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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charlie Rowney" data-source="post: 1275711" data-attributes="member: 7464">DominiqueYou mention in one of your posts that observations from the UP boat were "way closer". Is that because the boat was smaller (and the deck appreciably lower) or just because it approached stuff more closely. I only ask because I've been on, I think, 6 PoB trips. I've enjoyed all of them and will doubtless do more but one problem I have with PoB is it's size. I know this adds to its stability in Biscay's potentially big seas and the observation height at around 100ft must hugely increase the chances of detecting stuff but the views of birds (not so much cetaceans) are to me often very unsatisfactory in that they look so damn far off.  At the risk (no - certainty) of appearing a prat to other birders, I have a confession to make - while my bins are a treasured possession I've always hated using a scope. Just doesn't feel right. Using a scope is analagous to using a condom - all very sensible but kind of takes away from the experience. For this reason I've always loved the Scillonian pelagics (8 trips to date). Scopes are pretty much a waste of time on the Scillonian (as arguably is looking for big cetaceans) but if you connect with say great shearwaters on the Scillonian the views can be just crippling.   Sorry folks if this is a bit off thread.Charlie</blockquote>