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.
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, even DH (ok, that stands for dear husband and sometimes damn husband for you newbies out there) was not fishing and able to spend a few quality hours with the fam. (B was there too, she was just right next to me.) Notice K holding the leash of the lamb, I mean Gretel. She has a penchants for jumping overboard to enjoy the water, no matter how far out we are. Crazy warm weather for New England in June. Maybe it will last the summer?
