A very good morning to you all !!!! (( and now it’s already afternoon as I’ve been out skippering my Hippo boat  almost the whole day ))

CAN you believe it’s August already ???

We had some passengers on the 06h30 WHALE WATCHING trip this morning , Amanda has been coming to St Lucia for the last 3 years JUST to go WHALE WATCHING with Danie , and every time bringing new family and friends with her to South Africa  Berno did the 06h30 trip this morning, ( Berno is Danie’s relief skipper ) , and has been skippering the whale watching boat since the beginning of this season …even HE said after the trip that it was THE BEST tour this entire season !

Apparently the 5 or 6 Humpback Whales they saw were just breaching and performing non stop ! Maybe it’s because they knew it was Amanda’s birthday ??

Dear agents , friends in tourism and lodge owners and staff  - - - - we’ve lately had many unhappy clientele , that come and swear at us in the office , hit with fists against our counters , because we cancel the trips  - - - - Danie also had his share of throwing toys out the cot on the beach yesterday , but the biggest problem is that we are trying to satisfy our clientèle ,Danie will only shout and scream if there is any safety factor whatsoever  ! Danie will never go out in dangerous seas , and the clients must please understand that we have no control over the weather and it can change bad from one minute to the next , we’ve been operating for tooo long and know how suddenly the winds can come up , or how treacherous the beach can be over Spring and Neap tides . Clientèle must please understand that we are very strict in our safety briefing , and they HAVE to listen to what the captains n the beach tell them , they give the briefing for the safety of the whole crew and not just for fun !

There is a very good reason why Marine and Coastal Management decided to grant the Boat-Based-Whale- Watching permit to Danie  . He is sometimes also a super *&^ , but a skipper with the most knowledge , passion and care about passenger safety . (( Ja , I can safely say so , as being my husband , he HAS to forgive me  - ha ha )) , but then please do understand if Danie decides the trips are not going out , there is a good reason for him doing so . AT THE END OF THE DAY , we don’t have ANY other means of income , the Hippo Boat and Whale Watching is our ONLY income , we have 22 staff members working for Advantage , they ALL have to be paid , and we DO want to operate as many trips as we can , so if we do cancel , it’s a huge financial burden on the company , we will never cancel trips just for ‘’because ‘’ …

I still get the feeling there are people out there thinking whales swim on some calm dam behind the dunes , as some clientèle get very upset because they got wet on the trip , they ARE going to get wet , please ‘’paint’’ the picture of the whale watching trips for them as best you can , TELL and Inform the clients about all the negatives (( getting  wet  )) and if they THEN still want to go , they WILL then be the kind of clients that we DO want on our boats . We also had this lady on Saturday that got a panic attack as Danie was busy going out , she performed so much that he turned around to drop her off , as he turned to go back in a wave pushed the boat onto a sandbank and caused extreme damage on the one engine ! ALL trips canceled for the day !  Whale Watching is a high energy adventure tour , and if people are not up to it , they should rather not book and upset a whole boatload of eager clientèle . This client never should have booked in the first place , we now sit with about R80 000-00’s damage due to this incident ….

IF and WHEN we DO go out , the whale watching is the best experience any client can have !

AND , I WISH I could have had ALL of you on my boat yesterday morning  - we just had the most excellent trip and sightings ! I took wonderful photos of Hippo calfs , the Fish Eagle , Mangrove Kingfisher ! I say this with a lot of respect and humbleness – I AM a good skipper ! I KNOW WHAT people want to see and hear if they get onto my boat , and so is Berno as well , ENTHUSIASTIC about every tour , not just babbling away because we HAVE to , but because we WANT to ! We make sure that our clientèle return satisfied after their trip !

So far our whale count is standing on almost 600 , there are SOOOO many whales out there , OBVIOUSLY we can only count the whales that we see when we go out , on horrrrrrrible windy days plenty little walvissies going past which we can’t count .

There’s been about 7 newborn calf’s spotted since 3weeks ago .

It’s good for us when we can regularly have feedback from the clientèle and yourselves , if there are ANY problems whatsoever , we’ll gladly listen and always try and better our service to you and your clientèle!
Okay , so after a very long ‘’whiny’’ letter  - at the end of the day I just wanted to let you know the trips are still b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l , the clients are loving every minute of these soul stirring sightings and the educational information given to them !

We are again experiencing e.x.t.r.e.m.e high surf due to the cold fronts we had over the weekend , as well as the springtides !

Some of the whale watching trips were cancelled as the launch site has been closed until further notice from the Safety Officers down on the beach !

No boats will be launching today ( Monday 30 July )

Maybe you have some clientele that wants to drive down to the beach and see the high tides !

S.P.L.L.L.I.N.T.E.R.N.U.W.E. baba Boggelrug walvissies !

The 1^st BRRRRRRAND new little baby Humpback Whale calfs have been spotted for the season !

(((actually Danie already saw a brand new little calf last week , but I forgot to send out the e-mail )))

Another brand spanking new little one was spotted next to its mom on this mornings’ trip !

It’s July 2007 , THIS mom ‘mated’ with her male partner last year in August , and now 11months later she ‘s back here to give birth to her baby (calf )

Remember that the Antarctic is TOO cold for the little calfs to be born there , they won’t survive , she will give birth in the warm water of the Indian Ocean the year after she ‘mated’  , and through the next 4 months the little calf drinks SOOOOO much milk , so as to grow and get some blubber , by the time they migrate back to the Antarctic , the little one is big and fat enough to survive the cold waters .

ALL these facts are given to the clientele on board the boat whilst they out with Marine Mammal Guides ‘ Danie ,Bien or Berno !

There is a slight possibility again of a strong south wind approaching for the weekend , but lets see how many tours we can get done before the weather turns fowl .

We’ve been blessed with a couple of continuous days of good weather lately !

SOME clientele still rock up at the office dressed in high heel shoes , lost of make up , jewelery , dresses and and and …..PLEASE tactfully inform your clientele whales swim in the ocean , the ocean is behind the backline and surf , they ARE going to get wet and cold and and and and and …okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai , some trips NO ONE gets wet or cold at all , but it’s best to warm them to dress accordingly !

Cellphones , watches and all electric equipment is taken on the boat on their own responsibility , we can’t promise that their won’t be water damage !

Keep well for now , and all the best for the weekend !