Hitchhikers

One thing that is great about this cruising lifestyle is that every day, something interesting happens. They say that truth is stranger than fiction and it was for me today just the same as it will also certainly be tomorrow. In fact not one but two interesting things happened to me today. For starters I didn't know that whales were common off this coast but I do now for two reasons. One, a big boat full of tourists with whale and dolphin watching research signs on the side came very close to me in the mouth of the Delaware. But two, about 300 yards behind the boat, this morning, a whale broached. I can't ever remember seeing this before except on TV but this whale came right out of the water. I mean seriously up in the air. Big splash of course. I didn't get a photo of it but I did enjoy the moment.
The other thing that happened to me today that I did get a photo of, was of a cheeky bird in my cockpit. Every now and again, I get these hitchhikers and usually they are tired and need a rest or they are not well. This guy however, was full of energy and started chasing insects around the cockpit, so I gave him some bread.

Would you believe it, but he ate the whole thing and gave me a couple of deposits back in return. It took him ages to eat it and after a couple of hours, he wondered up to the bow of the boat and flew away. I am not sure what kind of gull he was but I suspect that he was young and hadn't learnt to be afraid of humans.