Monday, August 30, 2010

Just Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale...

It was my turn yesterday to see the whales that are as close as 1/2 mile off the outer beaches of Chatham! I have never been on an "official" whale watch before and this was really not official, but our purpose was to see some whales!

We boarded Matt's* fishing boat with his brother(Timmy), our sister in law(Kathryn) and their son, J. I had the Giligan's Island song in my head, but hoped that our "3 hour tour" was going to be just that: 3 hours.

Because K is a teenager, she was more concerned with looking cool and being unamused with our antics, Fritos and cold beer.

I took some pictures of the boat, because even though it smells like fish guts, some of the parts are very photogenic. This is the hauler, the machine used to pull in the nets.

This is a variety of ropes. I have no idea what they were doing there, but they were colorful.

This is the life saving device that looked as if it were 20 years old. Thankfully, we didn't need to use it. It may have disintegrated when it hit the water.

J and B were on the look out for whale tails.

K was looking off the bow. She found a jellyfish instead of a whale's tail.

B already showed you some great shots, so I will add in just a few of my own here.


Here are 2 whales side by side. You can see one blowing out it's blowhole.

Then we saw a boat on fire nearer the shore. We heard about it first on the radio when someone was getting in touch with the Coast Guard. I don't believe anyone got hurt, but I guess people on the beach could see if very clearly.

It was a beautiful, sunny day with the 70's satellite radio playing loud. Yes, J has a sweet cast on due to a trip in soccer.

B had on some sweet mirrored shades.

K was cool, but we did get her to dance a little when Michael Jackson came on.

The wake from the back of the boat was pretty cool. The girls call pictures like this my artsy-fartsy pictures.

Here we are arriving at the Chatham Fish Pier. J and B gave all the tourists a show by dancing on the fish boxes as we pulled in. I am sure a few tourists went home with the tales of the crazy fishing boat with kids on it.

All in all, a great afternoon! Whales are amazing! You can hear them blow out their blow holes a ways away. I was hoping to see some jump out of the water, but was just happy to see some tails in the end.

*Yes, Matt and I can be in the same place at the same time, but, no, we are not getting back together. Just saying.

9 comments:

Melisa Wells said...

Looks like so much fun!
I'd LOVE to go on a whale watch, official or not!

By the way, are you and Matt getting back together???

(HAHA just kidding)

Rosemarie said...

Great post! We've been to the Chatham fish pier many times so it's great to see it from the other side!

Lisa Noel said...

love whales and your GORGEOUS photos, especially the artsy fartsy ones! (a term my mom also loved)

Melissa with two S's said...

I really miss the water and being stranded here in the midwest is no help but your pictures help!! MIss you guys tons....

Kathy said...

How exciting, your own, personal whale watch! I have gone 3 times, as the kids all go in 2nd or 3rd grade with their classes. It is a beautiful and magnificent sight to see those whales!

Haddock said...

Enjoyed the tale and the tail.
Some good pictures here.

Unknown said...

I LOVE the 'ropes' photo!!! I am so envious...can i pretty please come stay with you? =)

Anonymous said...

Amazing day! I love all your pictures!

LOL...love the disclaimer at the end! :)

Caution/Lisa said...

Now I'm going to sing that stupid song all day!

P.S. Thanks for clarifying the Matt thing. I was wondering!