Flutterby™! : more whales

My photographic goal for this trip was to take snapshots that illustrated the trip; personal images, not art. Good pictures are hard, especially with wildlife, and I wanted this to be a trip of experiencing what was there, and bringing back memories of those experiences, rather than try to compete with the coffee table books. Charlene did better in this than I, she remembered to get that picture of ice all around with the boat for context that I put in that entry a few back, but I'm particularly proud of this sequence because it gives a sense of how close the whales approached the boat, and what it was like to be there:

I haven't rambled about the captain or the boat yet. The Island Dream is a 28 foot aluminum hull diesel powered cruiser. It's set up for cruising, it's about the perfect size for two people to indefinitely explore the islands of the northwest, so with 6 people plus the captain it could feel a little cramped, but instead it feels cozy, like we've all squeezed in to Barry's living room while he shows us the stuff that he thinks is really cool. And Barry is smart, knowledgeable, and clearly loves his materials.

But Barry also doesn't have canned spiels, he answers questions and engages in conversations and has favorite things to show you, but in the three days we were with him we heard the same facts when folks asked questions that we'd already heard the answers to, but we didn't have that sense of a lecture that it's so easy to fall into when you're answering something for the umpteenth time. Don't go with Kaleidoscope Cruises expecting "tour guide" mode, this is for people who want a more in-depth experience; go after learning a little bit about your subject and expecting to ask questions.