Pacific Swift Trip 3 2008

A wonderful boat Sunday is well underway here aboard the Swift. All
hands had a chance for a little sleep in with breakfast served at 0900.
During breakfast, a discusion was circulating aboat being in the
neighbourhood for potential orca sightings, at that same moment orcas
were spotted off the mouth of our anchorage! Wasting no time, the anchor
was hove up as the whales were moving at a leisurely pace. Soon we were
right beside a pod of about 16 orcas, from big daddies to little babies.
We spent the next hour and a half watching the whales in complete
isolatioan, a rare treat with no whale watchers around. As the rain
dripped we could hear in the stillness the exhaling and intake of breath
as they survaced, leaving a delicate mist over the glassy waters. There
were spyhops, flippers, tails and the occasional click and squeek as we
heard them talking in the calm.All hands crowed the deck and watched in
complete silence and awe. A very powerful and awesome experience. As we
left the whales a breeze spang up, gently at first, a better script
couldn´t be written as we set sail and proceeded up Johnstone Strait.
While we sailed up the straight at 6 knots, the intermediates ran the
ship as the juniors wrote their tests. The results were very good with
everone passing at least one test. We sailed right into Boat Bay shortly
before dinner so we could eat our roastbeef, mashed potatoes, and
yorkshire puddings in peace and without getting dripped on. Tonight we
will have a Sunday service to follow up on a great group talk we had
last night. Needless to say everyone is having a better and better time
with each passing day, and its a joy to see people voluntarily on deck
in the rain just having fun.