7/18/08 Having watched Jaws on TV last night, I felt compelled to paddle my kayak off into the wild blue yonder to look for whales out of Newport this afternoon. When I hit the water, there was a flotilla of youngsters sailing about in wooden shoes. I was informed by a young man in irons that I'd best be careful, as I had wondered into a water fight and he could guarantee my safety. I beat a hasty retreat. It was rather cool with a gloomy sky, but Pirate's Cove still bustled with hordes of inlanders escaping the heat. A plethora of colorful cabana tops lined the sand on the other side of the sea wall and there were several boats either coming or going through the jetty. It was a busy Friday afternoon. The paper had been bragging about all the whales in our waters lately. Supposedly almost twenty Blues and even a Humpback or two joined by large pods of dolphins all enjoying an unusual upwelling of nutrients. So my hopes were high and only got bolstered by the pod of dolphins I could see hopping around between me and the channel buoy. Several boats were congregating to watch the show and it was still going on five minutes or so later when I finally got out there. I headed straight out of the jetty leaving any course correction to the wind and the tide. The dolphins seemed to be a good sign and I being one of those 'the ocean is half full' kind of guys, I was feeling lucky. I always think unexpected occurrences must be an omen of whales to come, so I figured should I come across a naked mermaid, the Blues would be a foregone conclusion. I didn't see any mermaids, but did pick up a Mylar balloon, something that has proceeded all my Blue Whale sightings. Of course it's also proceeded miles and miles and miles of empty ocean as well. I paddle out of the harbor for about an hour and without Duane to slow me down, I figured I must be six miles out! There was nothing around me and I decided to hang out and hope for the best. I could hear the distant drone of jets leaving JW airport, but I was sure I'd hear any whales that might come my way. To pass the time, I treated the ocean to a rendition of my new song, "No Blue Whale Blues" sure I'd be basking in the irony later in the day. Get me drunk some time, I might sing it for you! I'd been out about 40 minutes and had drifted down past Crystal Cove when I figured it was about time to give it up for the day. I started paddling back, but saw what had to be a whale watching boat heading out somewhat towards my direction. They passed by me a ways off, but were moving slow, so I thought I'd follow them a bit to see if they'd get lucky. I paddled right at them, but they were still moving faster than I, but at least they seemed to be circling my position. I stayed out another 20 minutes or so before they moved on to greener pastures and I set my sights for the coast. Turns out, the potency of Mylar balloons as a Blue Whale indicator is fading fast. I had to settle once again for a pretty nice dolphin show and a nice day on the water. I was able to sneak some time behind BAR on the way home. The tide was pretty low, but I was able to hand out in back with a bit of nasty swells coming in through the arch. Reading the whale stories again at home, they were talking about finding the whales 8 miles out, so I'm not sure I'll get out there to see them this year, but I don't find hanging out off the coast to be an onerous undertaking. Next week might have to be dedicated to offshore paddling and one more chance to sing with the Blues. Mark Sanders www.sandmarks.net # *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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