A Truly Eventful Day
Experienced sailors call the Pacific crossing “the milk run” because it’s notoriously easy, calm, and mundane (touch wood). Well, today has been anything but mundane!
First of all, we had a bad night. After the fishing disappointment, some weather and swell started up that was markedly un-Pacific. Ian spent his watch dodging about 6 squalls that kept causing the wind to change. Andy’s watch was also extremely rough with erratic rolling swells that we couldn’t quite manage to consistently take on the quarter (which is much more comfortable than square on the beam). Andy also fashioned a truly fantastic boom lashing solution which secures the previously squeaking and moaning boom totally still. Even with the constant noise diminished, everyone still slept badly.
Even so, watches must go on! Later, Ian spotted something off the portside bow about three-quarters of a mile away, and said, “whale.” I looked out and sure enough, a huge gray-colored whale was swimming and spouting along. Although we were awed, whales in this part of the ocean can be aggressive, so first and foremost, we tracked its course, and changed our own heading to steer quite clear. (Ironically, Ian was reading “In the Heart of the Sea” at the time). I then woke Andy, and grabbed the camera. The shot is a bit Loch Ness-like in its blurriness so you’ll just have to take my word for it. From the color and size and angled spout, we’re sure that it was a sperm whale.
Later, we were just about to dig in to Ian’s spaghetti Bolognese for dinner. Ian looked forward, his eyes got really big, and he said an expletive. I think Andy can take it from here….