Fishing turns to Whale Watching**GOOD WHALE WATCHING***!!!

[Greg Madrigal]

I took my buddy Harv and his goddaughter out to do a little bass fishing out of Dana. We rented a pretty nice ride from Harbor Boat rentals for the day. We tried plastics and managed a couple of dinks, but the kids got bored. I had been hearing about this being the best year on record for whales of all types, so we headed out. It didn't take long for us to find a spouter, and we never left him or 1 of 2 others, for the rest of out trip.

Here is the nice ride we rented from Harbor Boat Rentals. The owner, Dan was super cool and gave me a rundown of the boats attributes and safety b4 we too off which was cool as I had precious cargo aboard-2 kids. They had a great time watching for the whales to resurface, and I bet they will never forget this trip!
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Here a Whale shows us his tail right off the bow. It's a gray.
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Harv had a nice DSLR with a zoom lens, so we were able to get some sick shots while maintaining a safe distance.
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Hows this for close up?!
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That's Dana Point City in the back. I don't think we ever made it out past 6 miles.
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Thankfully, Dan has an up to date Lowrance chart plotter aboard, as I got a little sideways on the way in and wasn't sure if I was South or North of D.P. I stopped for a second, zoomed out on the map, and made a heading back to the harbor. 3 hrs of whale watching = 3 gallons of gas. That's sipping fuel!
Who needs fish pics, when you have these pics?!


Here's Dan doing his washdown. After having just sold my boat (bitter sweet as you all know) it was sure GREAT to get back at the helm, and just icing that we didn't have to do any of the maintenance boat owners do. We just grabbed our gear, said goodbye, and off to Mexican food for lunch! If you guys wanna see the whales, get out there now! They are here! Even though we only saw grays, apparently they are seeing 6 or 7 types too. Harbor Boat Rentals-949-498-4285
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[DockRat]

Great pics. Good you guys give them room. That is a big problem I see in the SM Bay. 4 - 6 boats right on top of them, then they follow them for a hour. It is almost as if the PBers held them and force them out of the bay. Really bugs me. DR

[Which Way Out]

Wow Greg what a great idea switching it up. Your right the kids will remember it forever.

Sweet ride also. What a great opportunity being able to rent such a nice boat. I hope his business flourishes and can expand up my way.

WWO