Since we paddled about 12 miles the day before, today was a relatively short day with only about 4 miles. We paddled to the inlet and were out on the Pacific Ocean briefly. While the inlet had been relatively calm, the Pacific Ocean was definitely less calm. The swells were much more noticeable and there would have been some good opportunities for sock gardening had the boats not been loaded and heavy. We were also quite tired from the long day of paddling yesterday and we limped into camp, collapsing gratefully on the beach. The beach we had been planning on camping on already had a group staying there. We had pressed on to the Pacific side in the hopes of a campsite but alas the Pacific side of the island was too rocky, so we backtracked a little. Luckily the beach we finally found, didn't have sand either. This gave us another opportunity to shake out more sand from our gear.
After lunch, a few of us went out again to see if we could get close to some whales. We had been seeing the plumbs of water rising from the inlet all day, frustratingly close. Heading out we saw some plumes far away at first, we even saw a whale broach. Too bad no one had a camera at the ready. Some plumes were closer the further out we got until there was a set of whales right in front of us. They were so close it was amazing. I took a bunch of pictures and managed to capture a whale tail on film as well as shoot some video as a couple passed right in front of the kayak. I really can't believe how close we managed to get to the whales. Tomorrow, although we will have an early start, there will be more whale watching from a small skiff. It should be a little easier to catch up to whales rather then padding around in kayaks, but it was a totally awesome experience.
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