Unusual Sights Out on the Water

[Ti' Punch]

Not really nautical oddities, just some cool things I've seen while out on the lower Chesapeake Bay.

The Schooner Virginia


Experimental Navy boat, moving very fast across our stern


Fancy foreign naval vessel


Attack Submarine ( I was stationed on one of these for 4 years, not this one though)


USCG Flyby over the Elizabeth River


Tugs are a fact of life around here, but this seemed excessive!


These are getting more common now, but we felt fortunate to see two together.



Alright, your turn. Let's see some cool sights from your cruising area.

[Zednotzee]

How unusual? How about this?

[kiper204]

I have a photo of a big power boat that past us without waking us, I was going to post it, but realized the name of the boat can be seen. I dont want him thrown out of the club on my account

[cat man do]

This one is not military
It is private

Skat - Google Search

[ShipShape]

Talk about an adventure in moving! It is hard to see, but their is also a boat on a trailer behind the van.





For those of you not from the USA, U-Haul is a company that rents vans so you can move yourself, and their slogan is "Adventure in Moving".

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by cat man do

This one is not military
It is private

Skat - Google Search

Defaced Red Duster--looks like Cayman Islands. Its not ours--Bermuda.

[Ti' Punch]

Nice catch on the Skat. I was fooled by the haze grey paint job and the hull number painted on the side.


It's too bad really, it made me feel not so bad about the USA's wasteful military spending when I saw the posh vessels foreign navies were cruising around in. I wouldn't put it past one of the Admirals to commission such a boat.

[hpeer]

Not on the Chesapeake but:

"Pet" Beluga, Bonavista Bay, NL. This guy hung around for months. He was around every second or third day. His favorite pastime was to move the fisherman's anchors and boats around. Sometimes he would just play on the surface making "farty" noises with his blow hole.

Berg, Twillingate, NL - Just that.

Catalina Fly By, Notre Dame Bay, NL - They had a flying boat reunion a couple of weeks prior. This guy gave me a good buzzing and wing wiggle. Very nice.

Lobster Pot Bouys, Digby, NS - Just that.

[Paul Elliott]

The North Farallon Islands. The islands aren't unusual, but the mirage was. Here they are on a normal day:



A humpback whale. Actually two of them. We bumped into this one as it surfaced in front of us. Here's some video of the encounter: http://www.sailvalis.com/Pac%20Cup%2...ages/Whale.mpg


A P-3 Orion. Some airborne friends of ours were using us to brush up on their locating skills.

[Zednotzee]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

The North Farallon Islands. The islands aren't unusual, but the mirage was.

That is weird. They look like oil rigs in the top photo.

[RiverRat]

Originally Posted by Zednotzee

How unusual? How about this?
Attachment 20897

HAHAHA It took me a minute to see the TV and lounger!

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Zednotzee

That is weird. They look like oil rigs in the top photo.

We often see inverted or separated images in the Straits of Juan de Fuca in the summertime. It makes ships look pretty amazing.
Once, we saw a tug towing a new crane for the Port of Seattle.
It looked something like a giant spider.

[Ti' Punch]

I would say the whale encounter goes beyond "unusual" as well. That's downright frightening.

[Captain Bill]

Nearly 30 years ago I was working as a marine Biologist on a boat in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico when the 1st mate came below at about 0200 screaming its the mother ship!!! Keep in mind this was only a couple of years after close encounters came out. It sure looked like the mother ship. About a mile off the Port side floating in the air was this monsterous collection of lights of every imaginable color many hundreds of feet high with giant brightly lit spires. What it was was a giant oil platform/drilling rig. It was moonless night and there were no lights on the legs so you couldn't see them. They must have been 4 or 500 feet high. It was quite spectacular and dang if it didn't look like a bit like the mother ship from close encounters. The captain and mate had been watching it for a while and keeping us out of the way of it and the 8 ocean going tugs that were towing it. I'm actually glad the woke us, it was quite a sight. Sorry I don't have a picture to share.

[aquarian]

Originally Posted by ShipShape

Talk about an adventure in moving! It is hard to see, but their is also a boat on a trailer behind the van.

Attachment 20904

For those of you not from the USA, U-Haul is a company that rents vans so you can move yourself, and their slogan is "Adventure in Moving".

I have to add to: Some friends and I once rented a U-Haul truck in Fort Lauderdale, FL, threw a matress and a cooler in the back, and took off for Key West. We found a campground, pulled in, partied in town, and camped out in our U-Haul. It was a hoot.