IN LATITUDES

ALL PHOTOS BLOOM

their amazing vessel and were sad to wave goodbye to our new friends and saviors the next morning as they departed and we got towed away to the closest marina. This was a once-in-a lifetime experience that we will never forget. We will be forever grateful to the Sea Shepherd organization, and particularly the Farley Mowat crew, for their devotion to helping all those on the ocean, and are donating monthly to them to continue to support their amazing efforts. — Lisa 1/13/18 Sea Shepherd is a worldwide, nonprofit organization whose main mission is not saving people at sea, but sea life. The Mowat is currently in the Sea of Cortez for 'Operation Milagro', an effort to save the extremely endangered Vaquita dolphins in the northern section of the Sea. For more on Sea Shepherd, go to www.seashepherd. org.

see us arrive safely and asked what the maximum speed might be that we would be comfortable with (Seriously? How nice are these people?) We let him know that around eight knots would be much better for us so he offered to try it out and see how it went, and we'd touch base in the morning. We found this speed to be much more manageable, but still pretty exhausting. We were really looking forward to reaching Mazatlán at this point! After a mostly sleepless night, Farley Mowat called in the morning to ask if we'd like them to send back their engineer and his assistant to troubleshoot our engine — along with a crew member who was also a sailor to give us get a break at the wheel for a little while. We were thrilled to accept their offer. They used the panga to make the transfer. After a couple of hours of troubleshooting and a much-needed break at the helm, it was determined that Bloom's engine needed to be assessed at Bloom

a marina by a mechanic — with the injectors being the prime suspects. The tow continued to go well, and upon arrival, the Mowat towed us all the way to Club Nautico, the anchorage at Mazatlán's commercial port. From there, we'd arrange a tow into the marina the next morning. Before the Shepherd crew panga'ed back to their ship, we were blessed by an amazing show of hundreds and hundreds of spinner dolphins. What wonderful company to share this experience with! We arrived at the anchorage at about 2300. We were exhausted at this point, but rafted up beside the 125-foot ship. We used what little energy we had left to accept the honor of a visit onboard the Farley Mowat to meet the crew and express our gratitude to all onboard. Carson got his Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals of the World signed by the crew and lots of hugs went around. We toured

Krissy and Janie of 'Finalmente' almost look like they're walking on the bottom. But it's 12 feet down. Med waters were warm this summer.

FINALMENTE

Clockwise from above: 'Bloom''under tow; 'Mowat' engineer and assistant check out 'Bloom's engine; 'Farley' deckhand "Adrian from Switzerland" gives Jason helm relief; calm seas and almost no wind prevailed throughout the tow; 'Farley Mowat' departs to resume her mission of saving wildlife.

Finalmente — Dolphin 460 Cat Annibale and Krissy Orsi The Big Five-Oh Stockton and Italy "Ni" and Krissy Orsi just wrapped up their 12th season of cruising the Med aboard Finalmente. During the winter they keep the boat in Marina di Ragusa, Sicily, where they cruise from May through October, then fly home to either Stockton or Hawaii. This year the itinerary was mostly an Italian affair, with a dash of Francia thrown in — Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Elba and back up the Italian west coast