There was plenty free of parking right near the marina, so we dropped the truck and headed over to see what deal we could make. Turns out there were no deals. Everyone had the same price. No group discounts (or at least not for just three people). No worries, $25 wasn't overly expensive for a 4 hour tour....a 4 hour tour......
We settled on none other than Captain Hook, a transplanted Texan. An English speaking captain was ideal, since there would be no translation issues. We still had about 2 hours before the tour started, so we wandered through the town and picked up some lunch for the 12:00 tour.
Who can resist visiting a Mexican dentist?
This sculpture was near the marina.
Named "Whale Man".
We were told to show up right at noon. We offered to arrive early, but the woman who sold us the tickets (the captain's Mexican wife) said "No, twelve o'clock OK". We should have assumed the time was flexible, and very unlikely to leave on time.
We arrived 5 minutes early anyway, and were told we could load onto the boat. Her son was preparing the boat, and would be there to help us aboard. It was a decent sized boat, and we were the first to arrive, so we checked out the facilities and viewing options. There bow was a large flat deck ideal for viewing, but not so comfortable. The stern had a couple of plastic deck chairs and away from the wind, but no great viewing. Between was an enclosed 'lounge' area with a love seat and rocker chair. Perfect for what should be a cold ride out to the ocean. We selected this space, and would move out to one of the decks later.
We waited about 15 minutes before another 4 people came aboard. We figured this was the last minute stragglers and we'd now be on our way. No so. 12:30 comes by and Matt decides to take a walk up to the pier and see what the hold up was. The captain's son says we'll be going shortly, just waiting for the captain to finish up something. 1:00 comes and goes. I head back to where we bought the tickets. The wife says I just missed the Captain, he should be on the boat and heading out any second. I rush back to the boat to find a half dozen more customers aboard plus Captain Hook & his son. I'm not late though. They're working on the engines. It's not until 1:30 (90 minutes late!!!) that we finally depart.
Vancouver is pretty laid-back, but this is ridiculous.
Forgot to mention the third crew member
One of the biggest flags you'll ever see
looms over the harbour
Hundreds of pelicans congregate on the outer break wall
There were two viewing areas we didn't originally consider. When we were coming up to the first spotting area, the Captain looked back to Matt, Vicky & I, and said the view from the helm was one of the best "come on up if you want. Or, you can go up top". Up top? We didn't even notice the third deck.
Took this picture after the tour.
Note the obvious bench seat above the captain (red jacket)
I didn't need to be asked twice, and headed straight to the top. Vicky decided she'd brave the ladder as well and joined me. Matt headed up to the helm deck.
Great view from up top :)
You can see blowhole spray well before the whale itself. Everyone was on spray watch duty. Didn't take too long to spot our first whale of the day. The captain quickly headed over.
It was difficult to time the surfacing and get good pictures.
Getting closer
Perhaps even better than the whales, were the schools of dolphins that accompanied them. It was nearly impossible to get a good picture of them. They're just so darned fast. When we were near the whales, they constantly played alongside the boat. When leaving the whale, they'd play for about a half mile before dropping pursuit.
Barely got these two.
Two more just after a whale had surfaced in the distance.
We stayed with this whale for about 20 minutes, then went searching for a pair who were reported to be in the area. It didn't take too long to find them.
They were stingy about showing their tails, and Matt was the only one to get a clear picture. I got two blurry shots, and that's it.
Picture of the day?
We tracked down one more and watched him for a about 15 minutes before he lost us. It was time to head back in.
About half way back to the harbour, we spot about a hundred dolphins in three groups. A few had a play in our wake, and we also passed a lone seal feeding in the deep waters.
We travel back to the campsite in darkness and fog. The fog was so thick at times, that I had to drop down to under 15kph for safety. Some cars just pulled off the road. It was an interesting drive, but we arrived without incident.
We'd have dinner in the trailer tonight. And of course a couple of cervazas.
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