Trawler Lifestyle | PassageMaker Magazine & Events

We’ve got a question about tsunamis. Here’s the background: We were on board during the tsunami scare after the earthquake that struck Chile in late February. We were in San Carlos, in the state of Sonora, Mexico, securely tied to a slip in the marina. We were under a tsunami watch that covered the entire Pacific Coast of Mexico and into the Sea of Cortez.

I'm floating facedown in 82-degree water, wearing swim trunks and snorkel gear, watching colorful fish I can't name and wondering when the next curious sea lion pup will come nose-to-nose with this begoggled stranger.

From a distance, the water in which my friends and I are splashing is azure. Up close and half submerged, as I am, it is gin clear. Near the bottom, about 20 feet down, are scores of small fish, some camouflaged to match the rocks and sand and escape the roaming eyes of bigger, hungry fish. Others are decorated with come-get-me flashes of color.