"Roger Long" wrote in
:

Has anybody done this in a sailboat? I'm wondering things like
whether public sighting reports are available, probability of seeing
anything, etc.


It was 3AM. I'm alone on the midwatch about 90 miles off the Georgia
coast headed North to Charleston in an Endeavour 35 behind the helm about
half asleep on a nice broad reach with a steady breeze and 4'
seas.....staring at the blank Raymarine display.

The usual slapping of the waves against the hull and wind in the rigging
is suddenly, unexpectedly, broached by this huge air venting out in the
pitch black, inky darkness straight out to starboard. This is followed
by a HUGE splash in the dark that sounds like a fast attack submarine
doing an emergency blow and jumping out of the water at full ahead.....at
least it did sitting there alone just off the waves lapping at the stern
right behind me.

Larry had NO trouble staying awake until past dawn, his watch long over
as he let Lloyd, the only other sailor aboard, sleep in the v-
berth....his system supercharged with pure adrenalyn surging through his
arteries. Even my toes tingled.

It must have been one of your buddies headed for the P-town
tourboats....far away.

Larry
--
Too many Mexicans ahead of you in line? Sneak around behind a rack and
yell, "ICE Immigration! Everyone stand where you are!"

Just drive your cart past the unattended carts to the checkout belt....
(c;

On Mar 8, 1:24 am, jfr wrote:
On Wed, 7 Mar 2007 19:02:11 -0500, "Roger Long"

wrote:
I'm thinking a fun thing to do this summer might be to take the boat out to
Stellwagen Bank or other whale spots. It would give my crew and guests a
taste of offshore life and be an interesting quest.

Has anybody done this in a sailboat? I'm wondering things like whether
public sighting reports are available, probability of seeing anything, etc.

Being a left coast sailor, I know nothing of the New England whales,
but the ones that frolic in Monterey Bay are quite approachable in a
sailboat. Although your boat might lack the speed to keep up with
them, it is more than offset by the ability to actually hear them when
they blow - an awesome experience! Of course, I'd also like to
believe that the whales prefer nice quiet sailboats rather than noisy
throbbing diesels...

Finding them to begin with can be the hardest part. Their spouts are
easy to spot at a distance when the sea is flat, but then there's no
wind to sail up to them. It's more difficult from the deck of a small
boat in a swell. Sending someone up the mast would probably work, but
who would want to risk it while offshore? The best plan might be to
follow the whale-watching boats, as they are far easier to spot on the
horizon. Once they stop flying along and just seem to be sitting
there, you can be pretty sure they've spotted something.

If you devote a day to this adventure, your guests would certainly get
a taste of offshore life, but you should realize that your quest for
whales might well proof fruitless. Indeed, our closest encounter with
a pair of blue whales was wholly unexpected: Enoying a long upwind
tack, looking aft, I saw them surface less than a quarter mile away.
Then, after 40 seconds or so, they surfaced again, but closer this
time. They were following us! As the minutes went by they got
progressively closer, until one of them surfaced about 50 feet
astearn. It was as big as the boat! It took a breath and dove, and
then, for the next minute everyone was looking everywhere at once.
Where'd it go? Would it hit the boat? Without a noisy motor, did it
even know we were there? And what about the other whale; where was
that one? The frantic searching gradually subsided as the eventless
minutes ticked by. Our two friendly whales had sounded and were gone.

-- John

John,

My west coast whale watching experiences have been off Vancouver and
Ft. Bragg, CA and in those cases, the whales were migrating. The
animals were not stopping to feed (at least I didnt see them stop). I
have also gone several times out of Cape Anne to Stellwagen Bank and
seen dozens of whales just having a great time munching down on the
sand lances. In those cases, it was easy to see the whales once you
were in right place. The commericial outfits offer free trips if you
get skunked when you are out with them, and based on my experience, I
seriously doubt they pay off very often.

To the original poster, I agree with what others have said, find out
what channel the commericial outfits are on, watch for their boats and
watch for large gathering of birds. The birds congregate a lot around
the bubble nets that the whales make to hold the fish in one spot.
Everytime I have been out there, the water surface was like glass, so
seasickness should not be an issue (standard cautions about weather
reaching up and biting us anytime anywhere) I am sure your guests will
have a great time. I have seen teenagers too cool to hang with adults
and completely repulsed at the idea of being on the water for hours
with adults just go completely nuts and totally enjoy the
experience.

John

I have encountered whales many times from my sail boat in the Bay of fundy.
Most times I am looking for them but sometimes they just show up. We have
sailed beside a mother Right Whale and calf and witnessed (from a distance)
a male Right whale going through his mating ritual. We have had a Humpback
come up under our boat and give us a shower when he blew. That was nerve
wracking. I have seen many Fin Backs and most recently had a pair of Hump
Backs surface right beside our boat in an anchorage near the island of
Esprito Santo in the Sea of Cortez. When watching whales the main purpose
is to not get too close to interfere with them. I find a lot of whale
watching boats crowd the whales too much in an attempt to give their guests
the altimate experince but with the number of boats competing for
passenegrs, they seem to forget the ultimate purpose of the trip. Most
boats will stay back and wit their turn but I have seen as many as ten boats
trying to get close to one whale. Yes they do have their own VHF channel and
give locations by minutes of a degree.


"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Roger Long" wrote in
:

Has anybody done this in a sailboat? I'm wondering things like
whether public sighting reports are available, probability of seeing
anything, etc.


It was 3AM. I'm alone on the midwatch about 90 miles off the Georgia
coast headed North to Charleston in an Endeavour 35 behind the helm about
half asleep on a nice broad reach with a steady breeze and 4'
seas.....staring at the blank Raymarine display.

The usual slapping of the waves against the hull and wind in the rigging
is suddenly, unexpectedly, broached by this huge air venting out in the
pitch black, inky darkness straight out to starboard. This is followed
by a HUGE splash in the dark that sounds like a fast attack submarine
doing an emergency blow and jumping out of the water at full ahead.....at
least it did sitting there alone just off the waves lapping at the stern
right behind me.

Larry had NO trouble staying awake until past dawn, his watch long over
as he let Lloyd, the only other sailor aboard, sleep in the v-
berth....his system supercharged with pure adrenalyn surging through his
arteries. Even my toes tingled.

It must have been one of your buddies headed for the P-town
tourboats....far away.

Larry
--
Too many Mexicans ahead of you in line? Sneak around behind a rack and
yell, "ICE Immigration! Everyone stand where you are!"

Just drive your cart past the unattended carts to the checkout belt....
(c;

"...(from a distance) a male Right whale going through his mating ritual. "

Did the whale have a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and a gold
chain around its neck?
What did Mr Stud Whale say? "Yo,, baby fish breath.. what is your sign?

================================================== ======



"Silver K" wrote in message
...
I have encountered whales many times from my sail boat in the Bay of fundy.
Most times I am looking for them but sometimes they just show up. We have
sailed beside a mother Right Whale and calf and witnessed (from a distance)
a male Right whale going through his mating ritual. We have had a Humpback
come up under our boat and give us a shower when he blew. That was nerve
wracking. I have seen many Fin Backs and most recently had a pair of Hump
Backs surface right beside our boat in an anchorage near the island of
Esprito Santo in the Sea of Cortez. When watching whales the main purpose
is to not get too close to interfere with them. I find a lot of whale
watching boats crowd the whales too much in an attempt to give their guests
the altimate experince but with the number of boats competing for
passenegrs, they seem to forget the ultimate purpose of the trip. Most
boats will stay back and wit their turn but I have seen as many as ten
boats trying to get close to one whale. Yes they do have their own VHF
channel and give locations by minutes of a degree.


"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Roger Long" wrote in
:

Has anybody done this in a sailboat? I'm wondering things like
whether public sighting reports are available, probability of seeing
anything, etc.


It was 3AM. I'm alone on the midwatch about 90 miles off the Georgia
coast headed North to Charleston in an Endeavour 35 behind the helm about
half asleep on a nice broad reach with a steady breeze and 4'
seas.....staring at the blank Raymarine display.

The usual slapping of the waves against the hull and wind in the rigging
is suddenly, unexpectedly, broached by this huge air venting out in the
pitch black, inky darkness straight out to starboard. This is followed
by a HUGE splash in the dark that sounds like a fast attack submarine
doing an emergency blow and jumping out of the water at full ahead.....at
least it did sitting there alone just off the waves lapping at the stern
right behind me.

Larry had NO trouble staying awake until past dawn, his watch long over
as he let Lloyd, the only other sailor aboard, sleep in the v-
berth....his system supercharged with pure adrenalyn surging through his
arteries. Even my toes tingled.

It must have been one of your buddies headed for the P-town
tourboats....far away.

Larry
--
Too many Mexicans ahead of you in line? Sneak around behind a rack and
yell, "ICE Immigration! Everyone stand where you are!"

Just drive your cart past the unattended carts to the checkout belt....
(c;

"Silver K" wrote in news:UHTHh.7893
:

We have had a Humpback
come up under our boat and give us a shower when he blew.

In SC waters, though less spectacular, the Bottlenosed Dolphin is the big
clown around the boat. One little guy did 5 perfect barrel rolls, out of
the water, 8' from the starboard beam. Everyone aboard was most
impressed. They just love to play with sailboats. One of the guys tied
his harness to the bow spirit and they loved it. They were jumping out
of the water as he threw out some old cookies that had lived past their
prime. Don't tell me they don't communicate. The whole pod was
determined to get a cookie for everyone. Their timing was fantastic.
They'd come at the bow from 90 degrees out and jump over my friend at
just the right time to snatch the cookie. It went on until we ran out of
cookies.

It's almost as if they're bored to death swimming around out there and a
sailboat provides great entertainment. Bottlenoses aren't interested in
providing "natural experience", they want you to entertain them. When I
owned the Sea Rayder jetboat and fooled with it in the harbor the lack of
a spinning, threatening prop seemed, also, to provoke them into staying
around the jetboat....every time you were at hull speed.

Larry
--
How much price inflation is caused by illegal
aliens gobbling up goods and services, creating
shortages for the natives? I heard 40%!

On Thu, 08 Mar 2007 09:16:39 -0500, Larry wrote:

In SC waters, though less spectacular, the Bottlenosed Dolphin is the big
clown around the boat. One little guy did 5 perfect barrel rolls, out of
the water, 8' from the starboard beam. Everyone aboard was most
impressed. They just love to play with sailboats.

And trawlers:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OgD0t1NidF4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TxHhfr3buOw

We sometimes get 5 or 6 at a time playing in the wake.

Has anybody done this in a sailboat? I'm wondering things like whether
public sighting reports are available, probability of seeing anything, etc.

It's not only doable, but it's easier to approach a pod under sail
without an engine. Went out on Stellwagen in late spring, dropped the
jib and had a great hour tacking among breaching whales. There were a
handful of tour boats in the area that kept a quarter mile off or
maybe the whales kept away from the stinkpots.

"NE Sailboat" wrote:

With the cans floating in the water and the Just Married sign on the transom
?? Might be against the mammal act.

================================================= ================
"Roger Long" wrote in message
.. .
I'm thinking a fun thing to do this summer might be to take the boat out
to Stellwagen Bank or other whale spots. It would give my crew and guests
a taste of offshore life and be an interesting quest.

Has anybody done this in a sailboat? I'm wondering things like whether
public sighting reports are available, probability of seeing anything,
etc.

Of course if you are in company, it might not be a problem, but whales
can and do sink sailboats (or other boats), and there are rules about
interfering with them. At least I see such things marked on the
charts.

VFD?

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 7 Mar 2007 19:53:55 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
said:

company communicate by VHG to tell one another of the locations of
sightings.

VHG? Some kind of new radio frequency?

Take a look down at your keyboard and see what letter is right next to the
G. Then see if your small brain can add 2 and 2.

On 7 Mar 2007 20:52:02 -0600, Dave wrote:

On Wed, 7 Mar 2007 21:38:06 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
said:

Take a look down at your keyboard and see what letter is right next to
the
G. Then see if your small brain can add 2 and 2.

I looked and I saw an "H" right next to the "G". So you're saying they
kept in touch by VHH?

OK, so your small brain can't add 2 and 2.

BTW, I'm still waiting for you to explain over in .asa what "hearsay" means.

Now, now. Let's keep things in the groups they belong in. Thank You.
Mark E. Williams