INCREDIBLE morning! We got so so so lucky with the weather – sunny, semi-warm, barely a cloud in the sky and the calmest water I’ve seen yet.
Yoga was on deck at 7am, and we were supposed to hike and kayak in the morning. Right at 7:30, Sue came on the intercom and informed us that there were humpbacks up ahead, and that instead of going ashore, we were going to follow them. It turned out to be a great show, with the whales bubble net feeding almost right on top of the ship. Literally. After watching them for about an hour – which Pete said is a great feat on the captain’s part to keep us moving that slowly and in such a small space for that length of time – Gretchen informed us that while we were busy watching the humpbacks, another group of whales – orcas – were nearby ahead and that we were going to follow them. It was amazing to watch. There were 6 or 7 of them, soon joined by a mama and her calf, and another large male. The baby was right on his mom’s hip splashing around. They were playful at first, but they were traveling, so we traveled right along with them, sailing slowly for almost 2 hours.
There was a short talk on killer whales right before lunch, but I wanted to take advantage of the sunshine, so I went up to the top deck and stretched out on a deck chair in the bright sun. Our after-lunch treat was an ice cream sundae on the top deck, and I think most of us enjoyed the warmth and camaraderie.
At 2:00, we prepped to go onshore. I had planned on taking the long hike, so I kayaked first. Several people wanted to leave the ship, but didn’t want to kayak or hike, so they participated in the first ever Lindblad Stationary Hike. We were given an hour and a half to kayak in this large cove right off the channel. It was the site of something old (I wrote gypsum factory in my journal, but for some reason I don’t think that’s right?) and there were a handful of pylons at the point. When I first paddled out there, there was a young bald eagle atop the tallest pylon, and as I got closer, an adult eagle flew out of the forest and over my head.
The rest of the cove was large, and at the far end there were tidal pools and a lot of seaweed. It took me about an hour to paddle the cove, and I went back to shore early. We – we being me and 4 or 5 others – took a short walk with Carlos out along the beach. I couldn’t go alone, because if a bear were to come out of the forest near me, I’d probably be lunch, and no one wants to watch a girl get eaten by a bear.
Our long hike group was huge – most of the other family and a few other individuals – so we split into two groups with Gretchen and Pete leading us. Our group, Gretchen’s, found six banana slugs – huge slimy slugs with antennae -, a full deer spine and skull skeleton, a dead bald eagle on the beach (sad, but true) and some trash (coolers, dish soap bottles) that has probably come up into the forest with large waves or tides. We ended our walk out along the beach near the tidal pools, where we played with small hermit crabs (they tickle your palms!) and little anemones that grip your finger when you put it into the center. Kind of a weird feeling.
After a hot shower, cocktail hour was part recap, part photography lesson for tomorrow – people shots. Dinner was delicious as always, and we ended the night playing Apples to Apples in a large group of the young kids. It turned out hilarious, mostly when Alex picked “gangsters” to win for the word “relaxing” – this is because Vic and I said, “yeah gangsters are always chillin’ out max, relaxin’ all cool, shootin’ some bball outside of the school…”
The sea was really choppy for most of the evening, and I found out later that it’s because we had been sailing up the Chatham Strait, which is where the winds can come right up from the coastline, and it only started to calm when we turned into the Frederick Strait around midnight.