{"id":1917,"date":"2010-07-24T00:18:01","date_gmt":"2010-07-24T06:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/macblaze.ca\/?p=1917"},"modified":"2010-07-24T00:31:20","modified_gmt":"2010-07-24T06:31:20","slug":"day-nine-humpbacks-off-the-starboard-bow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/?p=1917","title":{"rendered":"Day Nine: Humpbacks off the starboard bow"},"content":{"rendered":"

The morning started early. I think C was in the shower by 4. Eventually we all started to crawl out of bed and I grabbed a quick shower cause there was time. While the girls primped and flattened, I packed the truck and generally made antsy noises. <\/p>\n

At exactly 5:15 we pulled out and headed for the ferry. Somewhere along they way Boingy Bunny settled in for a snuggle with the Chalkbag bunny, and they are still going at it. <\/p>\n

After being asked for our ID about fifty bazillion times we finally pulled into the ferry though a bow door that lifted vertically.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Northern Expedition is a recent addition to the fleet. It was built in Germany late 2008 to replace the ferry that sank a few years back. It traveled from Germany via the Panama Canal in spring 2009 and was in service by May. <\/p>\n

I’d gotten a cabin in case we wanted to rest (which Leslie is doing right now) and it was fitted out with bathroom, shower, tv and more. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The sail started out with a sunny dawn breaking though clouds in the east. The ferry hustles along as Leslie and I explored the ship. Eventually we ate breakfast at 7 and as we finished up the ship backed out and into Port Hardy’s harbour. <\/p>\n

Another roam around the ship decided us on the aft sundeck on deck 6 as our home and we met up with Carmen and camped ourselves in the morning sun. Eventually it clouded over but it was pleasant while it lasted.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

By noon we’d spotted an orca, a few far off whales and the girls saw a humpback dive right in front of them. The ship reversed course for a scheduled man-overboard drill that had a slightly comical twist to it when the rescue boat failed to start a bobbed pathetically along side. Eventually though they got it going and the dummy was saved after all.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Right after that the bridge announced humpbacks breaching about 3 miles ahead off the starboard bow. We could see the splashes with the naked eye and as we got closer, the binoculars provided an excellent show. It was mostly a big cow splashing around with her fins and her calf exuberantly breaching alongside. This went on for 5 or 10 minutes and the captain even slowed the ship to a crawl. A few more whales provides a glimpse or two, but it was primarily mother and daughter show. <\/p>\n

When we resumed it was BBQ smokies on the sundeck and a bit of a relax. <\/p>\n

The afternoon brought clouds and misty fog making for a very coastal experience. Eventually the mist drove us inside to a cup of hot chocolate and\/or tea. After tea: nap!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While we were napping the mist turned to rain. We wandered and explored for a bit trying to decide on dinner. Eventually we hit the gift shop for some exercise in commercialism then decided the buffet’s $29 price tag was too steep. It’s only 6:29 and we’ve likely got another 4 hours. <\/p>\n

The last four passes quietly with occasional staring out the window, solitude and meandering. We pulled into Prince Rupert at exactly 10:30 and were quickly unloaded and on our way. Separate rooms tonight as I guess we are all tired of each others company \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Night night<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The morning started early. I think C was in the shower by 4. Eventually we all started to crawl out of bed and I grabbed a quick shower cause there was time. While the girls primped and flattened, I packed the truck and generally made antsy noises. At exactly 5:15 we pulled out and headed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}