Whale watching boats left from the bay we were anchored in almost daily. There was also a research vessel (S/V Balena) based here. We would listen in on radio communications between these boats, and in so doing, learned of the whales' whereabouts - typically 4-5 nautical miles west off the mainland. Andrew, Balena's captain, referred to the whales by name (Sour Sop, Snowman, Lady Oracle...). He and his research team were involved in tagging whales and in detangling those who had encounters with nets.
We decided to try our own luck at whale watching. Jaro & Vivian from Cape Crusader, and their guests Bruce & Joan, came aboard Serenada to join in the quest. We had a gorgeous day with relatively settled seas, and enough wind to sail. Gil threw out a line, hoping to add 'Catch of the Day' to the outing.
Sure enough, not long after getting 5-6 nautical miles off shore, the sightings began. "11:00 o'clock!" .... "I see them at 1:00 o'clock!" We all got excited. I hauled out my life jacket, in preparation for sitting up in the bowsprit to take pictures. Gil tried to sail the boat closer in to the whales .... but it seemed they always stayed ahead of us. A photo reward was not to be :(
Gil's line went zziiinnnnggggggg........ more excitement! Gil left the helm to tend to his line, but before I got control of it, Serenada had rounded up into the wind and switched her own tack! She went from heeling port to starboard .... just a touch too much drama for our guests. Oops. Good thing they were cruisers too! Unfortunately, there wasn't anything but weeds on Gil's line.
Without catching whales on camera, or catching fish for dinner, we returned to anchor in the bay; but we'd had a fun and exciting afternoon in good company aboard Serenada.
We decided to try our own luck at whale watching. Jaro & Vivian from Cape Crusader, and their guests Bruce & Joan, came aboard Serenada to join in the quest. We had a gorgeous day with relatively settled seas, and enough wind to sail. Gil threw out a line, hoping to add 'Catch of the Day' to the outing.
Sure enough, not long after getting 5-6 nautical miles off shore, the sightings began. "11:00 o'clock!" .... "I see them at 1:00 o'clock!" We all got excited. I hauled out my life jacket, in preparation for sitting up in the bowsprit to take pictures. Gil tried to sail the boat closer in to the whales .... but it seemed they always stayed ahead of us. A photo reward was not to be :(
Gil's line went zziiinnnnggggggg........ more excitement! Gil left the helm to tend to his line, but before I got control of it, Serenada had rounded up into the wind and switched her own tack! She went from heeling port to starboard .... just a touch too much drama for our guests. Oops. Good thing they were cruisers too! Unfortunately, there wasn't anything but weeds on Gil's line.
Without catching whales on camera, or catching fish for dinner, we returned to anchor in the bay; but we'd had a fun and exciting afternoon in good company aboard Serenada.
Whale watching from Serenada with Jaro...
Vivian
Joan & Bruce
No comments:
Post a Comment