The warm breakfast today is Quiche, two different kinds. He has the ham and cheddar one, and I go for English muffins. We are starting to notice that the chef, who actually takes your order himself at the "wicket" by the buffet, is there at 8:00 am and still there late at night to cook for the dinner guests. Those are really long days!
Today we will meet up with a friend in Barnstable to take a the Hyannis whale watcher cruise together. Although it has been very warm all our trip so far, I decide to put capri pants instead of shorts, a thicker top, and take a sweater. I figure that this is plenty, and I can lose the sweater if I am too hot. It turns out not to be enough, and so I come off the boat four and a half hours later with both a sunburn and a cold (which I won't realise until Sunday afternoon.)
On the way to the departure point we see various memorial events because it is 9/11. What we pass by involves mostly local fire halls.
We meet up at the cruise line's souvenir store around 10:30, get our tickets, and chat a bit in the sun. Boarding starts at 11:00
The boat takes off at 12:00 and it will take an hour to get to the Stellwagen Bank sanctuary where the whales are. The 130 foot ship has 5 diesel jet engines (no propellers) and goes at a fast speed. It is pitching and the nose bounces on the waves a lot. There is a strong north-eastern wind, and there are whitecaps on the waves out at sea. I go down to the galley to get a burger for me and a hot dog for the photographer, figuring that later I would not want to lose my spot at the railing. I have a "moment" when I see that a fully frozen burger with bun is removed from a wrapper and popped in the microwave. I forgo getting anything to drink for either of us, I have no idea how I'd get it back upstairs. I just barely manage to get the food back upstairs without wearing it, and much to my surprise the burger is actually pretty good. Mystery!
On the way out we pass the Sandy Neck. It has a lighthouse and some cottages which are almost, but not quite at the end of this strip of land. According to the commentator, these have no electricity or running water, and the lighthouse is solar powered. It used to burn whale oil! The Sandy Neck is actually growing, as the sea is depositing sand there, explaining why the lighthouse is no longer on the tip at all, the exact opposite situation from the Highland lighthouse.
We sail almost due north and pass the end of the cape and Provincetown from the ocean side. You can see the town hall and library bell towers, and of course, the Pilgrim monument.
At Race Point we see the same white coast guard building, (from the morning of day 3) but this time from the sea.
After an hour sail at a good speed, we arrive at the sanctuary. We learn that this sanctuary was created by an emergency act of Congress in 1992 to stop the city of Boston from dumping their construction debris here. Boston was going through something called the big dig, and had a lot of excess earth. Two things baffle me about that. First that in 1992 we still consider this kind of "solution", and second that there was no other place for all that earth. (It will cost money to transport it no matter where!) Around my own area, I often see signs with "clean fill wanted" on them.
The whale watching experience is amazing. The first animal we see is a humpback whale, and the grand dame of the sanctuary, with her calf, which is playing and jumping out of the water.
You can sort of track them in the water, because their white patches appear lime green in the water due to the plankton.
The person doing the commenting is really much better than average, and his cheesy jokes are well integrated in a very informative commentary. Among the more interesting bits:
- Whales cannot drink any salt water. They get all their water from the fish they eat.
- They spend the winter in the Caribbean, where they do not eat or drink at all. (So unlike what we would do.)
- No two whales have the same pattern of white markings, and this pattern does not set for two years.
- Newborn calves can't swim, they have to be taught.
- Those calves gain 150 lbs per day on mother's milk. As they are born in the Caribbean, mom is not eating at all at this point. (No details on her mood!)
There is another whale watching cruiser nearby and we watch the ship dance on the waves like a teacup. The jet engines pods allow the captain to turn the boat almost in place, and when he does so the ship rolls side to side with a vengeance. The effect of the rocking is amplified for the photographer by the use of a telephoto lens on his camera, and he gets really quite seasick. Still other passengers have it worse, and need to hang around the garbage can.
After about 2.5 hrs in the sanctuary (which absolutely flew by) we head back to dock. On the way back in the Sandy Neck is illuminated differently by a golden sun at a much lower angle, and despite feeling sick, he still manages to get some spectacular shots. Almost as soon as we step back on land he starts to feel better.
This was an amazing experience, and I am glad we did it.
The three of us go for dinner at the Old Jailhouse Tavern in Orleans. They make a tasty cocktail out of dark rum and ginger beer. It's the first place where I see the lobster is affordable, so that's what I have for dinner. We spend almost three hours talking, and then part ways again.
When we get back to Provincetown we discover that the sea air made us hungrier than we thought and we decide to have a dessert in the Inn. Very good, and it's a pity that we never ended up trying the restaurant there other than breakfast. We go up to the room, and watch Angels and Demons this evening. The book was better!
No comments:
Post a Comment