So…the roofers arrived at 7:00. Why? Because it wasn’t raining. But still. The upside was twofold. First we loaded up and left ahead of schedule. Second, the host has offered to refund some of our fee.

So (after convincing the roofers to take a break so we could load the car without having old shingles rain down upon us) we left Yarmouth and eventually Maine.

Along the way we got to whiz by some of the water around Portland that was obscured by yesterday’s fog.

After a quick (fifteen minute) dash thru New Hampshire we arrived in Massachusetts. The first stop in our tour of the Freedom State was Salem. (The irony is not lost on this author.) Actually we only stopped long enough to pose for a couple of photos;

And have lunch.

We also did a little shopping for art supplies, then we headed down the road to Gloucester for the afternoon’s activity. We had some time to kill before checking in at 7 Seas Whale Watch (thank you roofers) so we (most of us) spent some time wandering the area around the docks. Others of us (who shall remain nameless) took a nap. Eventually we checked in and boarded our boat, the Privateer IV (most of us. Chris had decided that there were many other better ways to spend an afternoon than being tossed around the open sea in a too small boat. So he opted to spend the afternoon perusing the stacks of a used book store and settling in at a local pub to read – some arcane text book about geometry and video games – sounds like work to me.)

The boat is actually very comfortable, with outside seating on the top deck and around the lower deck and table seating in the main cabin.

On the way out we passed Tucker’s Island with its twin lights. While most lights mark the entrance to a safe harbor these mark a particularly treacherous area.

Another feature of these lights is their orientation. One is due north of the other. So when a ship passes by them and one obscures the view of the other…

Eventually we arrived at Jeffrey’s Ledge and began our search for “blow” – the puff of vapor that’s the telltale sign of a whale surfacing. It wasn’t long before we spotted one and we spent the next hour or so following a couple of humpback whales as they fed.

The naturalist on board told us that this feeding process will include dives to 600 feet where they will release bubbles that form a “bubble net” capturing their lunch. Scientists have determined that this is the optimal depth for this type of bubble netting. They could have just asked the whales.

She also explained how whale biologists can identify humpback whales by the markings on the underside of their tail.

While we were out we spotted a group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. They were fairly shy and didn’t stick near to the boat but I was able to catch one dorsal fin.

Eventually we turned toward shore and ended a successful day on the ocean (Nobody in our group chundered. Nobody in our group fell overboard. We all got a little wet from the ocean spray. And we all got to see whales!)

Since the next phase of the journey was to drive past Boston to Middleborough we opted to stay in Gloucester for an early dinner rather than drive the rush hour traffic.

Dealing our drive around Boston was a good plan. We’re checked into a motel for tonight and tomorrow we stop by Plymouth on our way to the cape.

I hear a beach calling my name.

Nite all, R