Searching for Whales in San Juan Islands
Trip Start
Jul 16, 2010
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11
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Trip End
Jul 25, 2010
Friday Harbor, Washington
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The boat ride from Seattle to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands was 3 hours (almost as long as the plane ride from Texas to Seattle for perspective). We rode on a boat called the Victoria Clipper III (check out the picture) which is a charter from Clipper Vacations. There was a mid-sized crowd on the boat, not enough to feel crowded but enough to fill all the tables and to have someone on all the rows of seats inside the vehicle. The boat had three levels: two inside seating levels and an outdoor upper-level allowing unobstructed 360 degree views for those brave enough to face the chilling winds of the moving boat.
Aria started out our journey by promptly falling asleep. As I mentioned in the previous blogs we had a late night at the ballgame last night and the alarm clock went off at 5:15am this morning so that's to be expected. The cloudy, cool morning with low visibility made for good sleeping weather. Laneshia and Jadin played some games on her I-phone and I read a little before eventually Laneshia and I both fell asleep joining Aria in ZZZ-Land. Jadin? Well, he had his DSi and was not letting sleep get in his way of playing it.
Eventually the clouds begin to thin out and visibility increased once we woke up about 1 1/2 hours into the trip. The route to San Juan was lovely as we progressed through a string of
large & small islands, passages and inlets. Along the way an onboard naturalist--a Clipper Vacations tour guide--pointed out interesting facts about the landscape and helped to identify some of the sealife, which wasn't much. We didn't see any sealions but did see bald eagles and a lot of gulls (the naturalist let it be know that those white birds we saw were NOT "sea"gulls and you would insult him if you called them that - there are no such birds named "seagulls"... and don't you forget it!).
Regardless of the lack of other sealife visible we did see plenty of sea... ur, I mean gulls. The view was great once we got closer to the city of Friday Harbor which is on the San Juan Island - the largest of the San Juan Islands.
Once at Friday Harbor we dropped some folks off who were just along for the ride to the city and the majority of folks, us included, remained on the boat and headed out to waters farther north to track down the whales.
By this time the clouds were pretty much gone and it turned out to be a very nice day. However I still felt a chill standing in the wind of a fast moving boat.
After another 45 mins to 1 hour boat rode we all of sudden slowed... whale spotted! Well at that specific time I was up on the outdoor deck and Laneshia and the kids were downstairs. Luckily, I had the camera as my view allowed me to see at least four whales (check out one picture I got of a whale doing a pike). As for Laneshia and the kids, they weren't so fortunate only seeing one once.
Seems people go crazy over whales - once one is spotted the naturalist would say: "Whale at 3 O'Clock!" and everyone would run fast as they could to the right side of the boat. As the whale became visible to came up for air, which lasts all of 1.5 seconds, everyone who saw it would go "ohhh" in unison. Comical stuff.
Because whales would break into small pods to go hunting they seem to be in different areas sounding the boat. Next thing you know you'd hear: "Whale at 2 O'Clock" and there goes the crowd running.
After all that we headed back to Friday Harbor for a two hour layover before the ship headed back to Seattle. This allowed us to grab a bite to eat and do a brief bit of sightseeing.
Friday Harbor is a charming marina community of just over 2,000 permanent residents There are only a few streets in the main downtown area filled with souvenir shops, restaurants and various small boutiques. It was a beautiful sunny day with a temperature probably around 80 degrees. We ate at a restaurant called the Hungary Clam with the self-proclaimed "Worlds best fish and chips". With that claim I had to have some and so did Aria. I was a little bit disappointed. I'd like to find the "Worlds second-best fish and chips" and compare.
Laneshia had shrimp which she said was "so-so" and I don't remember what Jadin ate. Regardless to my take on the food, it must be considered good because unbeknown to us until after the fact, we sat practically right next to Tom Hanks. Tom and his family sat at an outside table right on the opposite side of the wall to our inside table. We spotted him getting up to leave after a man come in commenting "that was Tom Hanks!". Let me say, he looks very different in person (those movie make-up artists work wonders) hate to be blunt. But I love his work and glad to have eaten at a restaurant he ate at. The restaurant workers were buzzing having served him. OK, that's my 10-seconds of "you'll never believe who I saw!" moment. Enough of that.
During dinner I emphasized to the kids we had to be back at the boat at 4pm "or
we'll miss the boat and get stuck here". I should not of said that to a six-year-old. The
rest of our time in Friday Harbor Aria was a Nervous Nelly worried we were going to miss the boat.
After eating we walked the town shopping in a couple of toy stores and another shop for souvenirs. As we went in a store Aria would sigh and say "Dad, let's go, we're going to be late". She would not enjoy herself until we got back to the boat - literally.
The boat ride back was a sunny one but still too cool for Laneshia and the kids to spend much time up top. But I went up, just to enjoy the great view and feel the wind in my short hair. Aria eventually came up for a while as did Laneshia and Jadin for a moment before going back down to the warmness of the cabin.
The approach to Seattle provided a great visual of the downtown skyline and Space Needle. I loved it.
After we returned to the hotel we were all pretty much drained. I ate some leftover pizza while Laneshia ordered spaghetti for her and kids. I passed out soon after.
Comments
I'm glad you all are having a great time. Having good weather in Seattle is no small achievement. I've been there and it was overcast and/or rained the whole time. Enjoy!
What an interesting trip! I am enjoying the pictures and narratives. Looks like you guys are having a great adventure. I love the itinerary Curvie.