Mine is a glamorous job...

Some people think so.  A swaggering captain; running someone else's boat; not having to pay for the fuel when you put a couple hundred gallons on; out watching the whales.  OK, other than the "swaggering" part, that stuff is true.

Then, there is the other side: you go, even if the weather is less than ideal (fog, wind, waves, rain) - oh, sure, we would call a trip if the weather was too bad... haven't seen that, yet, here.  But, there are days when you'd look outside, and if you were running your own boat, you'd say, "Nahhh, I don't think so."  On your own boat, you decide where you want to go... I pretty much go where the whales are... and sometimes where they "aren't" (I've been fortunate so far this season).  You have a diverse bunch of people on the boat, all with expectations - and it's your job to meet those expectations.

I prep the boat.  I work on the boat.  I am responsible for those people on the boat, so I want everything working like it should.  I have 1st mates who clean, but I am responsible for what goes on with the boat, so if there is ugly, unpleasant, or dangerous cleaning work, I do that.

I had good whale reports today.  That's the good news.  The not-so-good news: pretty lumpy conditions where the whales were reported.  We had two young kids (6 and 12) on the boat today... kids eat some awful food, and seem to be the most prone to sea-sickness when conditions get rough.

I think you know where I am going with this.

I had a wonderful 1st mate on the boat today: she is hard working, smart, and a quick learner.  I did tell her (and she already knew): "If someone doesn't feel well, if they go into the head compartment, they WILL get worse.  It won't be pretty."

Of course, the 6 year old told the 1st mate she "had to pee."  And by "had to pee," she meant: projectile vomiting.  In a relatively small, enclosed compartment.

I was at the helm, trying to position the boat so the people could view the whales and still make the ride as comfortable as possible.  The whales thought it would be funny to run with the waves on their beam.  Yes, that mean we were talking that rolling chop on our beam.  I did my best to keep turning the boat into the bigger waves, but then I had to come back to line up with the whales again.  I had no idea what was going on with the yakking child.  Oh, and her brother was yakking over the side of the boat.  At least that is easy to hose off.

I found out about all this when the 1st mate came to the helm, looking green herself.  "What's going on?" I asked.  She told me about the kids.  And then told me, "I cleaned up as much of it as I could, but then I started getting sick."

I let her sit for a minute, then had her take the helm (staying busy helps with mal-de-mer). I gave her some wrist bands to put on the kids (oh, and they never gave them back).  Then told her, "If this happens again, we close the head for the rest of the trip.  Better to clean it when we get back to the dock."  Then I told her, "You are the toughest 1st mate I have worked with - I am VERY impressed."

I went down and visited with the guests.  Except the two kids, most of them looked OK.  They were enjoying the whale viewing.  I let them know that "this will be our last looks," then went back to the helm and put the bow into the waves and headed for smoother water.  We looked at seals and eagles.  I checked on them again - even the kids were fine.  Plenty of smiles.

At the end of the trip, people were very gracious - they had a great viewing, even if the conditions were a bit lumpy (first time this season for me - and that is pretty amazing).  The 1st mate and I put on rubber gloves and thoroughly cleaned the walls and floor of the head compartment.  Yes, a very glamorous job, indeed.

No photos.  Trust me, that is better this time.  ;-)