Today we took our boat out to Anacapa Island from Ventura Harbor for some Gray Whale watching. And we did see a pair behind the island heading south at about 5 knots. But we watched from a distance today. Grays always let you know when they are not interested in company: they stay down longer and slide their tails on top of the water rather than showing a big fluke. Or they snorkel, or blow out the air in their lungs while just under the surface rather than all the way out. This lessens the appearance of the blow and makes them harder to spot.
We also saw bottlenose dolphins and they did come up to the boat to play and surf the bow. As a group built up on the bow one would whistle, we could hear it, and at the sound they suddenly turned and disappeared. They jumped out of the water and did nose stands for us too. Amazing.
But the excitement was the swell once we got back to the harbor. We knew they were big when we saw the waves breaking about a quarter of the way across the harbor entrance. Ventura is famous for its perilous harbor approach on stormy days. We went out for the day and timed our return for a higher part of the tide so the water wouldn't be too wild at the entrance. Well, the swells built over the day and on the way back we saw 10 to 12 footers and they were coming in fast! They were still breaking across the entrance and the air was foggy from the mist blown back as the huge waves boomed onto the beach. The water was brown and foaming and swirling and the breakwater was slammed by huge waves breaking over its top.
We counted sets and with me looking behind to make sure there were no sneakers Dennis timed the approach perfectly and we got right in no problem but we could feel the confused water pulling and pushing at the hull as soon as we slowed down. What a day.
