Friday, January 20, 2012

Whale watching on The America

The weather today was perfect for our adventure, we took a trip aboard the schooner America, which is a replica of the the boat that was built to take part in the Round The Island Race from Cowes in 1851, as part of the Great Exhibition of 1851. This one was built in 1995 and is a beautiful two masted ship 128ft long. We joined the ship, which sailed through the bay, out past the headland and onto the open sea. Almost immediately whales were sighted and we sailed to follow them. The whales are still migrating south, so we have to sail southwards if we want to get alongside them. It is also apparently good to keep on the seaward side of the whales, as otherwise we may drive them out to sea and into unfamiliar waters. During our day we tracked at least half a dozen whales on their migratory journey. The boat was amazing, the weather was fantastic, the whales were exciting and the day was unforgettable.The story of the day is best told in pictures, so select the slide show view, press F11 on your keyboard for a full screen viewing (you may have to click on the little play triangle at the bottom and also slow down the slide show to read the captions)

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