Next Level Sailing

04/29/2024

We saw 3,000 California Brown Pelicans!!! What an amazing thing to come across! As you can see, some Pacific Short-Beaked Common Dolphins joined this feeding frenzy as well! What a great day! 🐬🌊💙

04/29/2024

First Blue Whales of the season!! We are so excited! 🐳

04/20/2024

The fin whales are here! Extraordinary day with 3 friendly fin whales that swam right up to the yacht America. Captain Troy shut the engines off of course and let the whales investigate. It was truly incredible.

One of our great guests, Dean LoNigro, captured these photos. Thanks for sharing, Dean! 📸

04/19/2024

The velella velellas are starting to make an appearance here in San Diego! These cute jellies are known as the By-the-Wind Sailors. They are related to the famous Portuguese man o’ war. One velella velella is actually made up of a colony of smaller organisms that are about 3 inches long each. They use poisonous nematocysts to catch zooplankton. 🪼💙

03/16/2024

Remembering our haul out last November?! The new paint job looks spectacular!😍 ⛵️

Thanks so much for capturing 📸

03/12/2024

Sail into spring break!

Marie is looking for whales and we’ve had great sightings of gray whales so far. We can’t wait to get out in the sun with you ☀️ 🐾 🐳

12/30/2023

Welcome aboard, Freya! We were delighted to have you aboard today. She has set the record as the youngest passenger we have ever had aboard at just 4 weeks old. 💕⛵️

12/26/2023

Merry Christmas!! The America safe and sound back in San Diego.

Don’t worry, we have the last steps of this incredible maintenance journey in the video below.

We’d like to extend a huge thanks to the incredible crew at the Gran Peninsula for their dedication throughout this haul out process. It was a major undertaking and we are absolutely thrilled with the results. You’ll notice at the end of the video, Captain Troy had to jump aboard. He immediately sailed the boat right back to San Diego. We are so excited to resume whale watching tomorrow and show you this beautiful piece of craftsmanship!

If you’d like to learn more about this cool boat yard: http://www.granpeninsula.com/



https://youtu.be/zo3G7jfNhTo?si=kgFcuDq5tL6HEEjv

The America gets ready to be launched and is launched using the unique Syncrolift system located at Gran Peninsula boat yard in Ensenada, Mexico. We’d like t...

12/23/2023

Look at that beautiful boat! We couldn’t ask for a better Christmas present🎁 ⛵️ 🌲

12/22/2023

It’s been a busy week down in Ensenada. The masts have been repainted and reinstalled back into the Yacht America. The hull looks stunning and the props have been changed.

The propellers were replaced with two beautiful PYI Max-Props called Whisper. These are feathering props that will increase efficiency in the water. If you’d like more information about these props, here’s the link: https://www.pyiinc.com/max-prop-whisper.html

It’s a race against the clock now that the project is more than half way complete. Captain Troy is eager to get back to San Diego to commence a very successful winter whale watching season. We are expecting to see lots of gray whales this winter off the coast of San Diego.



https://youtu.be/mf6TOmgLMhE?si=dmpI_ZMeYFLboDdW

Getting the hull painted was a huge success. There is still a lot left to do. Both the main mast and foremast will be painted and put back into the Yacht Ame...

12/16/2023

The paint is cured! Now the masts have to be completed and put back on the boat. Time is ticking and Captain Troy is leading the project full steam ahead!

12/15/2023

If you want to truly be in awe …. 🤩

Can you believe the reflection in the hull?!

12/14/2023

Today is painting day!!!!

Everything was sealed off to make sure the paint went on just right!

12/09/2023

Latest maintenance update: the yacht America now has 3 fresh coats of gray primer. The hull looks absolutely incredible already. Captain Troy also has a special project of his own. Check out the latest below:
https://youtu.be/zRFrgH8nDW4?feature=shared

The weather has been spectacular this week, which has been quite lucky. Maintenance over the past few days has included lots of sanding as well as putting th...

12/03/2023

This is the most labor intensive part of the haul out: longboard sanding. This allows for the hull to be flat and smooth!

This really demonstrates the most labor intensive portion of the haul out which is called longboard sanding. This allows the hull to be flat and smooth.

12/02/2023

Follow along as Captain Troy and crew work down in Ensenada during this massive haul out. See the details of fine fairing and also a view of the deck with no masts!

Fine fairing and a rare view of the America with no masts

12/01/2023

We are so grateful for the hard work done by the folks in the yard down in Ensenada, even during their holiday!

Check out Part 3 of this major haul out:

Watch as the mast is removed from the yacht America!

09/10/2023

“Mind on a permanent vacation, ocean is the only medication”

Here’s to you, Jimmy. Your spirit will love in our hearts forever. May you rest in peace 🌴☀️⛵️🍹

08/16/2023

Throw back to a wonderful day on the water with 🐳☀️🐬

Thanks for sailing with us ⛵️🎉

⚓️

08/15/2023

Such a dreamy ceremony 😍

Congratulations!! 🎉🎊🍾

& husband, thank you for choosing us as your venue 💕⛵️

08/09/2023

Soak up the last few days of summer before the kids go back to school! 📚 🐳 ☀️

We can’t wait to see you next year ! Thanks for bringing the family for a fun filled whale watching day 😀🐳☀️

07/01/2023

This season has been incredible for blue whales. This whale decided to go people watching. Captain Troy put the boat in neutral while we all watched in awe. Just magnificent!

06/17/2023

Incredible 🤩

This is truly a shot of a lifetime. Thank you, Bill! 🐳

If you’re looking for last minute Father’s Day gifts, look no further. Give the gift of whale watching this year! 🎁

📸

#2023

05/18/2023

While we are at the end of our gray whale watching season, we could still see a mom with her baby traveling north. This is a fantastic photo by our guest, Celeste Merchand. She captured a great shot of a gray whale cow with her newborn calf heading to Mexico. This picture was taken back on February 2nd. Do you see the smooth body of the calf? There are some cute little wrinkles too!

Thanks again, Celeste!

05/17/2023

We LOVED having Pepsi the Papillon and her family aboard during our whale watching trip. We can't wait to have her again! 🐾🐳❤

05/16/2023

A gorgeous photo by our guest, Seth Kahn. Sometimes, we head way out into the ocean and can barely see land. Do you see Point Loma, just on the horizon? It is so peaceful out at sea. Thanks for this great shot, Seth!

05/15/2023

Take a deep dive into the week! We can't wait to see what we will find this week. Lately, we have been seeing fin whales, humpback whales, blue whales, Risso's dolphins, common dolphins, offshore bottlenose, and mola molas.

Have a great week. Happy Monday!

05/14/2023

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Check out this amazing video created by Jamie Murkerson. Her family sailed with us over Spring Break 2023 and saw a beautiful fin whale. They also made some other great stops during there stay here in San Diego.

Thanks again for sharing with us Jamie! Happy Mother's Day ❤It was great having you and your family abaord 🐳😁

Some of the Murkerson Family plus Mema went to pick up Kiley in Palm Desert to spend Spring Break in Palm Springs and San Diego. We visited the Palm Springs ...

05/13/2023

Our guest, Mickey Patel, got a great shot of a blue whale we saw a few days ago. We are so excited for blue whale season here in San Diego.