Close encounter of the whale kind

poopdeckpappy · #1 (**permalink**) 07-05-2010

SD bay was out of control today, looked like the 4th of July scene right out of Jaws so we decided to spend the day outside looking for grays where the crazies were few and far between. We traversed the usual grounds and came away with squat, so we decided to head in, BBQ some dogs and watch fireworks. We were about a mile or less off the point when a 30+ foot gray surfaced off our port, when she submerged again her fluke was less then 10 foot off my port 1/4; We had 3 damn cameras aboard and no one thought to snap some pictures, we all went brain dead with awe and surprize, well, that and trying to get some space between us. The thought had hit me and my wife pretty quick but it took the rest of our crew a bit of time to realize that we just missed a pretty nasty encounter by seconds.

Anywho, after countless trips in search of we finely scored, a little closer than I like, but good eough

F4d3d · #2 (**permalink**) 07-05-2010

Wow, that sounds fantastic! Too bad you missed the photo op.

jrd22 · #3 (**permalink**) 07-05-2010

Great memory for the 4th!

JiffyLube · #4 (**permalink**) 07-06-2010

Isn't that 'so' typical about not having a camera ready? You got a lot closer than we've gotten to the grays, but I didn't know any were running now...maybe it was a straggler.

We saw you're boat coming in last Thrusday, and we both commented on good your teak looked.

poopdeckpappy · #5 (**permalink**) 07-06-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by JiffyLube

Isn't that 'so' typical about not having a camera ready? You got a lot closer than we've gotten to the grays, but I didn't know any were running now...maybe it was a straggler.

We saw you're boat coming in last Thrusday, and we both commented on good your teak looked.

Hey Jiffy, yeah, it was a little too close; I looked up mitgration cause I thought it was kinda late too, but it said through late spring, ( a straggler )but, also said further out were we spent most the day.

Teak is coming along slowly and it sure feel good to start seeing an end to it for awhile, get to spend more time out on the water

DwayneSpeer · #6 (**permalink**) 07-06-2010

I hit a whale in 2008 while transiting down the Washington coast.

Earlier in the day we had seen several whales spouting and even breaching off the coast. Later that night at midnight, I was just going up for my turn at watch when we hit hard enough to shake the entire boat. It was more like a big thud instead of a rap. We all froze in position waiting for the next shoe to drop but after a few seconds it was apparent we were all OK so we carried on as usual. A few days later I had a haul out and all of the bottom paint that had been applied just three months earlier had been rubbed off of the leading edge of my keel.

So, what does this all mean? Be prepared for all possible contingencies.