Today, when we awoke, it was rainy and cold. We were scheduled to go on a whale-watching boat ride this morning at 9:00. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then set out for the Old Harbor. The harbor was several blocks away.
I had put on my rain pants before we left the hotel, but I did not have a hat on, so by the time we got to the harbor, my hair was drenched. We traded in our voucher for tickets and went to wait in the café for the tour to start.
When we got on the whale-watching boat, they gave us coveralls to keep us warm and dry. They also offered seasickness pills because the water was so rough. Jay and I declined because we have never been bothered by motion sickness.
Off we went into the North Atlantic Ocean looking for whales. The water was rough, and the boat bounced around. When we got to the area where they thought we might see whales, everyone went up onto the open deck. It was very cold and rough up there. You had to hold on so you would not fall. The gloves on my hands got wet from all the rain, and my hands were freezing.
Then they started spotting whales. They would call out, “Whale at 12 o’clock!” or “Whale at 1 o’clock!” Everyone would rush to that side of the boat to look for the whale, but of course, by the time you got there, the whale was gone.
I never did see a whale, and after a while, I did not really care anymore — I just wanted to get warm. I think they should change the name from “Whale Watching” to maybe “Looking for Whales.” We did not really watch any whales; we were just trying to spot them.
By the time I went back downstairs, my feet felt frozen. Since we had stayed out longer than anticipated looking for whales, they took us to a different harbor and put us on buses to take us back to the Old Harbor in Reykjavík. From there, we walked back to our hotel.
