Midnight we had made it as far as 16:58.55N 42:55.36W – Saturday 13th of December, 2008.

Engine Time – 1.25 Hours (All whale dodging time)

A Minke Whale, amazing, this mighty king of the sea just cruised up next to us and said hello. I was so happy I ran forward with the camera to take a few snap’s. The big guy swam back and forth crossing under our boat amidships and then slowly crept up on us from the stern, sometimes spending several minutes on the starboard stern about 100 meters away.  As it would approach, it would turn and swim below us upside down and all you could see was its white underneath, thus it is why I think it was a Minke whale. It was about 25 feet in length plenty big enough to stop silky in her tracks and as it swam under us each time I was waiting for the thud. I mean it was so close. It did make me a little nervous.

Fiona was a classic, in her pajamas put on her life jacket and instructed me to change course and then start the engine.  In the end I did as I was told but the beauty of the deep would just not go away. I was beginning to worry, well listen to Fiona, what if it thought Silky was another Minke whale and it was a little frisky. Anyhow I started the motor which did not deter it, I then tried to alter the rev’s of the engine to not much luck and then we gibed the boat and headed off. Well just as you thought you could relax out of nowhere it came once again.  I think this time it was a ‘see you later’ call as it broached the water, smiled, dived back down and headed for Silky at a rate of knots only to bank at the last minute and head off.

All I can say is Fiona does not shut up about running into whales, if there is anything she is afraid of this was it. And it had to happen literally about 100 miles from the half way mark, I mean we were 1000 miles from anywhere. I think we are both very lucky to have had suck a fantastic experience as many boats that cross never sea one.

Special comments by Fiona:  I think I cursed ourselves when all the time preparing for this trip I was most frightened of bumping into a whale.  So much so that I continually went on about it, that I jinxed us!  Well today we not only saw a huge whale, but he decided to stay with us for over an hour, weaving around the boat.  The sight of this huge whale gracefully submerging from the huge swell was one that I’ll never forget.  Unfortunately the pictures don’t really do the size of him justice.  I donned my life jacket on just in case, after reading all the horror stories about whales demasting, capsizing, attacking etc before we left.  To my relief, this particular whale had no intention of doing any of the forementioned, instead he was happy checking us out and keeping us company for a while.

Day 144

Traveling Direction – West

Wind Direction – South East East – moderate

Swell – Moderate

Average Speed –  4.7

Top Speed – 8.2 Knots Through the water

Distance Covered – 113.5 Nautical Miles