A whale of a good time at work...

An interesting day out on the water today - lots of whales, including a humpback that I couldn't get close to because... there were Orcas between us and the whale!

The folks on our boat got quite a show. Fortunately, they had a good spirit of adventure, as well - coming out from behind the wind shadow of San Juan Island, Haro Strait was kicking up. 20+ mile per hour wind out of the SW will do that. We paced a half dozen Orcas, until Turn Point on Stuart Island made it pretty important to do a 270º turn (maybe that's why they call it that? ). We had to take 3+ foot waves on the beam for a while, making for some rockin' and rollin'. To give our guests a better ride, I turned into the waves, quartered off just a bit to make some headway, then spun the boat to surf back towards the whales with the wave action. When I could ease the power back so the guests could hear me, I shouted down to make sure everyone was doing alright.

We did that for a while, when I got a report of the humpback north and east of us. I could see the spray from his blow, but never saw him above the waves... the spray is a lot bigger than that thrown by the Orcas. I made every effort to get us closer, but the Orcas had other ideas... like the old saying about "couldn't see the forest for the trees," we couldn't see the whale for the whales.

When the naturalist told me that one guest was feeling a bit green (and understandable with the conditions), I turned us toward some protection near Stuart Island. The clear conditions made for great viewing, and we were treated to a couple bald eagle fly overs. In through the calm water in Johns Pass, watched a seal and some seagulls wrestling for fish, another eagle, and back towards Friday Harbor. The wind vs current in San Juan Channel made it a bit lumpy on the way back, but nothing like we had earlier.

Joan took me out for pizza for Father's Day, and we were home in time to talk with our sweet daughter once more. Sorry I couldn't be with our little girl, but still a very nice Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day...

Quite a few titles I've garnered over the years (Master of Photography, Certified Professional Photographer, Captain, etc), but the one I use with the most pride is... Dad.  A lot of miles separate us from our daughter this year (we got to see her for Father's Day last year in the Tetons), but there are two cards with my name on them that I'll wait to open when we talk.

I had a very nice phone visit with Dan, our son-in-law, yesterday.  We love him like a son. 

I am on-call today, and will find out in a couple hours if I have a trip (4 of the last 5 years, I've been driving a boat on Father's Day... well driving someone else's boat, I think I was driving our own boat on that 5th year).  Joan has to go in early this morning to open the office.  Looks like I may have some Cat Daddy bonding today if I don't have to go drive a boat.  Not the same, even though the cat is mighty sweet.  ;-)

But, nothing beats that Daddy-daughter bond.  I'll miss getting a big hug today, but I'll make up for it the next time we're together.

Happy Father's Day.

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On edit:

Not long after writing this, my darling little girl called.  We talked for about an hour.  Best part of the day!  She mixed it up this year... we always do two cards for special occasions, one funny, one mushy.  She had me open the mushy one first.  Damn, I wasn't ready for that... usually I can toughen myself up for the mushy one, but still the eyes will well up.  It was more than that this year.

When I look at her, I see the best of both her Mother and me.  If there's anything I've done to make this world a better place, our daughter embodies it.  We are so very proud of her.

Joan just called from work, and it looks like I'll be heading in today.  I really enjoy this job, but it WAY down the list from my favorite: my lifetime job of being Dad.  To paraphrase, it isn't a job, it is an adventure! 

Fog...

Our trip today took us once again towards the west side of the island.  We shoved off in the rain, ran north in the rain, turned west in the rain, and then it slacked off to a drizzle.  We turned north where Spieden Channel and Haro Straight meet and were treated to the matriarch of J-Pod, J-2, better known as Granny.  She is somewhere around 100 years old, and was off by herself today.  The drizzle lightened as we ran south, getting to see more whales.  Our guests on the boat were delighted with what we saw.

Coming back in, we ran into fog... thick fog.  The visibility went from miles to 100 feet or so.  We had to slow to steerage speed.  It was good to have two sets of eyes in the helm, both able to use the radar and keep a watch.

Having to keep the helm door open for visibility, I was glad to be wearing my foulies (they don't get much use since we aren't sailing anymore)... it was wet.  Several of our guests had flown in on Kenmore Air; I called the office to see what their situation would be.  After checking with Kenmore, I was told that this was pretty localized, and expected to move away from Friday Harbor in time for Kenmore to get in and out.  It didn't look promising when we came into our dock and tied off, but an hour after I got home, there was a bit of blue sky showing and plenty of visibility.  Timing.

Good experience.  Real good whale watching today.

When the rain comes...

... they run and hide their heads.  It's an old Beatles song.  The rain is back; coming down pretty heavy earlier this morning, now just a steady mist. 

Joan has the day off, I'm scheduled to be one of the naturalists today, so I'll be getting my rain gear out.

We get some interesting questions:

"Do you still go out if it's raining?"  Yep.  Most of the seating is under cover.  There is a nice warm cabin on the bigger boat.  We provide rain slickers.  Be sure you have some way of keeping your camera dry.

"Do the whales still come out in the rain?"  Really?  They live IN the water.  They are mammals, so they have to come up to breathe.  If it's raining really hard, we provide rain slickers for the whales, too.

"Really?"  No, not really. ;-)

Got to see "Big" Mike today...

Part of the J-Pod of Orcas, Mike (aka J-26) was the star of the whale watching today.  We didn't have to go far, just to the NW side of San Juan Island, and were treated to a lot of whale activity.  As you'd expect, a lot of happy guests on the boat.  On the way back to Friday Harbor, 3 bald eagles gave us a great fly-by.  Then, a juvenile bald eagle and a bunch of active harbor porpoise... a really fun day on the water!

One in a row!

It is supposed to be a beautiful day here today.  Al Roker even said, "A beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest!" so I know it's true (those guys never lie).  Lots of sunshine and highs in the mid to upper 60s.  Ah, how the perspective has changed - that would be a winter day in the Tropical Tip. ;-)

I'll be on a boat today - driving if there's a second boat going out, otherwise as a guide on the bigger boat.  Should be a great day to be out on the water!

Now, about the next four days (rain, rain).

I'm not the only one enjoying the sunshine...

Wish I could sleep sitting up... you know, other than when I'm driving a boat. (kidding)

Ingenuity:  Gorilla Tape isn't just for the manly jobs...

Joan's hair gel bottle came apart.  We're talking hair care here - she had it "fixed" in no time. :-)

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One month today since we arrived at Friday Harbor.  Where does the time go?

Those whales are a long ways off...

I knew I was going to run long on today's trip when it took me two hours to get TO the whales... for a three hour trip.  Nope, can't make up that kinda time.  We had reports that the whales were in Plumper Sound just before we left.  I guess they heard we were coming - they ran north, then west through Active Pass.  By the time we caught up with them, they were into the Strait of Georgia.  BUT, we did get our guests some whale watching, including a nice breach just as we came upon the whales.

I had the naturalist check with everyone to make sure no one had to make an early ferry or catch a plane... they were here to see whales, so we were good to go... and go.

Back to our dock just over an hour late.  Our other boat got back earlier for a very quick turn around, but I didn't have a second trip today.  Just as we thanked our passengers and I headed back up to the helm, I heard, "Hey, Captain Jim!"

It was our friend, Casey!  I invited him onboard while I shut everything down and put the boat to bed for the day.  After Joan and I got off work, we met Casey at his boat (nice CC-23) for a pleasant happy hour before the 3 of us walked uptown for supper out.

We're excited for Casey that he has some fun summer cruising ahead.

After we parted company for the evening, the wind died to the point that the water in the marina was glassy, with a reflection of the days last rays in the water...

All I had with me was my cell phone, but the light was very pretty.  No image manipulation, and it looks like a watercolor.  Just a few seconds later, and walking the other direction, the soft light on the marina was gone, as the sun slipped behind the hill...

A nice ending to the day.