A Whale of a Day!

We have been wanting to get out and see if we can find the gray whales but our last attempt with family was very windy and too rough to stay out. Today we had calm seas and even though it rained a little it was great for cruising. We took Margaret and David, Janice and Mike, Sharon and Al, and Jerry (Holly was not feeling well) out with us. We loved discovering we could have 9 adults on the boat for an afternoon of fun and we had plenty of room. The salon is so much bigger than in our last boat. The pilothouse easily held six of us at a time and there were times we squeezed in more. I can see that getting the 42' was a great move for us. More room for friends and family!

Bob checked to see where the whale tour boats were heading and they were out by Hat Island. That worked out well because we did not have to travel far and were able to spend most of our time just watching for the whales. Everyone brought food so we had a feast for our lunch! Sharon even made a "whale" fruit bowl for us.

Before and after lunch we saw several whales. Once we saw two together and it appeared that one was a calf with its mother. There was a lot of spouting and occasionally a fluke appeared. It's difficult to get pictures because by the time I would spot one and raise my camera, it would go below the surface. My best luck came by setting the camera for continuous clicks. I did manage to get a few of the fluke and was surprised to even find one with his head out of the water.

We had a wonderful day and couldn't have been happier with the whales that we saw. Thank you to our friends who made the time to join us!