The only report we received for whales was at Point Roberts. That is a point of land that is part of the US, but the only way to reach it by land is to pass into Canada first... you can get there by boat, but stopping anywhere isn't part of our whale watching. Oh, and it is a long run from Friday Harbor, especially for a "3 hour trip." Not to mention crossing the Strait of Georgia, which can potentially be some rough water.
It took us nearly an hour and a half to get there, and the Strait was downright pleasant. The guests were treated to some nice whale views, but we knew we couldn't stay long. I told them we'd make a pass to the west, where I heard there were a couple large male Orcas. Turns out that was a good move, and we were treated to two males that did a spy hop, a few tail slaps, and one nice breach!
I let the guests know we were going to be late in getting back, and they were all delighted to have gotten extra time with the whales. I put the coals to it on the way back, but the currents kept our time to about the same as the trip north. We saw seals and harbor porpoise, but it was as we passed them.
Back at the dock, the naturalist got a big round of applause, and as I came down the ladder from the flybridge, a round for the captain, too. Very nice folks.
Joan got off work just before I finished putting the boat away, so we got to walk home (well, back to the boat) together.
And now, we have two consecutive days off together... something that probably won't happen again this season. Decisions, decisions. Anchor out, head to another island in the San Juans, or bop over to Victoria. It would be easy to become a "marina boat"... it takes some effort to unhook everything, put all our stuff down, and go burn our own fuel. Even if it's a day trip, I am needing some helm time on Wild Blue. ;-)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment