I boarded just after 9 a.m. and Andy, Danielle and I set off on stormy seas for Ucluelet after fending off Aleydabeth and waving good bye to the crew. It was wet and rainy and I was decked out in all the rain gear I could find....turned out to be a good decision.
Gwyneth managed a healthy 6 knots with the wind in her back under sail and we were quite heeled over, enough that skipper spilled some wind to make me feel a little more comfortable. The weather grew increasingly worse and the ocean swells increased to about a meter. The return trip was a lot faster, and we made Ucluelet within a couple of hours, returning through the amazing whaling area that we had come through the day before. She did not disappoint.
The weather was secondary to the up close and personal encounters with the Humpbacks. One breached at the bow of the boat and came right out of the water, while another rose beside us, rolled to her side and waved her flipper at us for quite some time. She gave us lovely whale tails as she frolicked around us. It was truly magical. Andy was up on deck trying to snap photographs, but I just gave up and thought I would take mental pictures and not miss a thing! The display was so mesmerizing, we cut the engine and just waited and watched. Zodiacs with tour groups were circling around us trying to get a glimpse. What a day!
I was glad to make landfall, and I spent a wet chilly day waiting for Mike to hitchike back to us, and bring the car so I could get home. Lyle and Anthony had the same weather heading to Bamfield, but the wind against them all the way. It was apparently quite a tough day for them.
By 10 p.m. I was back in that unreal world of my little condo with my fireplace blazing - the amazing events of the day already fading to memory.