On the 13th of September a hearty group from Harvard's COA headed down to Gloucester bay. Yo ho ho! A full busload left the Hildreth House grounds right on time—10 in the morning. The weather? Fine—slight overcast.
The bus arrived at the famous Gloucester copper green statue of the helmsman steering the sidewalk out to sea, and some of the group debussed to photograph it. The sea appeared calm and restful. At a seaside restaurant next to the pier, a bit before noon, a meal was had by all while the docked Privateer IV waited next door.
The Privateer IV cast off at 1:30 p.m. sharp, when all COA travelers were aboard. The Gloucester shore slowly sank into the sea abaft, as anxious eyes peered ahead, sweeping the sea from port to starboard and back again for the sight of any possible spouts or flukes.
As we headed out into the North Atlantic at a steady 15 knots, all signs of the mainland slowly disappeared from view. The sky was hazy, but visibility good. A couple of hours out, there were occasional views of a Moby Dick or two in the distance, but sightings were still far and few, when the skipper of the Privateer announced that she'd heard from other boats to the south that a bunch of 'em were spotted down that-a way, so, with a change of course (to starboard), the boat was soon closing in on P-Town.
There it got interesting! Whales were popping up here, there, and everywhere. The skipper was calling out directions, "Two o'clock!" "Over there at nine o'clock!" "Seven, seven!" It was a great show when the skipper slowed the boat down to idle next to them, and when they dived, she'd goose the boat over to another bunch. Over and over. And again!
The whale watch literature in the brochure advertising the trip guaranteed there'd be whale sightings. And there were! The Privateer drifted into a whale feeding ground then and was surrounded by spouting pods and fluking tails, and it was getting dark. Too bad! It was time to go.
So far out and so far to go back. The skipper put the hammer down and GPS'd the boat back to the pier at around 9, instead of … 4:30? Who cared.