Whales, Tails and Flukes!

Scheduling to visit friends when traveling by boat is a challenge in itself, then you add weather conditions and it is a bit difficult.  So we managed to capture Jill and Don on Block Island rather than Cape Cod but we moved our reservation at Kingman Marina on the Cape 3 times before we settled on arriving on July 5th to visit with my college roommate, Lynn and her husband Rich.  We chose to tie up to an expensive slip for Wednesday night to refill with water, charge batteries and do some clothing laundry.  Our trip from Block Island was mostly comfortable as we traversed 65+ miles up into Buzzards Bay.   Then on Thursday Lynn and Rich came to pick us up only to find us working with the marina to find a way to keep us there through Sunday.  Voila, a mooring was available so we cruised the short distance with our guests to a morning ball, got the pendants firmly hooked to the boat and off we went to a land based adventure!  We drove to their home in Marstons Mills and got our stuff settled in and then headed out for a whale watching trip.  What fun!

Lynn and Rich with us on our fast boat out into the Cape Cod Bay and then out into the North Atlantic to find the whales!  

The view as we went out into the Bay.  Soo Cape Cod!  Lynn was my college roommate on and off through the 4 years at UConn, so because her family had a cottage on the Cape, I had the opportunity to have time away from college to enjoy the beaches and night life on the Cape from time to time.  More memories!!

Our whale watching trip proved to be exciting and we were lucky to have Lynn with a really good camera and picture taking eye so the rest of the pictures are hers!! 

I believe this was "Midnight", named for her black tail.  All the whales that are photographed are Hump Back Whales. 

A fluke waving hello to us!

And then this series of shots Lynn captured of a breaching whale! 

Truly Spectacular and we actually saw 4 breaches!  

Sunset over the Barnstable beach area after we disembarked the tour boat.  We enjoyed a casual dinner at the Hyannis Yacht Club to end our first fabulous day on the Cape!  

I spied this turkey lurking in the driveway out their front door.  What a beautiful spot for a retirement home. 

We were treated to a tastey lunch made by Lynn's mom on Saturday.  I personally requested a breakfast or lunch stop with her mom, knowing what a great cook she is.  Lynn's parents became good friends with my parents over the years so it was very special to have some time to reconnect with Connie Hackbarth and enjoy her delicious lunch!! 

We visited Lynn and Rich's rental cottage and then enjoyed this view from the Chatham Bars Inn  while enjoying an adult beverage as the fog rolled in.

Such a beautiful view of the Cape Cod Harbor.  

Lynn and Rich enjoyed the afternoon respite as much as we did. 

 

Gotta take those perfect pictures! 

We meandered down to the fish pier to buy some lobster for dinner and spied these seals poking their heads up.  

This seal floated by on his back. 

Then came my Birthday on Sunday the 9th and Al had a balloon, card and gift idea for a B&B visit somewhere in Maine as my gift.  Rich made a great breakfast of raspberry and blueberry pancakes to start the day! BTW the raspberries came from their personal garden! And Lynn gave me an adult coloring book and colored pencils to entertain myself up on the fly bridge when we have days off from cruising.   

Later on Sunday, Lynn, Rich and Connie joined us on our boat for snacks and drinks to toast my 63rd birthday. 

Happy Birthday me!  

Thanks Lynn and Rich for a great land based visit!

And, Lynn made a banana cream pie with a beautiful meringue topping that my mom always made for my birthday when I was younger. It was beyond yummy!!  So it was a very special day! 

On Monday, 7/10 we headed out the Cape Cod Canal and began traveling further northeast to get to Maine!  Lynn made it out to the east side of the canal to photograph our departure into the Gulf of Maine.  Onwards we go!