Lumpy...

Nothing to do with Larry Mondello's brother (anyone remember "Leave It To Beaver"?  ;-)

I had a report for whales on the west side of the island... generally, a good thing.  Going north.  No, going south.  Wait a minute, where'd they go?  Again, decisions to make, as usual - just as we are leaving the harbor.  The way I looked at it: go north, and the northbound whales may be moving faster than I can run to catch them (and our boat is faster than most of the whale watching fleet)... or, go south and maybe those whales won't reappear?  Oh, and the wind is kicking up, meaning: running out to the south is going to be lumpy, but the ride back will be decent.  I decided to go south.

We were fortunate that one boat had the whales for the direction we were going... and they were moving off-shore at a pretty good clip.  The down side: it was mostly a beam sea, the most uncomfortable ride on this boat.  The guests did fine with the promise that there would be Killer Whales at the end of this long chase.  The waves were mostly 3' or a bit more, but closely spaced.

Our other boat got there before we did, because we stopped to look a few other things on the way there (I try to give my naturalist something to talk about all along the way).  I set us up in a decent position, but the whales were on a mission - they were running at about 8 knots.  The guests were delighted... and didn't seem to mind that the whales had plotted to run in a beam sea, as well.  I tried to turn up into the waves as much as I could to give them a steady viewing.  I explained what I was doing, and one guy said, "Hey, these waves aren't your fault."  The view was

One woman was trying to take photos of the whales with her phone... "Crap!"... "Crap!"... "Crap!"  I'm sure she was getting photos of water where the whales used to be.  ;-)  No doubt, the rocking of the boat didn't help, either.

After a good viewing, I turned us back towards Cattle Pass, miles away... with a 3' following sea, the ride is almost cushy!  We had over-stayed our time on the whales, so I had the naturalist check to make sure everyone would be OK with being a little late getting back - I wanted to take them by an eagle's nest on the way back.

They got to see an eagle near the nest, so it was a good stop.  When we got back, there were plenty of "thanks" both ways.  I told them that we appreciated them "hanging in there with us on that lumpy trek to the whales."  They were happy that they got to see whales.  That wasn't the case with most of the boats that went north.

As I was getting the boat put away, I could feel my shoulder and neck muscles tightening up... only one trip, but it felt like a long day.

Adding to the long day: just before I left for work, the fresh water pump on our boat quit working... no big deal, unless you want to take a shower, wash dishes, or do anything with fresh water.  We do have a fresh water washdown on a separate pump in the cockpit, but that is before the water heater.  No way will I be using that cold water!  On the bright side, we have another fresh water pump with us to replace the dead one (it's a boat, and this isn't the first pump to crap out).

When we got back to the boat after work, Joan said, "Turn on the pump."  I did, she checked at the pump... nothing happened.  She wiggled a wire, and the pump started.  This is how it has gone in the past... so, I know it won't last.  I'll use it until it quits again, then replace it... hopefully, on a day off. ;-)

On another bright side, we got a package with our mail at the office... two birthday cards and a "Wood & Steel" magazine (from Taylor Guitars)... one of the few magazines I still get.  Oh, and there was a bunch of other mail that kept Joan busy for the evening.