Walking us home...

Well, it wasn't really walking, and it wasn't really home.

We had a full boat; an interesting diversity of guests, from one group who has been out with us several times, to some who weren't sure about this whole boat-thing.

It was a breezy day: the forecast was calling for "15 to 25 mph winds in the Strait of Juan de Fuca"... and the only report I had was... yep, Strait of Juan de Fuca.  On the bright side, the whales were moving the right direction: towards us.  Good thing, 'cause that is a long ways to go.

When we shoved off, about 10 people moved to the bow.  By the time we got to Haro Strait, the wind-driven waves were about 2 feet.  Wind from the south.  Yep, we're going south.  The 10 dwindled down to 5.  Then 3.  Then 1.  That one guy finally decided that getting wet probably wasn't the best plan.

The first mate came up to the helm and said, "A seat cushion blew overboard - what do you want to do?"

I pointed to the large ship heading towards us and said, "We're not going to go looking for a seat cushion in front of that.  Wave bye-bye to the seat cushion."

In southern Haro, the wave action began to ease up.  Then...

Yep - that's a dorsal fin.  J and L Pod are moving in from Juan de Fuca.  We turned to parallel their direction... looks like we're heading towards San Juan Island.  Looks like we're heading up-island.  That is a very good thing - we were able to spend over an hour with the whales and saw plenty of activity.  I only had time to get one other shot...

I may have to go as a guest on a whale watch trip some time so I can concentrate on taking photos.  ;-)  But, I digress.

The guests were enjoying the viewing.  A couple breaches always bring out the vocalizations... from the guests, not the whales.  I think they really appreciated seeing Granny (J-2), the oldest living member of the Southern Resident Killer Whales (estimated to be 104 years old).

When it was time to head home, the trip was much shorter - the whales had taken us east an north, about half way back.  Going north, with the wind, waves, and current moving with us was a warmer, drier trip.  Happy guests, happy crew.