Manatees, Dolphins, and Whales...Oh My!

Sailing Salinas-Coffin Island-Salinas, Feb. 20-22, 2010.

Well, it is Monday…yes…MONDAY…and we returned this morning from our trip to Coffin Island. And what a weekend it was! But let’s start from the beginning. As usual we stayed on Orion Friday night at the dock and left around 0730 Saturday for Coffin Island. Yap, we had an early start. The sea was incredibly calm, resembling a mirror, and we could see all the way to the bottom of the ocean, as if we were looking through a looking glass. 
Weather forecast was a little iffy with a squall front approaching from the south, but we decided to chance it and hang it out at Coffin Island. Needless to say that we motored all the way, because where there is no wind there is no sail. With the trusted Diesel humming we enjoyed the trip, watching the amazing hues of blue of the ocean. Half way to the island we got out the fishing rod and almost caught a fish…I say almost, because it got off the hook…@#!*…ah well.
When approaching our anchorage, we saw something brownish move in the water...turned out to be a manatee...and not only one but three of them. We could see them down below in this gorgeously clear water...they were gracefully moving all three together in one direction, as if dancing to an invisible orchestra. Wow...manatees at Coffin Island...that was a first for us there! I only managed to get a snapshot of one of them, which is better than nothing, but the real picture will stay within us forever :o)

After marveling at the manatees and waving good-bye to them it was time to anchor and have lunch. Meat loaf with coleslaw in a pita pocket with grapes for the First Mate and a meat loaf sandwich for the Captain.

In the distance we could see the approaching squall line. We secured everything on deck, just so nothing would fly around when the wind would pick up. Other than that we settled in to relax and read, watching the sky turn dense with clouds. The wind picked up after we finished dinner (fried meat loaf with onions, potato salad, sweetcorn, grapes). I had prepared the meat loaf in the pressure cooker two days earlier...good thing, because rain and wind did not permit BBQing. Monitoring the radar via our laptop, we learned that the squall front was on its way, but there was a chance for it to divert to the east. This was not a night for wimps! We retired to the V-berth pretty early after closing all hatches and the aft companion way, and fell asleep almost instantly. Hurray hurray...during the night the squall front missed us to the east, and we only had some rain and some wind, but nothing to talk about really.

We woke up around 0700 Sunday and saw another sail boat anchored behind us! It must have arrived some time during the night! On a closer look we could not believe our eyes when we discovered it was "Kiss Me Goodbye" with our dear friends Bob and Joan on board...a complete surprise...no wimps here, hahahaha! Bob and Joan guided "Kiss Me Goodbye" closer to the beach and our anchorage and we yelled our "hellos" and "great to see you guys" before jumping in the water to mingle with them.

Soon thereafter we heard a motor boat approaching and it was our friends Karim and Cheryl with their son Jacob and Cheryl's wonderful mom Betty on "Labadee". Yes, we do have power boating friends as well! Since we were all in the water already by the time "Labadee" anchored, I did not have my camera...so I include a picture of Karim and Cheryl which I took on a different day. (Sorry guys! We'll take some pictures of all of you for sure next time.)

Turns out that Bob and Joan had sailed "Kiss Me Goodbye" from Ponce to Coffin Island where they arrived around 2030 on Saturday and had slept on the boat at anchor. Bob has done this stuff before, but for Joan this is not quite routine so to say...Way to go Joan and Bob! But back to Sunday now. We introduced our friends from the power boat to our friends from the sail boat and it seems we all "hit it off" the right way :o) Karim and Cheryl are the perfect hosts...they kind of had to be, because their boat was anchored the closest to the beach, hahahaha. All of a sudden we found ourselves with drinks in our hands from their special "Labadee" cups and involved in some awesome conversations about everything and nothing and friendship in particular. We love you guys and want to thank you again for your hospitality :o) 

Under the influence of a certain Q (Don Q to be precise) the captain and his first mate decided to set a good example by not drinking and driving, err...sailing. Somehow the impromptu beach party came to an end and we found ourselves saying good-bye to our friends and returning to "Orion". "Kiss Me Goodbye" and "Labadee" left soon thereafter and Rick and I spent Sunday night also at anchor at Coffin Island. Woohoo...

We woke up to a wonderful Monday morning, had a nice cup of coffee, and set sail for Salinas around 0800.

Leaving the anchorage we saw a few dolphins jumping around "Orion". I could not get a picture of them this time...they appeared out of nowhere and disappeared into nowhere, so it seemed. Ahh...our dolphin friends...we love them.

And then...almost half way between Coffin Island and Salinas it happened! With me half sleeping in the cockpit, the Captain raised his voice "Whale to port"...I jumped up and mumbled "Whale? A whale?"...and sure enough there was a big black mass to the left of  "Orion" sending a small water spout out of his breathing hole!!!!! 

What an awesome site! We feel so blessed again! Turns out it was two whales, a mother and her calf. We let them move on uninterrupted, treasuring their site in our hearts. 

We docked "Orion" around 1015 in Salinas, cleaned out our stuff and went for breakfast at the marina snack bar, where we had the best ham and cheese sandwich. A perfect ending for yet another incredible weekend with good friends (we missed you Richard and Mercedes) at Coffin Island...this one involving manatees, dolphins, and whales...oh my!