Traveling in Company

"This image comes out of my own experience. We were in the Pacific Northwest, sailing an old Alden yawl in a passage called Haro Strait. We were going down a channel and noticed some orca whales in the distance. We headed over in that direction and ended up going along with them for about two and a half hours. It's not ususual for dolphins to accompany you but I don't know how normal it is for whales. "At one point, a couple of them were lying alongside the boat and squeaking. I'm always surprised by how graceful they are. They seem to move almost effortlessly. Here's something that's thirty feet long and I don't know how wide and it just glides along beside you as if it doesn't have to do anything in order to move quickly. Sometimes you can feel alone out on the water, but sighting whales reminds you that there's something else alive out there."