleaning and provisioning the galley, a rather challenging activity considering that in French Polynesia, we will find few supermarkets!
The last surprise that Mexico gave us was the exciting and rare spectacle of a total solar eclipse, which we were able to admire thanks to a plastic “filter” found on the street by Gemma.