But nearly 200 people yesterday thought this novel tourist attraction would be a good idea, even though it was 18 degrees when the catamaran left Long Wharf for a three-hour voyage to the Brewster Islands and beyond.
Like most who joined the tour, Marcus Hunt came prepared for the arctic gusts.
The 38-year-old software engineer from Brookline wore a bulky parka and covered his head with a coyote fur-lined hood. He wore thick mittens and mountain climbing pants.
When asked why he would pay to do something that others might consider a form of torture, Hunt said he couldn’t be happier to be on the water, in the resplendent sunshine, even if his fingers would grow numb and his cheeks turn rouge.
“It’s a kind of adventure, I guess,’’ he said.
Hunt and others had come mainly to see the birds - red-throated loons, black-backed gulls, white-winged scoters, common goldeneyes, and more than a dozen others.
At one point, as the 95-foot Voyager III neared Graves Lighthouse, one of the birders announced he spotted a king eider, a large sea duck that looks a bit like a penguin.
It felt like the boat might lean precipitously as scores of passengers rushed to the rails, aiming binoculars and long camera lenses toward the dark water, where the bird bobbed in the surf until disappearing in the waves.
“This is a great time to be out here, because it’s like we have the water to ourselves,’’ said Sally Quinn, 58, of Winchester, who is such an avid birder that she was listening to the sounds of scoters and comparing images of them on her iPad. “But I thought there would have been only 15 of us hardy enough to be out here.’’
Jess Renehan, a ranger with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, said she wasn’t surprised by the large turnout.
“The islands are the best-kept secret in Boston, and this is one way we’re helping people appreciate them,’’ she said. “We want people to appreciate them all year.’’
