Postcard number 5

The weather has cooled down to a brisk 88 degrees today, with a breeze from the sea, so it is much less stifling than it was.  The local papers and tv news is all about the Heatwave of DEATH that is sweeping the north-east of the US, so we've had the enjoyable sense that we are in the middle of a climate-based disaster movie, possibly starring Jeff Goldblum or Will Smith, where stern men in hard hats glare at blueprints and yell into telephones.  We've been fighting the Heatwave of DEATH by going to the beach and eating ice cream.  Well, we all do what we can.

We all went up to Provincetown earlier in the week.  That's the town right on the very tip of Cape Cod, poking out into the Atlantic a long way.  Look on a map, British readers.  It was incredibly, searingly hot.  That was the day that the official temperature in Boston reached 100 degrees - a rarity, I understand - and it was not far off that in P-town, as we locals call it.

We were up there early as we had booked onto a whale-watching trip.  Readers, we saw scads of the buggers.  Humpback whales, of which I managed to take three photos, shadowy vague dark blots on the water.  Mr WithaY took some fantastic photos which I will post on here if he lets me. 

There is a huge marine reserve off the coast of New England, and because P-town is so far out it only takes an hour or so before you arrive at the prime whale watch area.  We saw a mother and calf, rolling around on and just under the surface, the calf feeding from the mother as they both swam slowly past us.  That was lovely.  They're big, whales, aren't they? 

We then plodded along a bit fiurther, leaving the mother and calf in peace, before encountering a group of five or six animals all feeding just under the surface.  They were incredible, spouting and splashing and flapping their big tails out of the water.  Lovely. 

The boat is run by a company who are very keen on marine conservation, and they went to some lengths to make it clear that we might not see any animals close to, as there are strict laws about bothering whales (and other marine animals).  We were very fortunate that the whales moved nearer to our boat when we stopped and watched them. 

The same could not be said for some fuckwit in a small fishing boat.  He and his scarlet, elephantine wife were gaily moving around right on top of the whales, at times starting their engines to get even closer.  The captain of our boat was furious, and the on-board marine biologist filmed the whole thing.  They reported it to the appropriate authorities over the radio (Coastguard?  Navy?  Department of Fisheries? Neptune?  I was too excited by the whales to pay much attention) and told us that the fool driving that boat would be getting a visit from them in the near future, and there was anything up to a $100,000 fine for that kind of flagrant breach of the law. 

As is traditional, on the way back to port I felt as though I was about to die.  In my defence, I think it was probably mostly heat-related, as the sea was mirror-calm.  To be fair, though, I could get seasick in the bath on a bad day. 

Once back on land, we found  a place to get lunch.  It was air-conditioned to a mere 83 degrees, and we sat there for ages until we felt strong enough to go outside again. 
 
We ducked in and out of shops but it was so incredibly hot and muggy that none of us had much energy for shopping.  Something I now regret, as we found a place selling Big Lebowski t-shirts.  I particularly liked the "You're entering a world of pain" one.  We can always pop back to get some I suppose.

In the evening we had booked to go on a Dune Safari.  There's a company called Art's Dune Tours, now run by the Son Of Art, where you all pile into large 4-wheel drive vehicles with most of the air let out of the tyres, and they drive you across the dunes to look at the wildlife, the artists' shacks and the incredible, freaky landscape. 

Our driver and guide was a nice chap called John who works as a biology teacher in term time and a park ranger in the summer, moonlighting as a dune safari guide in his spare time.  We told him we were disappointed he wasn't wearing his park ranger hat.  Apparently they aren't allowed to unless they are working on official park ranger business. 

I will post some pictures of the dunes when I get home.  The climax of the trip was a stop at a beach to watch the sunset.  I paddled in the water - crystal clear and beautifully refreshing after such a searingly hot day - where we had a large seal join us as the sun went down.  He kept popping up closer and closer to the beach, which was a real bonus.  I failed to get a photo, but I could probably draw a picture if anyone's interested. 

A late-night sandwich from a cheeky man in a seafront sandwich shop, and we were home by 11. 

Yesterday Mr WithaY went sea fishing, and returned home in triumph with bluefish and striped bass.  No sunburn, and managed not to lose any fingers, toes or ears, so a triumphant day all round.  We dined like kings on bluefish for supper.  Nom nom nom.

I went out to Chatham and Orleans with our lovely hostess, where we explored the shops.  There's a place on the seafront where you can get excellent lobster rolls, so we picked up some lunch from there and went to eat it sitting in the shade of a large maple tree in the old cemetary.  Unusual, but pleasant. 

I had to buy another memory card for my camera, as I have completely filled one already.  Over 700 pictures.  Hey family - bet you can't wait to sit through all those, can you?

Today it's much cooler, and we plan to do some domestic stuff with our hostess.  Possibly there will be ice-cream. 

Shark!

Well, today we go up to Gatwick airport, stay in a hotel overnight, and I then drop Mr WithaY at the airport for his unbelievably early check-in on Sunday morning.

Why? Well, glad you asked, dear reader.

Because he is off to live on a boat out in the ocean off the coast of Mexico for 3 weeks as part of a marine biology shark tagging expedition. Guadalupe and the Revillagigedo (Socorro) Islands, off the Pacific coast of Mexico, to be precise.

And not just little cute Finding Nemo vegetarian sharks*, either. No, these are Scalloped Hammerheads and Great Whites. The plan, as far as I can deduce, is that they take turns being lowered into the ocean inside a cage, then poke the sharks with pointy sticks, trying to give them a funky fin piercing.

Now, is it just me, or does that sound like the kind of behaviour that would earn you an unexpected ride in an ambulance on a Saturday night, never mind attempting it with some of the largest marine predators around?

Gah.

I do have an irrational fear of big fish, so my views on this are bound to be slightly prejudiced. But even so. Sharks! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

The science bit:

It's all being done in conjunction with the Shark Research Institute (SRI), Centro De Investigaciones Biologicas del Noroeste, S.C. (CiB) and the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR), La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Check them out if you are interested.

*Apart from the Whale Sharks.

Go fish

Busy day today.

Had a hectic morning at work, after a nice evening last night eating Chinese with my bestest mate, catching up on each others' news and wandering round looking at bats.

At one point we were looking at the river, standing on a rather lovely arched stone bridge. It was getting dark, and what with all the bats and all, it was looking a bit spooky.

I said "Wouldn't it be scary if a huge bat came crawling up the bridge towards us...would you help me flee to safety?"

He said "No. I only bring you along as monster bait."

Git.

Anyhoo. Work. Had a new team member start today so we had a meeting to get him up to speed on what we are all doing, and to try to get the project plan updated.

We use a really old version of MS Project at work and hardly anyone knows how to use it properly. I looked into getting us all some training so we could, you know, run our project properly. The software version we use is so old that nobody provides training for it any more. We could, however, get trained up in a version we don't have.

I declined that offer, on the grounds that it was rubbish.

Baled out of work fairly early to go to Salisbury to get my hair cut, having stupidly forgotten that it is the Friday before a Bank Holiday, and the roads would therefore be hell on toast. Got there eventually and am now less straggly and dishevelled looking.

Which is nice.

Off to see my lovely Mum tomorrow while Mr WithaY goes sea-fishing. He is under strict instructions to bring back:

a) Lobsters
b) Scallops
c) A turbot

I daresay he will come home bright red and covered in salt, with tales of people hooking each others' ears and losing their glasses/wallets/false teeth over the side of the boat.

Not alone

Slightly less grumpy about things than I was yesterday, but still pretty pissed off. Still, my team have come up trumps and proved once again how great they all are, so that's good.

I am off work for a few days next week, and really feel like I need the break. Christmas already feels like years ago, even though it is less than a month.

Mr WithaY is off on a jaunt to the Red Sea to terrify fish by looming at them in his wetsuit, so I thought I would have a bit of time to myself as well. I was invited but as I don't dive* and don't really do sun, it seemed a bit pointless to spend a week sitting on a dive boat. In the sun.

Had a disapppointing guitar lesson last night as I was too cross and stressed to focus, and too sad to sing. Still, my lovely teacher persisted and taught me the intro to Purple Haze, so I must make sure I perfect it before I see him again.

He's such a sweetie.

I need to find some local guitarists to play with, though, as it makes such a difference when other people are involved. If anyone knows anyone in this area, let me know. And Andy, get down to the West more often, you selfish git. Heh.

And on the bright side, the sun is shining and the fields are less flooded than they were.

Hurrah.

And I have snowdrops in my garden. Spring approaches.

Other news: Met a fellow Magnum fan today. Yay!



*I have had a go, and enjoyed it, but my phobia about big fish means I can't relax under water for fear of being nudged by a huge finny bastard from behind.