pic-perfect day
Promised months ago, would not marathon Memorial Day weekend. No race conflicts permitted during Ash & Tom’s Colorado wedding [or 2 weeks following – dog-sitting my grandpup during their Iceland honeymoon].
Week before? No such promise. Targeting run #90, 5th in 6 weeks, 12th of 2017.
Flight delay in Chicago, +2 hour time difference, arrived in Manchester 2:30am Saturday morning. Six hours sleep, short 2 mile pre-marathon run (‘cause every day’s a run day), hit the highway – destination: Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 2 cars: Stephen, Sheila, daughter-in-law Ashley & two toddlers. Beautiful sunshiny day.
Portsmouth’s right on the water – New Hampshire’s only port city. Public parking off Market, street-scanned for grub. Irish pub, outdoor seating. Check, done 🙂
Post-lunch walk in Prescott Park, along the Piscataqua River. Picture perfect New England. Alarm sounded. Watched Memorial Bridge lift, allowing a passing ship to clear its mast. History-trekk’d thru Portsmouth Navy Yard while Ashley’s kids climbed atop the Park’s whaling memorial. AND there was ice cream ❤
More of Stephen’s family – Patricia, Noreen & Maggie – joined before his concert start at Christ Episcopal Church. Second year singing, my first time attending. Gotta get back for Christmas — hear the conductor wears jingle bells & a tree. SUPER FUN day!
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- WWI Memorial Bridge: vertical-lift bridge linking Portsmouth & Kittery, Maine
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- celebrating New England’s whaling history
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- Prescott Park
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- intermission & a costume change
UPDATE: Friday Jun 9th – National Anthem at Red Sox’s Fenway Park
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- Boston’s Fenway Park
WWI Memorial Bridge (NH to Maine)
Another day of sunshine. However still feeling the effects of yesterday’s rays, so no beach today – that said, couldn’t stomach the idea of indoor activities at an ocean location…wrong, just wrong.
How ‘bout a whale watch? I’d be on the water but could avoid additional sun exposure if necessary. GREAT idea! (thanks Stephen)
Boarded our ship at 10am – half-day adventure on the North Atlantic, sailing an hour+ northeast of Provincetown. My third whale watch – North Pacific humpbacks in Hawaii last January & orcas off the San Juan Islands in June 2015. Lucky in life 🙂
No more than 20 minutes into our voyage, whale spouts far in the distance. Boat stopped another 20 minutes in, where we watched a large pod of humpbacks feed. So many whales, super close to our ship. Just WOW!
Learned all about bubble net fishing – a technique humpbacks use to hunt as a skilled pack.
this technique…unique to humpback whales, the animals exhale through their blowholes while swimming in a tightening spiral so as to create a cylindrical wall of bubbles under the water. The wall of bubbles acts as a net that fish are reluctant to swim through. The whales then suddenly swim upwards through the bubble net, mouths agape, swallowing thousands of fish in each gulp. This technique can involve a ring of bubbles up to 30 m (100 ft) in diameter and the cooperation of a dozen animals. Some whales take the task of blowing the bubbles, some dive deeper to drive fish towards the surface, and others herd fish into the net by vocalizing.
Eye trained for lime-green patches of ocean, 15-20 seconds later the circular circus of whales emerge, mouths open, fish feeding.
Way beyond my expectation to see so many humpbacks. Whale of a day! Captain partially blamed our good fortune on global warming. Whales are traveling farther south from Canada’s Maritime provinces – while their food chain’s migrating northward along the US Atlantic seaboard to avoid warmer ocean waters. A perfect storm for whale feeding!
Back mid-afternoon in P-town – late lunch & a nap. Big plans for tonite – it’s my BIRTHDAY! 🙂
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- Provincetown harbor
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- bubble net fishing
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- crazy close — WOW!
Whale of a Tale: North Atlantic Humpbacks
Woke early Tuesday with a goal to snorkel Maui’s south shore.
Couldn’t reach folks by phone (too early, only answer machines) so drove to the boat dock in Kihei (pre-dawn, still pitch black) with plans to join an existing tour. Talked to 2 different groups – both fully booked…on a Tuesday? Who knew?
Back in the condo, feeling kinda deflated, continued my google search. Most tours leave at 630am; luckily Kai Kanani in neighboring Kihei additionally had a 9am tour start. (Thanks Steve for calling – I couldn’t handle another rejection.)
Wait, wait, back up. Flew 8 hours to Hawaii & snorkeling plans just happen today on the fly?
Truth: Haven’t swam since Ironman Boulder (August 2014). 8-months of training – completely burned out. If I never swim another 100 laps at 4am, think I’ll be a-ok. Wouldn’t miss it. Truth.
Bigger truth: Crazy fear of sharks. Begged my dad to see ‘Jaws’ when I was a kid. Movie house was full – our seats, front row…which meant everything was HUGE. Years later, I still shower with my eyes open – shampooing hair & all. Far as I know, no shark has ever squeezed up household plumbing thru a shower drain. Yeah…this film wrecked me.
So at age xxx, no scuba or snorkel stories in this guy’s wheelhouse…yet.
Luckily (because life is meant to be lived) when calling home, Ash harassed me (incessantly, over & over – Saturday, Sunday & Monday nights)…until this day arrived – waking early Tuesday, deciding…today, I’m going snorkeling.
Molokini Deluxe Tour
Our most popular tour, snorkel at Molokini Crater and Turtle Town. Great food, beverages and cocktails.
4 Hour Tour | Departs 9:00 AM Daily
Just 15 Minutes to Molokini Crater
Start your Maui snorkel tour closer to Molokini Crater than with any other company. Weather permitting, some boats take over an hour to reach Molokini Crater – at Kai Kanani it takes 15 minutes thanks to our exclusive departure location on Maui’s South Side at Makena Beach.
Because of rough sea, toughest part of the day – boarding the boat.
Groups of 4-6 waded out into the ocean. In between large rolling waves, crew members helped steady folks up a waiting ladder. Nothing like a huge crashing wave to get you used to the water – LOL>
Aboard the boat: introductions, safety talk, do’s & don’ts, brief snorkel instructions – and WHALES…large humpback whales! What I didn’t see on Sunday night’s whale & sunset cruise, unexpectedly I saw today. MASSIVE mammals!
[side note: in 15 minutes, I’m gonna jump in ocean water. Yikes!]
Anchored the boat near Molokini Crater, lined up early – jumped in. Done. No more story – appears I’m still a mighty strong swimmer & had an absolute blast. Initially hovered on top as instructed, turned on the underwater camera & followed a school of black tropical-stripped fish. 10 minutes in, was ready to dive. All the cool fish hug the reef 🙂
Due to murky ocean conditions, never saw a sea turtle…or the reef shark that another snorkeler filmed. Just as well – I would’a freaked. HA! Ended our day cruise with buffet lunch & Mai Tai’s.
So would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY!
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- North Pacific humpback whale
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- WOW, WOW, WOW!
Molokini Snorkeling, Maui
