Bad Weather / Consciences Skipper

I'm in my office its 9.10 am and the weather is not nice. I have contacted all those who have bookings for us today and told them we will not be cruising. All understand and are pleased that I have contacted them. Most can come tomorrow when the weather is forecast to be much, much, better. Yesterday the weather had not quite set in at 9 am but knowing that it was not far away I informed passengers that we would not be travelling. One group of three could not say in town until Friday as they had to be in Augusta. They asked if the whales had been seen there. I have not spoken to Paul at "Naturalist Charters"  for a while so took the opportunity to phone him to see how he is going. Yep heaps of whales but a little sick of the weather was his response.

The charter boat next to us did cruise and some asked why. I read on their board today "Wild, wild wonderful weather and our passengers had a ball. All return free." I ask you how you can enjoy a boat cruise with very strong winds and heavy rain.

I have been doing this a long time now and I do not know any one who enjoys seasickness. I do not cancel cruises, for no reason. But I refuse to cruise just to get your money. This at times costs me but I would rather people left town saying the weather stopped them seeing a whale than being angry with me for taking them out in horrendous weather conditions.

Breaching Humpbacks

Its a great day and as we head out and chat to Bernie it sound as if all of the whales are out deep. That's fine as the weather is calm, a little cold but calm. We have a lady on board who has travelled the world to see whales and has warned me that she has not had a lot of luck in the past. I tell her that today will be different.

We get out on to the humpback highway and see a blow about 1 km away. We find 3 whales and follow them towards Bald Head they are just cruising. We see 2 whales about 500 metres out to sea and one blow inshore. We follow the 3 whales and as they get close to the land they slow down and at times swim to be close to the boat. 

My friend who was worried about not seeing whales has moved from her wheel chair to one of our comfortable club lounges and I have opened the window next to her so she has an uninterrupted view of these whales. Behind us now we have several large splashes in the distance. I watch to see if it continues and I can see a whale breaching so we head to take a closer look. As we arrive the whale breaches as if in slow motion. We follow and what a great show this whale puts on for our passengers. Looking around I see 2 more blows out to sea and a couple more further east. But we stick with the whale that is still breaching. We have now been watching this whale for about 30 minutes and I have taken about 100 pictures.  Here are a couple of those pictures.

Diving Weekend with St Mary's & Fin Whales

We had the pleasure of students from St Mary's Presbyterian Collage in Perth with us for a dive weekend. Students who have done a dive course and are lucky enough to be able to travel to Albany. The weather was great our first dive was on the "HMAS Perth". Then out to "The Cheynes III". I am always impressed the way the girls conduct their dives all under the watch full eyes of their teacher Mark Staniforth. Sunday we head out towards the islands for our first dive but as we get close I spot two whales. At first glance they look like big humpbacks They cruise past as if on a mission but i question if they are humpbacks or fin whales. We turn and follow for 10 minutes and I see that their fin is a little different than a humpback. Now I am sure they are fin whales :). We leave these whales and head to the dive site known as "The Seal Colony" They love the dive. The kids and staff are blown away by the large plate corals. The weather is getting better and we head to the "SS Cheynes" as the students will be surveying this dive site. Oh yes must do a little work while on such a school camp. The first dive on this site over we have arranged a bbq lunch. A 2 hour surface interval and the students are back in the water. Conditions have calmed off so much that our anchor rope is floating what a great day. Mark comments that it would be a great night for a night dive. We drop every body off at Camp Quaranup. Before all of the dive gear is taken from the jetty the girls thank Eve and myself for arranging some great diving. My response to this is to thank the girls for being such great guests aboard my boat. I tell them that they are credit to their school, their parents and to them self in the way they behave. To give to an idea these kids are very organised on the boat dive gear stored well, they were more organised that many of the adult groups we have on board. They were polite and well mannered. They were keen to do all the tasks that they had to do even though on school camp. It is great to see such enthusiasm.

10 Humpbacks Suround Us !!

Bernie tells us that we have whales just past one of the ships at anchor in King George Sound. We head out to find 3 whales. we stay with these whales for some time and then see huge splashes some 800 metres away. Heading out I hope that these whales stay active but as we arrive they go quiet. Oh well this happens some times I think that throwing your self from the water when you weigh 45 tonne gets a little hard after a while. We give the whales time to rest but " No Bananas" We know that there are some whales in Frenchman Bay so we head over to get a count. We come across 3 more whales, follow them for a while and then cruise into Whale world to get a closer look. As we cruise past whale world the staff are all out on the veranda pointing towards Mistaken Island. We I get a call from Peter Bell who works at Whale World and he asks if I have seen the whales, so far the count is about 8. As we leave whale world it seams that Frenchman Bay is filling with whales. We head to each pod to confirm numbers. 2, 3 , 2, 3 and 2 over near the ship. Conditions are calm and we have a pod of whales heading towards us, I put the motors in neutral and with in a 200 metre radius of the boat we now have 10 whales, 2 pods come together and for a minute I think we are going to see some push and shove. One whale comes half out of the water and lands on another then we see a tail splash and one whale powers away. All goes quiet and the whales continue as before. During this commotion we have had 2 whales cruise up behind us and they are now going under us. We wait until the whales have all moved away and now its time for us to head home although a little latter than usual. But hey was it worth it.  

7 Humpbacks Close, More Cruising By

Another beautiful day. Once again from a lookout on Marine Drive, I have seen several pods of whales making their way along the "Humpback Highway" We are joined by keen passengers on this great day. We enjoy morning tea as we make our way towards the "Highway" Bernie tells me that several whales have been seen all along the line and more whales east of Michaelmas Island. The first pod we find has 2 whales and they are just cruising, we watch them for some time and every one is pleased when the whales lift their tails from the water but I know this means that the whales will dive deep for a few minutes and then re-appear some distance away. We know more whales are coming up behind us and we are constantly looking for a breach.  We turn and head east leaving the first 2 whales to head past "Bald Head" The second pod we find have 3 whales, 1 larger whale and 2 smaller whales, most likely a couple of juveniles. As we follow them one of the smaller whales throws it self from the water tail first every time it comes to the surface. Very hard to capture but I can hear the whirl of camera motor drives every time the whale surfaces. They too get close to Bald Head and we leave them, to check on the "New Zealand Fur Seals" in "Bald Head Cove". I make comment that if I am ever reincarnated I wish to be a seal. They don't seem to do much. We head home and as we cross King George Sound we see whales breaching ahead, in the distance. By the time we get there the whales have stop breaching we stay with them long enough to confirm numbers and then head on our way. Getting back to the marina late no one seams to be worried, passengers are still going through the pictures they have  taken to see if they have captured the moment. It is easy now days to take 200 photos on a cruise if the whales are doing the right thing.

7 Whales

Calm conditions greet us today. I have spent time sitting at the car park on Marine Drive and seen 3 pods of whales cruising on the Humpback Highway. We head out towards Limestone Head, knowing that the whales I saw earlier from Marine Drive would now be well and truly past Bald Head and so we will not catch up with them. It dose not matter though as out spotter Bernie has seen several pods out on the line. We find the first pod, a pair of whales and they are just cruising. Looking east here come another 3 whales but one is making a bit of a splash. We go to get a closer look. The pod is made up of 2 large whales and a smaller one. Its the little one who is making the splash. We follow these guys until they get close to Bald Head and then we head off to check out seals in the Bald Head Cove. As we head in that direction we spot 2 whales off to our port side. We turn in that direction and the whales now head towards us. They disapiar for a little while, passengers question where they have gone. But then as if on key, a whale bursts from the water, within 100 metres from our vessel. Too quickly and unexpected for any one to get any pictures other than the splash as the whale crashes back to the sea surface.

Sick Whale?

Weather conditions have improved greatly. We head out after Bernie has informed me that a quiet whale is at the last starboard marker. As we head out of the channel we see the first blows. It only takes a few minutes to arrive in the are the blows were seen. The whale appears and I think I have seen the whale several times over the last week, each time it has been very quiet and hard to find, we stay with it for quiet some time. As Bernie said the whale was quiet but "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" The conditions are calm and at times the whale pops up close to the boat and gets a look at passengers on-board our boat. After about 1 hour the whale has moved about 1000 metres and is slowly heading out towards the islands. We leave the this quiet whale and head over towards Frenchman's Bay. As we leave the whale I start to question if this whale is the one we have seen recently why is it still in the area, is it sick or just taking its time to make the migration north. We will keep a look out over the next week to see if it is still in the area. We may contact CALM if we see it again.

Some Days are Dimonds.

But not today :(
With Showers coming over the harbour we head out towards Limestone Head. Bernie says he has seen a whale there but it is very quiet. We spend time looking but if it dose not want to be seen then who are we to argue. We head out to Breaksea Island and as we are heading to the seal colony I spot several blows east of Michaelmas Island. But rather than head straight there we go and check on the seals. Thinking that the whales will be heading west so coming towards us. Problem is when we head towards where we saw the last blows we do not see any blows. We spend time cruising back and forth scanning all around. I know I was not mistaken and passengers who also saw the blows don't believe how a whale can disappear. We cruise over Herald Reef thinking that they might have slipped past us and headed into King George Sound inshore. As we decide that we will not see a whale today and start to head home Bernie calls on the two way and tells me that he has seen several blows heading to the east of Breaksea Island. Well we are not that far away so I turn the boat and head out. As we are getting close we see a whale smash its tail on the sea surface. Sea conditions are not that good where the whales are, we get a bit of a look but when the rain starts to set in and the whales head out to rougher seas its time to head home. The rain stays with us until we are just about to enter the marina.
My guests all tell me that some times you just have to accept that when dealing with nature you have to accept that every day is not going to be amazing, but I  want my guests to go away with great memories of their cruise so I offer a return cruise tomorrow and everyone accepts. With better weather forecast lets hope that the whales will play the game too.

Looking for Love

The weather has calmed down. (Not Before Time) Although the is a bit of South Westerly swell rolling into King George Sound. We cruise past one of the bulk carriers anchored close to Mistaken Island. Bernie has told me that he saw several whales heading towards Bald Head. I know we wont see those whales as they will be going past the Salmon Holes by the time we get to Bald Head, and truthfully the swell out side the sound would make things very uncomfortable. We cruise past the eastern end of Mistaken Island then in to Frenchman Bay, past the wreck of HMAS Perth, Seal Rock and over to Limestone Head. As we get close to Limestone Head the call comes from Bernie that he thought he saw a blow close to the mainland, As I am chatting to Bernie, Eve my deckie comes to the bow and says she thinks she saw a blow in the direction of the islands, but not too far away. With reduced revs we turn and head in that direction. When looking for whales you have to scan all around as often a whale will pop up behind you, or off to either side. I spot a soft blow about 600 metres away. We find 1 humpback whale and follow him for some time as it just slowly cruises north, over towards the 3 ships at anchor. I am sure that he is "Looking for Love". I say him but I have no idea if the whale was a bull or cow. Being mating season you would think if it was a cow then a bull would not be far away. I am often asked to identify between bull and cow. I assume that if you have 2 whales the one in front is probably the female and the one following with its tongue hanging out is most likely the male. Why should things be different with whales. We leave this whale after some time and head towards Whale-world and cruise back toward home along the coast.

Storm Forecast

Today the weather was not so good. The weather has changed and they  forecast strong winds for the afternoon. We head out but are a little limited to where we can go simply because we wish to keep things comfortable for our passengers. 3 girls who were going to travel yesterday, are with us today I so wish the had done our cruise yesterday and were today off doing the land based tour that they did yesterday. We head out to the Islands and the rain is limiting our viability. We round Michaelmas Island and head towards the seal colony @ Breaksea Island. From there we head towards Seal Rock now we have to contend with many white caps being whipped up by the strengthening winds. We round Mistaken Island and still, have had no success. The winds are getting stronger as we head back to the sheltered waters of princess Royal Harbour. We find some dolphins as we travel in through the channel other than the seals and a few sea birds it has been very quiet.  I feel sorry for today's passengers I wish they all had been able to be aboard yesterday. I know how good it can be and I wish all my passengers could experience  some of the sights I have seen. A storm is now raging out side I don't think we will be heading out on our Monday cruise.

4 Humpbacks & Beautifull Conditions.

What a beautiful day. Very little wind flat calm sea conditions and blue skies. We head out and to day is a day you just love to be on the water even if you don't see a whale. We get to Limestone Head and i have not spotted any blows yet so we turn and head towards Breaksea Island. It is not long before I spot several blows and when I am happy that what I am seeing is not caused by waves breaking on the shore of Michaelmas Island I tell those who are sitting with me on the fly bridge that we have some whales ahead. I point out what I have spotted and with in a short time every body has picked up the whales as they head in to King George Sound. I increase the revs and it is not long before we with in 500 metres of the whales and we have once again reduced revs to just above idle. How many whales have we found? It can be hard some times as they don't all take a breath at the same time. We follow these whales for longer than 1 hour, at times one of the whales lurches from the water and I think we are about to see some breaching but that dose not eventuate. The larger of the whales is making loud snorting sounds at times, is this aggressive or is it just clearing hits throat. We leave these whales as they get close to Bald Head. We head towards Frenchman Bay where we find some dolphins just to top of the day. We had some guests booked on the tour today and they did not turn up. I know that tomorrow the weather will not be so good I will be disappointed if they didn't make it because they slept in.

Breaching Whales

Bernie comes down to the boat just before we depart the marina to tell me that there are 2 whales close to a boat that is currently at "Gia Batter Reef" But he tells me that they are very quiet. We head out over a beautifully calm King George Sound to find the boat but can not find the whales. Bernie radios me and tells me that it looks like a couple of quiet whales are out close to Breaksea Island, we continue slowly out towards the seal colony on Breaksea Island, still not finding any whales. We head towards Limestone Head and as we get close and no doubt with the passengers now thinking we will not see any whales, I spot 2 very quiet whales heading towards us close to the coast. The call of "there she blows"  brings everybody to the bow or upstairs to see what I have found. I knock the boat out of gear so we can see which way the whales are travelling. The whales appear off to our port side so we turn to follow them. In my mind I am thinking that this is going to be a quiet day with just a few tail shots form these whales for our passengers to capture. Then they break loose, both whales burst from the surface and continue to breach for about 20 minutes. At times breaching very close to us. These whales were so close at times as they burst from the water you could see every marking on their bellies. It is about now I am wondering why I left my camera on the back seat of my car back at the marina. The whales are making their way towards Bald Head, and after a while they start to quieten down. At times laying on their side and slapping their pectoral fin on the sea surface. We follow them a little further and then head home. With the whales behind us every body is busy checking to see if they had captured the spectacular show we had all witnessed. There were some great shots. Message to self "don't leave camera in car again".

Crazy Weather

What is happening to our weather. I can not remember ever having E-NE winds at this time of year. please weather gods give us back the NW-W winds we should be having. Tuesday we did not have enough people wanting to go on a cruise. Tomorrow will be better I am sure, I will take advantage of the time to fuel the boat up, in readiness. I put 1000 litres of fuel in and take the boat back to its pen, walk away ready for the following days trip. Caltex phone me later in the day to tell me they have found water in the diesel tanks and several people are having troubles, and it would be good if I had not yet put the fuel in my tanks. Oh Sh-t. I go to the boat early Wednesday morning and drain some fuel off to make sure any water is drained away after being able to settle over night. As the motors have been running I also decide to change the fuel filters, easier to do along side the jetty than out at sea. I run the genset from the port tank after filter change and all is fine then just before we head out of the pen i start the port motor. It runs for a short time then stops. Not good with passengers on board. I bleed the fuel system and I just get more air. I check the filter and see fuel running down the side. in my haste I have not seen the o-ring has fallen out and now I have no seal. I fix the problem and the engine fires into life. We head out of the harbour and cruise along the northern coast of King George Sound, out to Michaelmas Island, over to Seal Rock, back through Frenchman Bay, past Mistaken Island but can not find a whale today. Was it the whale gods or the weather gods that were trying to tell me something?

Season Start

I wake to light N-NE winds and I head past Marine Drive on the way to the boat. Calm conditions for our first whale watching cruise. As I walk on board the boat to head out a call comes in from a local tug. Eric tells me that 2 Humpback whales are crossing the shipping channel not far from where he is waiting, for a wood chip ship, which will be brought into the port this morning. We find the whales very close to shore at Point King. They are very quiet maybe because the ship is now coming up the channel. We stick with these whales for some time, even enjoying morning tea. At times the whales do come close enough to get a good look but they are very quiet. We head off thinking me might find some dolphins for those children on board whom seem more interested in dolphins than whales. We cruise over towards Frenchman Bay going through the shallow channel at Mistaken Island. As we round the mussel lease I see a large splash out past Seal Rock.  We arrive to find 2 young humpbacks, if you were quick enough you may have been lucky enough to get some photos, of them breaching. May be they are starting to tire be cause they don't breach again while we are close. We follow them as the head towards Bald Head. We leave them as the water becomes confused and head towards home in time for lunch. I can relax now as I have all the children up on the fly-bridge, driving us home, as there parents capture the moments, the smiles tell the story.

4 Humpbacks

Friday 8 pm and the lighting and thunder start. 6 am and thunder is still cracking through the skies of Albany, reports are coming in the we have had 150mm of rain over night. Knowing we were in for some bad weather I had already cancelled the days cruises. I arrive at the boat to check it and I am meet by a local fisherman that questions if I have intentions to cruise. Les tells me that there is a large sea running and he cant imagine we will be going any where for a few days. I head up to Marine Drive look out to see what I can see. Les was not wrong. Several friends are also there and we chat about the conditions.
Sunday morning and 25 knot E-NE winds are forecast and conditions still are not that good. I looking out over King George Sound when Bernie Hill arrives and as we chat we spot 2 humpbacks out near the Islands. Have I made the wrong decision not to cruise today. What's more important peoples comfort or my profit. I acknowledge the decision has been made so head off to do a few things. During my travels I go past the look out again and stop where a large group of people are pointing down just off marine drive. As I walk up to the group they inform me that there are 2 whales cruising past. I watch as they head to the entrance of Princess Royal Harbour. They disappear and although I head to a better vantage point I do not see them again. Well lets hope we can find some tomorrow. 

Weather Gods

Well it seams that the weather gods don't want us to look for whales this weekend. We had planed on doing our first whale watching cruise this weekend, but with strong SE winds the weather is not good enough. To tell the truth even if it was the height of the season and we could see large numbers of whales I am sure we would not be cruising. I want my passengers to enjoy their cruise. I would rather you went home and said "the weather was not good enough" than 'it was way to rough and the skipper is a crazy man"