Following the Whales

Rugged green mountains soared out of the glassy seas.  Whales spouted to starboard, then to Port.  “Four more dead ahead dad!”  Just then “whoosh!” And with a surprised shudder, a huge humpback ducked under our solar panel and dove back from whence he/she/they came.  “That was sooo coool” said Talia.  I am wiping the sweat from my brow as we missed the whale by less than the width of his tail.  They are all around us, huge spouts of steam shoot skyward in every direction.  Worse than trying to skitter across a geyser field in Yellowstone, I think.  And with a boat as fast as Dogbark, it feels like some kind of high stakes slalom video game.  But in this game, collisions are expensive and life threatening for all parties.

And that’s how we came into the harbor.  With a forty whale escort.  The harbormaster looked at me and said “you will never believe this, but I have seen over 200 of them right here in the bay.”  Seems impossible, until you lose count of how many whales you have seen in the last 15 minutes.  I believe him.

Whales are the theme, the rugged green backdrop only a pretty bit of scenery.  And perhaps a touch of foreshadowing.  Because whales, like us, came north to Alaska for great food, sight seeing, and adventure.  At least that’s what we think they are doing up here.  Certainly that guy over there waving his 15’ fluke at Talia is feeling adventurous.

They welcomed us in Barrow by swimming under the boat while we anchored off the town.  They kept us company in the ice.  And now, like us, they are headed for warmer waters.

Talia is the other piece of this particular story.  Talia and I shared a watch on the way down from Nome.  Over and over I was struck by how competent and comfortable she was at sea.  Pitch dark night watch in the middle of the Bering Sea in September…what does she do?  Gets her blanket and her life jacket and has a stargazing party on the back deck.  Where it is quite literally freezing.  Then she composes a one page strategy guide for the other watches on how best to view stars from the boat (from under the dodger, where it is warm!) We hope our next passage will be a chance to break out Stikky Night Skies, one of our favorite guides to the heavens as seen from the middle of the Pacific.

And on the day when I announced to the crew that we needed a plan B, Talia piped up with “How about Hawaii?”  She has researched it relentlessly since.  We have looked at weather, the Pacific High, the gyre of garbage that may be blocking our path, hurricane paths, landfalls, and even historic passages from Herschel Island back to Lahaina.  It won’t be an easy passage, but we have diesel enough to motor across the High (and through the gyre) if we need to.  We have a weather router who actually lives in Hawaii.  Weatherguy.com, thanks Rick, we look forward to seeing you in Kaneohe!

In many ways, Hawaii is a full circle for us.  Kaneohe is where the Pacific Cup ended for the fearless crew of our last boat, Kotuku, the boat that John and Becca sailed so much on before they started their own adventure on Halcyon.  But when Kotuku took off for Hawaii, they were taking off for the Great Bear Wilderness and later their own Alaska adventure.  They missed that blazing run across the Pacific.  10 days, 20-some hours.  Top speed 19.6 knots.  (The wipeout that followed was beautifully captured on video. Thanks Nick!)  Al navigated us, but the seven crew aboard had the time of our lives.  John and Becca were gutted to miss it, but they had their own dreams to chase.

This time we are in Al’s boat, that he has sailed three times to Hawaii.  We carry precious cargo—our children and good friends who have already shared so much.  And this time we are definitely not racing, so my job is to slow the boat down, safe and comfortable.  Make time for stargazing.  Follow the whales.  But not too closely.

We hope 11 or 12 days from now (but likely 14 or 16) to make a spectacular landfall again with rugged green mountains and geysers (of whale snot) all around us.  But this time the girls (and John, and probably Becca too) are dreaming that they can jump off the boat and into crystal blue water.  We are living our dreams out here, even if they are fleeting and easily manipulated by the gods of sea and weather.  Talia’s dream of turquoise water is next.  On Dogbark, to Hawaii we go!