Remember to Ask all the Right Questions!

This is a story that was published by the Retired Teacher of Ontario.

Remember to ask all the right questions!



Big waves, big breakfast = not a good idea.


A number of years ago, my husband Michael and I were in sunny California. It was March and the grey whales were heading back up north after breeding on the west coast of Mexico. We love whales and thought the best way to spend our last day in California would be to go whale watching. The whale watching tour we chose took off from Half Moon Bay.



We made our way to the boat site and were very early. Since the buses to Half Moon Bay from San Francisco did not run very often, the particular bus that we took was more than an hour before the boat launch. This was the one that made most sense. Breakfast also seemed like a good idea.



Now why breakfast seemed like a good idea to someone who gets motion sick, I will never know. I get sick watching micro-fiche in the library. It is the motion of the objects on the screen that do me in. I have also managed to get motion sick playing slots on the ferry from Bar Harbour to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Again, it is caused by the motion of the objects on the screen. It does seem to take me a while to learn.



After a hardy breakfast, we headed out to the pier to wait for our boat. The water looked quite calm. This was not really the case but I am not a person who has been to oceans very often and therefore, I did not understand breakwaters but I soon would.



The boat was small; we were off to see whales. Oh, that was not to be. Once passed the breakwater, the ocean became choppy and the boat was tossed about. A number of us became very seasick. It seems that there are different degrees of seasickness.



One of the passengers was so sick that she lay on the deck of the boat and could not even move when the crew warned us that we were turning back and waves might come overboard. The warning was well intentioned. She was soon soaking wet having been covered by a wave. Others hung over the back of the boat commenting sadly that they had paid to do this. Like me, they had not anticipated the severity of the trip.





Relief was finally stepping on land that did not keep moving and swaying. After some time on shore, I started to feel better. We wanted to head back to San Francisco. Our flight home was early the next morning. We stood at the bus stop waiting with anticipation for the ride back to the city. Nothing appeared for some time. We asked a young boy passing by when the bus was expected. He knew nothing. The store we were standing in front of closed. We started to get worried.



Finally, after a long wait a bus appeared, it was going to opposite way but we were so desperate that we were ready to ride on the bus and come back. Thank God we asked the bus driver if he was heading back to San Francisco. Yes, he was heading back but it was a passenger-less run. It was time to take the bus back.



We pleaded and mentioned that we were from Canada. That did it. He was a former football star who played for the Ottawa Rough Rider. He took pity on us and also was pleased to be helping Canadians. He took us over the mountains and back to San Francisco. We were so happy to be taken back to the city. We were heading home the next morning and had no idea how we would have gotten back. You never know when you are going to come across someone who will help you.



This is one trip that we still talk about many years later. I have a feeling that we will be in rocking chairs and will tell anyone who will listen about our whale watching trip.