September 11: Boating with Orcas

Another boating day presented. I jammed my injured foot into a dry suit and off we went.
En route to The Nuggets, my crewman Ben shouted out that he had spotted Orcas. We drove along parallel to the coast watching the Orcas out to sea. I am sure that my squeals of excitement could be heard from Station.
Ben and I were confused why Rich in the second IRB was taking photos of us and not the Orcas.
Unbeknownst to us we had an Orca following our boat the whole time!

What an incredible experience to be out in the boats, with the plateau blocking out the sky on one side of us, and the horizon stretching to the east, with no land for thousands of kilometres. To have the Orca pod consider us worthy of investigation was quite the honour.

Thanks Rich Youd for the photos.

Our IRB being followed by the Orca. Photo: Rich Youd

Orca pod frolicking. Photo: Rich Youd

Orca. Photo: Rich Youd

Ben and I oblivious as to our visitor following us. Photo: Rich Youd

Jacque and Ben headed north up the east coast opposite east beach. Photo: Rich Youd

September 9: Boating day

With October resupply creeping ever closer, some time playing around in our IRBs (Inflatable Rescue Boats) after a long winter was well overdue. A beautiful sunny day of light winds gave us the perfect opportunity to get on the water.
A shout out to Justin Chambers for the wonderful pics taken from the Ham Shack, whilst holding down the fort back on Station.

Boating with IRBs in the shadow of the plateau. Photo: Justin Chambers

Jacque and Ben Golden practising approaches in the IRB. Photo: Justin Chambers

Picking a line between the kelp and rocks. Photo: Justin Chambers

Approaching the trailers on landing beach to retrieve the boats. Photo: Justin Chambers

Landing Beach and The Razorback lookout stairs. Photo: Justin Chambers

June 24: Cleaning the boats.

Awaking to a gentle 6 knot breeze, today was declared boat cleaning day. We stripped down the IRBs, removed the speed tubes and flushed all of the stones out of them, repacked the survival bags, and gave them a good once over so that finally we are ready to hit the water, when we get some boating weather.


Inflating the IRB. Photo: Andrea Turbett

 

Working fast to beat the rain. Photo: Andrea Turbett

Hosing out the IRB. Photo: Andrea Turbett

Installing the floor. Photo: Andrea Turbett

Locking in the floor. Photo: Andrea Turbett