La Aventura with Patti & James

06 July 2018 | Faial Island –Atlantic Portugal
24 June 2018 | National Holiday day in Faial
22 June 2018 | afternoon whale watching boat trip
20 June 2018 | an enjoyable day trip to another island.
19 June 2018 | Fabulous Faial. – Azorean Island
18 June 2018 | Faial Island – Horta Harbour - Mid Atlantic
29 May 2018 | Mid Atlantic - in the middle of nowhere
26 May 2018 | the cruising yachtsman’s haven
25 May 2018 | party day in Hamilton
10 May 2018 | Vero Beach/Ft Pierce –road trip to Jacksonville.
12 April 2018 | Vibeke onboard
17 March 2018 | lovely to return to Belize and Mexico and meet up with sailing friends along the way
24 January 2018 | I have become so interested in Guatemala textiles
17 January 2018 | So great to catchup with so many friends and our families
01 November 2017 | what a wonderful Guatemalan fiesta to experience
29 October 2017 | Volcanic crater
28 October 2017 | Antiqua - Guatemala

A WHALE OF A TIME

22 June 2018 | afternoon whale watching boat trip
IMAGE – various images - some mine - some for whale watching company website

Another of the very enjoyable activities arranged for the OCC Rally participants was Whale Watching boat trips.

On Friday afternoon 22nd June a group of 20 sailors piled into a big rib for our on-the-water adventure. We were led by a local Marine Biologist, skippered by Mike, a born and bred young local guy, from a whaling family and Pirate the dog as our on-board spotter.

James and I have experienced whales VERY close to our boat in the French Island of Martinique in the Eastern Caribbean – so this was a less stressful experience.

We had a fast and wet rib ride out to into the deep Atlantic ocean waters between Faial and Pico Islands - all for that moment of silent exhilaration to glimpse a whale – and we were not disappointed.

These Azorean waters are FULL of whales, due to the very deep Atlantic waters and the abundance of krill for feeding during April and October. Because the volcanic islands have sheer drops very close to land the whales can easily be seen both from the mountain sides and not too far out to sea.

Our guide was very experience and knowledgeable and our skipper was in constant VHF radio and mobile phone contact with land-based spotters. They were keen for us to experience and see as much whale activity as possible. We were informed that the cliff-top spotters could see at least 12 whales in our path –possibly a family group.

It was not long before we could see off in the distance tell-tale signs of whales in the area - blowhole spouts.

Our rib came slowly and carefully close to clearly see smooth, torpedo-like forms of a few surfacing sperm whales.

We did see one or two whales breaching out of the water AND the odd tail appearing as whales around us went for a deep dive.

Numerous Cory’s shearwaters birds dived and played close to the water and provided a great aerial display.

It was yet another wonderful opportunity to experience nature here in the Azores.

Comments
Vessel Name: La Aventura
Crew: James & Patti

Who: James & Patti