Where Be Whales Here?

WHERE BE WHALES HERE?

I have really come to love whales.  I am amazed that something so big can be so impossibly graceful.

In Newfoundland, we took a trip in a hand made boat, a design that has been passed down for ages from the the Irish immigrants to that place.  I love boats and I love the sea.  But I suffer from the malady that all Pitts men suffer from, sea sickness.  For some reason that boat handled the rough waters with ease.  I never felt a thing.  Sometimes the old ways are the best ones.

Our captain was a grizzled fisherman whose ancestors showed him how to build that boat and he knew how to handle it.  We began to see whales about half way through the trip.  Very few things can bring a tear to my eye, but that is one of them.  Looking deep into the very clear waters I could see an even brighter turquoise pattern.  Unknowingly I asked the Captain and he smiled “Those are whales.”  We were right above them!

When they rose out of the water, it was enough to make my heart skip a beat.  Magnificent. I watched until the tail fins disappeared into the water.

Whales are amazing!  Anyone in this day and age that can kill such a magnificent creature is a villain in the truest sense of the word.

In Iceland we took a whale watching trip as well…….

Leaving the harbor I had an intuition that we probably were not going to see any whales.  And this is why:

For those of you who don’t know, those are whaling boats.  Those giant hoists on the back are used to harvest whales.  And it wasn’t just these two boats.  There were a dozens more just like them.

If I were a whale I would steer clear of Reykjavik by 100.764 miles.

Undaunted and hopeful, Kristine and I boarded our boat and got prepped for the cold of the North Atlantic.  We were supplied with big red polar suits.  I think that is one of the things that Iceland and I really disagreed on.  I just don’t like constrictive clothing.  I never have.  I never will.  My clothes have to be loose and inexpensive (cheap.)  That is how I like it.  Once I put something on, I don't want to have to take it off, or change it, or add to it, or adjust it.  It’s a big time waster.  I know, I am a weirdo.

In Iceland it seemed that I was always having to add another layer of clothing that made me feel and look like I was wearing one of those comical sumo suits.  And a lot of it was borrowed.  and it smelled like the last 837 people that wore it.  And, as you may have read, Utah cold weather gear just doesn’t hold up in Iceland.

(Note:  That is not my hand.  Just in case you were wondering.)

So I again went against my instincts, mostly because I would rather be smelly than frozen and put on my polar garb and the Intrepid Kristine and I manned the upper deck of our craft (Which by the way was a retired whaling vessel.  I can just see the whales now as they looked towards the surface at the bottom of our boat saying “I know what kind of boat that is!”  As they swam away in terror.)

Have I told you that I get seasick?  All Pitts men get seasick.  It’s our curse.  I think somewhere in the past one of my ancestors must have ticked off a Gypsy.  Ginger pills help, but Dramamine is best.  That is until I get off the boat.  Then, as soon as I stop, I fall fast asleep for like 10 hours.  After a Dramamine binge a north bound freight train with 359 and 1/2 cars could pass and I wouldn’t hear a thing.  On the cruises that I have taken if you forget to take your sea sick pills they always have some at the ready for you.  It will only cost you $18.65 a pill.
On this trip I was fine because of Dramamine.

The person who wasn’t was the poor girl who was standing next to me.  I always thought it was a cartoon thing that people turned green when they get sick.  Up until this trip I had never seen it happen.  I literally watched her turn green starting at her gills and working up into her face.  Her family must have REALLY ticked off that gypsy.  In all honesty along with feeling terrible for her I was thinking “She’s kind of the same color as the Grinch.”

One of the crew finally noticed and took her below decks.  I will never know her Fate.  As they left I heard the lady tell her to “Stare at the horizon it will help.”  I tried that once when I was seasick.  I have never taken illicit drugs, but I think a bad drug trip would be something like that.  Not only is the boat moving, and the waves moving and all the people look like they are made of jell-o plus everything in the distance looks like it is twisting and all wrong.  Trippy!

Well long story coming to a crashing ending, we didn’t see any whales.  A couple of Common Dolphins showed up (I will never figure out why they are called that.  There is nothing “common” about them!) But I think they were just there to say “Hey touristy type people, the whales saw you coming in that retired whale boat and they took off.  They didn’t want to take any chances.  So long and thanks for all the fish.”

At one point on my Iceland journey I turned to Kristine and told her “You don’t get to pick anymore what trips we take.”  Callus of me I know.  Her response was to take a week long river cruise on the Rhine without me.  That showed me.  But in all honesty it has given me what I feel is some interesting material to write about.  That being said I will only be writing one more Iceland installment and that will be the end of it.  I don’t want to beat a dead fish too long……

Because then I would feel like I was back in Iceland…..

Thanks for reading.  I hope you liked it.



As a final thought.  Here is a picture of Iceland's entire Navy about to be attacked by a Borg Cube...