Div 6's Questions Part 4

Here is the fourth set of questions from Ms. Small's class at Armstrong Elementary.

Have you seen dolphins and whales and sharks?

YES! We've been lucky to see Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Harbour Porpoises, and Humpback Whales....but no sharks (thankfully). Sharks don't become more common until we get further south. One of the most interesting things I've learned is that sea lions will sometimes lie on the surface with one fin in the air, and swim in small circles. They do this to regulate their body temperature, and it is called thermo-regulating...but it looks eerily like a shark fin from a distance! We have also been lucky to see an amazing variety of bird life.

Do you have flares?

Yes, we have lots of flares on board, and all different kinds. Some of our flares go high in the air, release a small parachute. and then float down to the surface slowly. We have others that shoot one or two red stars up into the sky and fall quickly. For daytime use, we also have orange smoke flares, to help someone find your position.

What happens if pirates attack you?

Well, every case is different, but most pirates who attack small boats like ours are thieves. So I expect they will take any money that we might have on board and perhaps some other items they can sell, and hopefully they will be on their way.

Have you been sea sick?

I normally suffer from motion sickness, so I took some medication during our traveling days and managed not to be ill. John, on the other hand, never gets sea sick, but didn't feel very well on one of his night watches.

Have you been scuba diving?

Both of us are certified SCUBA divers, but we were hoping to wait until warmer waters until we did some underwater exploring. John did rent a tank and a regulator last week, so that he could dive under the boat to change our zinc and scrub the hull. Diving in the marina. Nice.

Do you see many boats along the way?

Yes...so far we've seen lots of boats who are making a similar trip. This is the best time of year to travel to Mexico, so many others are going at the same time. There are even several other Canadian boats here - in fact there is a Canadian boat in our marina somewhere...but I haven't had a chance to meet them yet - it is a big marina (800+ boats).

What souvenirs will you buy?

Hmmm....I'm not sure yet!! We don't have a lot of space to store big things on the boat, so anything we buy will have to be small enough to store, or light enough that we can mail it home.