It's an old Jim Croce song. And today, I felt like Rambling Roy. We didn't have any whale reports when I came in early to work (the boat needed to be fueled). Nothing when I was done fueling. Finally, one vague report of a Minke south of Lopez Island, but no Orcas.
We headed south and after seeing seals, sea lions and eagles in Cattle Pass, we headed southeast to find a Minke. One other whale boat was out there and had a sighting... but hadn't seen it in a while. I looked around, and three boats were heading in that direction. I guess the four of us were on a Minke hunt. We each took a position and started looking. The Minke popped up in front of our boat, to the delight of our guests. About 4 seconds later, we got a report of a dozen Orcas in East Sound (Orcas Island).
One boat questioned that report, "Are you sure? I've lived here for years and never heard of the Orcas being in East Sound."
On the radio: "I'm looking at 'em right now!"
I could not have been choreographed better: the four boats that were looking for the Minke rotated and headed south. Three other boats that were in the vicinity of Cattle Pass turned around. I asked my guests, "Anyone here on a tight schedule? We have a report of Orcas, and we're going to put the coals to it!"
A cheer from the guests and we were running at high cruise... and an extra 3.5 knots of current in our favor! The naturalist asked me, "How long will it take to get there?"
"30 to 35 minutes, if we can keep up this pace. Get the folks excited to see Orcas."
It looked like an armada, with 7 or 8 boats all heading the same direction... fast. We picked our way through the crowd, knowing that we'd probably be the second or third boat on the scene when we got there. I saw the whales surfacing and picked the side that would give our guests the best light for photographs.
The Orcas were moving slowly southward in East Sound, so I turned off the engine and we drifted along, getting a great view and moving at just the right pace. Two other boats pulled in by us, but there was room for all of us. These were transient Orcas and seemed unusually active... we had breaches, tail lobs, spy hops, barrel rolls, and a couple moves I don't have a name for: a head stand move with the tail waving... for about 30 seconds! Then, some upside down tail slaps, followed by lots of jumps and porpoising. It was an incredible show!
At one point, we were about 100 feet off the cliff on the west side of East Sound. The engine was off, we were enjoying a great show off the back of the boat (the bow was pointed towards the cliff, we were drifting sideways). And two Orcas popped up between us and the cliff! I was caught between Orcas and a hard place. ;-) Did I mention; it was a great viewing?!!
It is about a half hour from East Sound back to Friday Harbor at our fast cruise speed. I stayed on the whales for as long as possible, knowing it wasn't going to be a problem if we were a bit late getting back. We had some very happy guests on the boat. At one point on the way back, we had a perfect view of Mount Baker off the stern - I stopped the boat briefly so anyone who wanted could take photos. Then, back to making some miles.
When we got back to the dock, one guy said to me, "You can really drive a boat. I saw what you were doing, riding the wake of those bigger boats, drafting... you should be a stock car driver!"
I guess that was a compliment. I did take advantage of currents and wakes to gain some speed where I could. Getting to know the water here so you have some idea of where to be in any particular channel helps, too.
It turned out to be a very fun day! Warm, too - I didn't need a jacket! :-)
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