Kayaking

On Saturday, Ryan left work around 3pm and got dressed and packed for a kayak trip/bonfire with Avery, his wife, and a few other folks.  Avery and Ryan headed down to Thom's Landing early to kayak around the islands.  They got out at one and followed an otter trail, littered with broken crab shells and conch shell fragments.  They kayaked around the wreck of an old fishing vessel, the Flying Tiger.  Then they headed across to a long, tree-covered island.  They paddled around the rocks, and crept up on an eagle eating a fish on a dead log just on shore.  They got within twenty feet before he flew away.  They heard a lot of noise around the other side of the island, sea birds circling around what must have been a school of hooligan or herring moving through the channel.  They paddled around the end of the island and then toward the beach.  At the beach they turned back, and Ryan came around to get a look down the channel at the mountains.  Ryan was just in the middle of saying, "It doesn't get much better than this," when he saw a burst of water vapor blow in the air and a black hump rise out of the water.  It was a humpback whale, and for the next half hour they followed after it as fast as they could, seeing it rise to the surface and then slowly dive back down about 6 times, before it was lost to sight.  They then tiredly paddled back, realizing that the crazy, blind chase after the whale had added about a quarter mile to their journey.  Ryan stayed an extra hour at the bonfire to warm up and tell the story, and fuel up with some roasted marshmallows.