Close...

I have had a lot of long trips so far this season.  My evening trip tonight was not one of those.

A group of transients had moved across the northern side of San Juan Island this afternoon.  By the time I was heading out with a 5:30 charter, that same group had moved to just off Yellow Island - about 10 minutes outside of Friday Harbor.

This charter group was lively.  And by that, I mean: they were knocking back the drinks.  On a private charter, they can purchase a "Banquet License" from the State of Washington, allowing them to have alcohol (can't do that on public trips).

There are way fewer commercial boats in the evening.  However, being this close to Friday Harbor, the word gets out, and we had plenty of private boats...

Yes, I know that doesn't look like "plenty"... that was only the view from the front.  I would rather have twice as many commercial boats - those captains know to watch around them, they "play by the rules," and they are considerate.  Most of these people were not.  With a dozen or so private boats, they were constantly blasting in front of us, cutting off our view.  There was plenty of room for everyone, if everyone played nice.  Also, with the commercial operators, you don't have them running right up on the whales.  Again, not the case with some of these private boats.

On the bright side, there were whales...

Look close at the image immediately above: do you see the baby in front?  The whales were being active, but with all the unpredictable traffic, I didn't have much opportunity (as ususal) for photos.

At one point, my inebriated guests were quite taken with what they called: The James Bond Boat...

We moved south with the whales.  I broke off for a while (we had plenty of time) to get some space and see some other wildlife - they got to see seals and eagles.  Then, back to the whales...

We rode along with the whales to Cattle Pass, then sat with the motor off, enjoying our last views of these transients.  Time to head back north to Friday Harbor...

As you can tell from the photos, it was a mostly gray evening.  Chilly.  (I had on a turtleneck, a fleece vest, and a jacket.)  A little bit of color to the west...

Definitely, the closest whales for me this season.  It was a happy group of guests that got off the boat and walked (mostly steady) down the dock.  After 9:00 when I left the boat, heading to the scoot.  And, a chilly ride home.