Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 10:48:03 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mary Gustafson Subject: Searcher pelagics, San Diego, Off Topic/Out of Area Comments: To: de-birds@princeton.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The Searcher (a boat) is running three marathon pelagics (five days/four nights one day VERY short) this year out of San Diego. Two trips are in April and target Murphy's Petrel. The September trip targets deep water and has high potential for turnng up good birds. If you want a good shot at Murphy's Petrel you can fly out to CA for spring trips and hope that one goes out (mine never did) or you can go on the Searcher. Leaders are Walter Wehtje and Don Desjardines, both excellent seabirders and leaders. The Searcher is a comfy sleep-aboard ship that can carry about thirty birders. Accomodations are largely below decks in berths with 2-4 berths per cabin. If you've ever tried to sleep in bunks with chains supporting weak thin mattresses, this is much better. The berths have thick padded mattresses and I found them very comfortable (but don't be picturing "cruise ship" luxury double beds either!). The boat has HOT indoor showers and a full galley. The advantage of longer trips is that you don't get beat up running back and forth to port. The length of time in deep water with the potential for good birds is higher. I found the trips (I was out once in April and once in September in 2003) very relaxing. It was very impressive to spend nights anchored at sea without any other vessels in sight and a sky full of stars. I was a paying customer on these trips and found them to be a very good value. All food is included as was the chance to bring in a fish (September), in my case an albacore that made the menu as ceviche. The food was tasty, plentiful, and healthy. The only additional expense is a gratutity for the crew. I can't say enough good things about the crew as far as doing their work, spotting birds, sharing their knowledge with the passengers, and doing lots of those behind the scenes tasks that make the trip seem effortless. The boat is stable and comfortable, but I'd recommend bringing and taking seasickness medication to ensure that you enjoy the trip. The captain and crew put priority on birders comfort, and at times changed course or heading during meals to give a smoother ride while we were in the cabin. Course changes to avoid storms are also possible with the distance covered by the trips. For more information, see www.bajawhale.com. For whale watching, the April trip was superior with large numbers of whales and dolphins approaching the boat very closely. We got hit with humpback whale exhalation, had a fin whale surface next to the boat, bow-riding by several dolphin species, and three blue whales went the length of the boat under the boat and THEY were bigger than WE were (at least the cow was). All in all, if you're looking for an adventure with birds and whales, check this one out. If I didn't have schedule conflicts I'd be on one of these trips in 2004. Mary Gustafson ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================