Not so long ago on this blog JHamm indicated that perhaps I was not exhibiting appropriate sailor-type behavior. Not so, I say! During my last day watch, about 50 miles off of the North American coast I could not help a very sailor-like thought from crashing through my brain. “Where there be birds…there must be whales!”

Generally I do not think this way but during this final afternoon watch, after an UGLY morning watch for Bob (which he shared with you because just thinking about it again scares me still), I was treated to a show of whales unsurpassed in Charisma history. Initially I was seeing a few blow puffs on the horizon.

Thar she blows! (click to expand picture to see better)

So hard to capture the intensity when they were popping up everywhere and Charisma was rolling in large waves.

Two, maybe three at a time. I was trying to keep track of how many and what types (I saw numerous humpbacks and three Orcas). One sighting was about 50 yards in front of us. In order to avoid hitting them I quickly turned on the engine to idle knowing that the noise would tell them we were there. It worked and they quickly dove and moved out of Charisma’s path. Sailing can be so silent and approaching whales that are feeding seems so dangerous.

As it turns out I needed to turn the engine on about four more times as Bob slept. I was worried it would signal pending collision with a large container ship to a sleeping captain. Fortunately after the first such thought he understood my strategy. It was working great. Until the birds. I noticed a hundred or so birds sitting on the water as we sailed up to them. How interesting. I took pictures to show Bob. A few miles further and the birds were swarming. We had been without aviary company for about 24 hours (during the gale) and so I was delighted. At first. As the birds thickened in the air I began to feel like I was in the middle of a bird feeding frenzy…like the ones we’ve seen off the coast in Aptos.

That’s when it registered…they are feeding…and so is someone else. So I lowered my sights to the water and suddenly noticed numerous spouts from feeding whales. One was 20 feet off the port side. I quickly turned on the engine to idle again to announce our presence. It was frightening and exhilarating at the same time. After they had passed I found I was trembling. Too close for comfort in my book. And that saying started marching through my head. “Where there be birds…there must be whales!”

When my heart finally slowed to a regular beat I relaxed and enjoyed the gift of sunshine and an ever=brightening rainbow after the horrible morning. And then I noticed lots more birds about a mile ahead. In the air, swarming. I altered course with a quick adjust to the Monitor hoping to avoid the melee. It did not seem to help. I turned on the engine and tried to determine if they were moving in a discernible direction. In panic I finally woke Bob to come help me decide. By the time Bob got into the cockpit he had me disengage the Monitor and steer twenty degrees to the left of the large pod of feeding whales directly ahead of us. No minor Monitor adjustments would be enough. So as I steered we gaped in amazement at the huge whales puffing along, happily feeding with a entourage of winged friends circling wildly overhead hoping for left behinds. What a show! Even now my heart races as I think of these large mammals so close to Charisma and so preoccupied. I realized at this point that the Pacific Northwest was full of incredible beauty and adventure waiting for Charisma. Yes, we were almost to America, but our journey is definitely not over.

After a 22 day passage, the third long passage in the last 105 days, there does not seem like anything could equal the joy of making landfall.  Well we were wrong.  After getting safely tied to the dock at Neah Bay and properly celebrating with a bottle of bubbly (put in the icebox only when the final decision to stop in Neah Bay had been reached about 10 miles offshore) we went to the Marina office and checked in.  We were a bit disappointed to find out that our cell phones would not work due to lack of service.  How was I going to make a few phone calls?  I was directed to the pay phone in front of the grocery store a few blocks down the street.  No bueno.  The phone was broken.  So the Marina office/bait store attendant offered to let me use the store’s phone.

 Lisa and John on Orcinius had asked us to please call them before we took our much deserved naps.  They had left Hawaii with us but made landfall in Astoria four days prior and wanted to make sure we made it in before the two big storms coming down the coast.  So, with a not-so-quick call home and then another not-so-quick call to Lisa I had worn out my phone welcome and left the office.  Even though there was a celebration of Makah Days down the bay further, filling the air with carnival noise and shotgun discharges to start canoe races, I finally laid down for a nap.  Bob had found the bed earlier and was deep in slumber.  Aw, sweet rest.

 My deep sleep was penetrated by someone calling “Charisma, Charisma!”  Such familiar voices.  So hard to focus.  We both climbed out of bed and up to the cockpit.  As the Christmas poems goes…”and what to our wondering eyes should appear?”…Lisa and John from Orcinius!!!! Not being totally familiar with Northwest geography I was confused.  Wasn’t Portland pretty far away?  That’s where they live.  And the answer is yes.  About five hours away.  And when I called to check in with Lisa as requested, they were at the ticket counter of the ferry about to purchase passage to Victoria, BC.  That was our original destination.  They were hoping to be there to grab our lines as we arrived.  How very lucky it was that I borrowed that phone and informed them of our new location.

What a treat! (even if they did wake us up)

How very happy we were to see them!  Joy, joy, happy tears!  Celebration, laughter more bubbly and stories ensued.  How different our two passages had been.  We knew we were going to sail over the Pacific High and make landfall further north.  Orcinius knew they were going to motor through the High and make landfall in Astoria.  Other than leaving from the same location four hours apart, our passages were similar only for the first two days…when they passed us and never looked back.  They were sailing brilliantly.  We were too.  But it seems that a few degrees of longitude made all of the difference.  They had some squally weather but nothing like we kept finding.  They encountered some lightning, but not three solid nights of it.  They never saw the 40kt winds we found.  They caught lots more fish than we did.  They had more boat issues than we did.  Score one for Charisma.  But we all win when we make safe landfall.  And we can’t do any better than celebrating together!