The 49th Parallel...

That's the dividing line between the US and Canada from the Strait of Georgia to Lake of the Woods on the Minnesota/Canada border;  look up Point Roberts some time - if you're going there by land, you have to cross into Canada to get to that portion of the US.

So, what do you do on your day off?

Thanks for asking.  My Honey made bacon and eggs for breakfast.  Then, sent me off to work.  Yeah, the young lady who does the scheduling asked if I'd take a charter today.

Sure.

Seemed easy enough.  Two and a half hours earlier than our normal trips, so I figured I'd be off early afternoon.

I got a whale report before the guests arrived: they were a long ways from us, moving away, and moving fast.  The guests checked in 10 minutes early... great, getting out sooner is better.  Then, they decided to use the bathroom before getting on the boat.  In shifts.  Slow shifts.  So much for getting out early.

I put the coals to it and had the first mate check to see if we were on any time constraint.  Nope.  Well, this charter may run longer than the scheduled time.  I was on a mission.  Just the opposite of yesterday, where the whales were reasonably close, moving closer, and not moving fast.

For those keeping track, the whales were north of Turn Point and moving at 9 knots away from us.  The chess game: see which way they go after Turn Point: north up Swanson Channel, or north east in Boundary Pass.  They committed to going up Swanson.  I double checked the current charts to see if I one way was better than another to try to catch them - yep.  By the time I got to Swanson Channel, they had moved past North Pender Island, and were heading for Active Pass.  I was gaining on them, but these animals were on a mission, too.  By the time I got to Active Pass, they were already through the Pass and into the Strait of Georgia.  Damn.  Apparently, they weren't stopping to eat or play.

Finally caught up with them a couple miles into the Strait of Georgia... an hour and 45 minutes into a 3 hour trip... and continuing to move away.  Knowing that the tidal currents would be adverse pretty much all the way back home... and we will be going back, eventually.

I told the first mate to let the guests know that we would have 20 to 25 minutes with the whales, and would be at least an hour late in getting back.  They were happy for the extra effort we were making.

These were some of the same whales we spent time with yesterday, including Mike.  At this point, they were moving about 7 knots, and were beyond Point Roberts.  We said our good-byes to the whales and took a different route back to Friday Harbor, to avoid the strongest adverse currents.  As far as scenery, besides getting to see the whales, our guests got to see some of the scenic splender of the San Juans Islands, Gulf Islands, and the city of Vancouver in the background behind the whales.

I had an invite from a pretty Blonde for a lunch date.  I let her know it might be more of an early supper date.  We ran an hour beyond their charter time (they were very pleased), and then had to fuel the boat.  Seems we used quite a bit more fuel today than yesterday.  ;-)  And then had to clean the boat.

But, the sun was shining, the water was nearly smooth most of the way, and we did get to the whales.  And, the pretty Blonde understood the timing as we walked to the restaurant.

I could use a day off.  :-)

---------------

(No, I didn't even get the camera out of my bag today... we have had some higher than normal tides recently, and there are a lot of logs that have come off the shorelines, bobbing around in the water.  You can't take your eyes off the forward scan.)

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0408/feature7/