Timing...

I said, "Lucky" in the previous post.  Well, I didn't have to do laundry or spruce up the boat.  I got in early to work to finish some maintenance and get the boat fueled... and found out the ferry was running an hour and a half late!  That really messes with guests being able to make it on time.  We decided to send one boat out on time, move the people who were here from the second boat on to the first, and hold the second boat for an hour late departure.  We were doing our best to accommodate everyone... no good deed goes unpunished.  A couple parties were upset because they weren't on the adult boat... I explained to them that both boats were going to have kids on them, thanks to the ferry being late all day long.

No one in the area saw Orcas today.  I guess they didn't see them yesterday, either.  We worked hard to find some Minke whales, went out of the way to see bald eagles and stellar sea lions.  The water was calm compared to my last trip.  We went out of our way to be sure no one missed a trip.

I got off one boat and got on the other, just in time to shove off.  Lots of miles, and we didn't see a whale until towards the end of the trip, and then it was one shy Minke.  Still, it's a whale!  Plenty of other wildlife.

The water was great, the sunset was beautiful, the weather was perfect (I only had two layers on most of the day - a first!).  But, we didn't see Orcas.  It could not have been a more beautiful day on the water.

While walking back to our boat as darkness settled in, a guy asked me, "Do you work at the marina?"

"No, I'm a boat captain, but can I answer something for you?"

"Do people, like, stay over night on boats here?"

"Yeah, they sure do.  This marina allows liveaboards, so there are folks here who live on their boats."

He had a wife and two young boys with him, and they were all fascinated with the fact that people could live on a boat.  I visited with them while we all walked along the docks.  It certainly gave them something to think about.  It gave me something to think about, too... we had a few frumpy people because we didn't see Orcas... but, it was a wonderful day to be on the water!  We saw lots of interesting wildlife and had perfect weather.  And at the end of the day, I get to stay on my boat. :-)

On edit, a couple images, showing the beautiful day and flat water...