A Whale of a Time

The forecast was for rain, but it was just cloudy.  I’ve slept a ton all week, but I’m still pretty worn out.  My eyes opened at 5:30am.  Ran down to see if all the pics had downloaded, and started uploading to the HUNKR website.  They are awesome, but they take forever to upload at home.  I kept working on site content until she woke up.

She wanted to go whale watching.

We loaded up the paddle boards and drove to Shaw’s Cove.  Passed Patrick Coffey on his TT bike, in his new TMWC kit.  Got to Shaw’s and slid into her secret Mini spot.

Unloaded the boards and paddled out. And Out.  And further Out.  We were probably 1.5 miles off the coast and she stopped paddling.  What do we do now?  We wait for about an hour and pretty soon we’ll see whales and dolphins.

I don’t believe her.  I do, but I don’t.  She always has these crazy dolphin and whale stories.

I think about how geeked up I get about riding, take a friend along and the magic just doesn’t happen.

We wait.

I have to paddle slowly because my balance is not to keen.  The clouds persist.  A whale watching boat comes to us thinking we’ve got something.  Nope.

Bored, I paddle North towards Emerald Bay.

Then I see them.  Dorsal fins slice through the water in pairs.  Up, dooooown, up doooown.  Over there.  Next to me.  Over there.  They are racing south, too fast for us to follow.

The sun bursts through.

Hot, we shed the neoprene tops.  Mission accomplished.  I start heading in.  It’s been fun, but I’m ready to quit.

Come on… wait a little longer.  She’s so faithful.

We wait.  Float.  Soft paddle. Float.  The sun feels great on my great paleness.

Then we hear it… a wind so distinct even I know what it is.

About 100 feet away we see the spray from the whale’s exhale.  The long body moves gracefully and she paddles furiously.  Me not so much.  Come on! she yells.

It’s gone.  Silence as we crane here and there.

More water shoots in the air, no more than 10 feet away from her.  It glides on it’s side and even I can see it’s eyeing her.

Hello Whale!

Down it goes.  Off she races for another glimpse. Not today.

But, today I got a glimpse of what makes her so happy.  I know this, and she knows I love to ride.  Most Saturdays, all?, I’m off on two wheels and she’s off to see whales and more.

It’s good to change gear.