Decisions, decisions....our (note-it is a plural, suggesting that both of us went on the day’s activities—-so, those betting that Mucus Welby would rise And shine on the rainy day—long shot in my book—-winner) Whale and Dolphin watching was a combo of Deadly Catch and Flipper. If you will recall from my previous post, the weather was less than perfect when we looked out our window in Ponta Delgado, Azores. What was overcast,foggy and damp, turned into a steady rain by noon, but Eddie was determined to make the voyage.
When I did my research for this port, based on the whale migration in the area, I figured a whale watching tour would be the best...since we have been there and done that to the land bound tours. There were several options, to include the ship’s excursion-a big boat with 100+ people on board. No thanks, that would be worse than the bus tours....I determined which company first, Futurmiso. It is a company with a sterling safety and eco friend/responsible program. There are marine biologists on board, their equipment is all new and they are committed to using the old hunting methods of spotting whales. The old method consists of spotters on land with a pair of high powered binoculars stationed at various watch stations around the island and phoning/texting (ham radio before that) to the boats in the water where they spot activity. Their fleet of water vehicles include 6 zodiacs for 12, two different sized cabin catamarans - 35 and 70...since I was in the driver’s seat on decision making 240 days out-I picked the 35 man catamaran for our 3 hour sea hunt.
You know us Pickle people, we always arrive ahead of the appointed meet up time. Why would we change routines in a foreign country with rain falling? We took along a couple of protein bars for lunch, as we had a late breakfast....and headed towards the water front location via a mostly covered walkway/shopping area. We voted for people watching after our check in as there were two other cruise ships docks in the area. Parked at a sideway cafe, we could see the folks from our ship that selected to do the zodiacs—-they had been redressed in heavy rain suits, Orange life vests for their three hours at sea. The seats looked more like saddles that you straddled...none of the folks looked older than 50. Good call on my part, especially in the now driving rain storm. Group 2 had on wet suits, snorkels, masks, bare feet, and some rain jackets. Okay, guess I did not read that swimming with the whales and dolphins was an option...did I mention that it was 57 degrees outside..so make it a cold driving rain...average age was less than 40. Again, good call..Eddie, of course, noted that looked fun. As activity on our vessel started to gear up, Eddie and I went to where Eddie determine the line would form (kinda a Group 1 & 2 Airport thing) so that we would be first on board to select a seat inside or against the overhang to avoid wet underwear. We both had on hooded rain jackets, which was better than some who had chosen trash bags....given the wet conditions, they would be cold and wet before we set sail.
After the group was seated, the mandatory safety speech began, along with the how to vomit properly on the vessel...baby blue target bags (HEB bags are too thin and have a hole in the bottom)..as we would be going into the wave and wind barfing overboard was not a good option. That old spitting into the wind thing. As the vessel tends to lurch about making the toilet a moving target, that was also not considered a good option, especially if you needed the facilities for other matters. The Barf at Sea talk actually took longer than the safety lecture. Hmmm...time to see how sea worthy our new 35 friends would be once we pass the safe calm waters of the harbor...particularly since they mentioned that the cabin had no good air circulation and the best place to be was outside if you were queasy...so, once underway, everyone headed for the doors. Admiral Eddie knows where to get to not get wet, by rain or by wave, so we quickly staked out our real estate mid ship, under the overhang, away from both bathroom and diesel exhaust.
As we push out of sea, the swells became deeper and higher, the powerful Diesel engines hummed and knifed through the swell, soaking everyone who had staked claim to the forward real estate...yes, location, location, location. After an hour of fighting the fog, rain and waves we were rewarded with a huge (probably more than 50-Eddie will say 100-but that is the Eddie upgrade) pod of common dolphins jumping, belly flopping, group jumping and basically showing off. The zodiacs from this company and several others joined in the watch party. Figure they were all on a group text as these companies all offer money back guarantees of seeing something even on crappy days. The young kids on the snorkeling zodiacs were in the water. The rest of the zodiacs were full of people that looked like drown rats bobbing on a pool toy....and guess what, they had blue bags, too. Hmmm...so far so good. We watched this pod for about 30 minutes, alternating between bobbing and chasing...our position was crowded at the beginning, but as seas became choppier and wetter the blue bags started flying in the wind. The seating on the rear of the vessel became the Blue Room. Eddie would roam back and forth between on mid boat position and seating in the inside cabin (back issues) ....he would return with a barf count, and smell report...so glad I skipped lunch. Believe it or not, Navy Eddie is fine in rough seas...me, well, color me pale, but not a bag holder. Had to put the x-ney on the barf-ay reporting....power of suggestion and all. The pitch of the engine changed and we realized that we were once again underway. The rain had picked up, but we could see the harbor. The third of the group that was on the boat back collectively sighed/groaned when we passed the harbor entrance and bobbed towards another dolphin encounter. As we were not to be back before 4:00, I knew that we had another hour of bobbing and dolphin chasing. Guess there will be a few empty seats at dinner tonight.
Our next pod was the bottle nosed variety of dolphin. Can you say Flipper? Yes, the ocean hams jump higher, spin, glide closer, and seem to grin at you when they are looking at you....than the common variety. I will have to give the Admiral props as he managed to take well over 250 shots with the camera and got probably 10 great up close shots of the various dolphins. With the lurching and rain, the iPhone I was carrying could not hang...I will say that after 3 hours of standing on the side of the boat, both of our leg muscles were tired from the lean and lock kneed positions we had held. Just as the rain seemed to end, our adventure was done for the day. So glad, The Admiral managed to come along for the picture part not the barf reporting part...too bad we did not see the sperm whale that had been seen on the morning tour. As we head out this afternoon, I will be on watch for said whale...no blue bags or rain jackets required.
Next stop, Cork, Ireland.
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