Whales

[daniel]

Saw lots of whales today, some of them quite close up when they surfaced very near my two-man outrigger canoe. I and a friend paddled about 12 miles this morning. Between paddling, resting, and a very short swim, we were out for four hours. It was a gorgeous calm sunny day. There are huge stinky motorized boats that pack people in like cattle and take them out for "whale watching" but it's nothing like being in a canoe or a kayak right at water level when a whale suddenly appears right by your boat. No sound but the canoe cutting through the waves and then the loud WHOOSH of a whale spouting close by. And you earn the experience with several hours of hard paddling. Fitness and fun.

 

[daniel]

Today was visitor day at the canoe club. We take pretty much anybody out paddling. Right now there are so many whales (it's the height of their season) that we often don't have to paddle very far to get to them. This morning we paddled for maybe ten or fifteen minutes without seeing more than a few in the far distance, and then suddenly they were all around. We stop paddling any time there's a whale within 100 yards, because that's the law, but sometimes a whale or a mom and calf swim right up to us. That's rare, but it's what happened today. A mom and calf were hardly more than a boat length away, swimming slowly, the baby sticking its nose up (spy-hopping) occasionally. It was so amazing.

Sometimes I go out in my two-person canoe as mentioned in the post above, but at the canoe clubs we use six-person outrigger canoes and twelve-person canoes that are two six-person hulls lashed together. We take visitors out all year round, but this is the popular time because of the whales, and because it's the high season here. Anybody on Maui or planning to visit can PM me for information on paddling with us. We love taking visitors out.

 

[Dolemite]

ok