The weather was pretty crazy yesterday, with us experiencing everything from a hard downpour to a sunny warm breeze and lots of changes in between. It made for a wet day for all and I started off on a special 5 hour tour yesterday afternoon with some adventurous folks from Wisconsin. They braved the damp cold to paddle out and I'm glad they did as blue skies and sunny days are wonderful, but there's nothing like paddling around the islands when they're shrouded in mist and everything is gray and quiet.
As we rounded Kellett Bluffs the water was like glass and we could just make out Vancouver Island. While were admiring the open expanse, one of my guests saw something moving and diving. Once we got some good views I could tell it was a pair (or more) of harbor porpoises. These shy creatures were surfacing back and forth in the waters around the steep cliffs and seemed to be feeding. Harbor porpoises eat lots of different types of fish including herring (which we have a lot of here in the Sound). Their dives would bring them up in a new place each time, so we scanned the calm water and listened for their loud breaths. It was a pretty special sight to see and hear them so close!
As we were sitting there with them we saw some beautiful color appear over San Juan Island. Not only were we looking at a double rainbow, but one was also was also a supernumerary rainbow (a rainbow with additional color bands on the inside).
We paddled towards the end of the rainbow and then into the harbor for some warm drinks. I consider hot chocolate worth its weight in gold anyways!