We moored Blue Parrot on the dock with her nose toward shore. At low tide with a NW wind blowing us towards moored boats in shallow water it’s a bit tricky getting off. We time for a gust to blow Blue P off the dock and pull a 270° turn to head out into Evans Bay. The NW wind sweeps across low terrain on Read Island from Hoskyns Channel, Johnson Strait and Bute Inlet. White caps on the crests of short steep waves rile up the mouth of the bay. Wind and waves blow us around the point all the way into Burdwood Bay.
Terry assesses the possibility of an anchorage for later tonight. “Looks good at low tide here. I think we’ll be OK. Let’s head out.” Blue P angles across the frothing mouth of Evans Bay to the Penn Islands. We’re getting ready to raise the sails when the water suddenly flattens and the wind dies. “Typical” Jude mutters as another attempt to sail is foiled yet again.
All thoughts of sailing evaporate as we spot 2 humpies close to the shore of the middle Penn. They’re moving slowly, making their way around the outside island closest to Cortes. “Sleeping” Terry notes wryly. He notices one of the whale watching boats emerging from Whale Passage and reports the whales. We decide to move a little closer when “What was that? Up ahead – a breach – towards Von Donnop” We hear the WHHOOMP of WHALE hitting Water. “Let’s Go!” Jude steers Blue P over as the whale watchers speed past.
We approach slowly and cut the engine “Is that a baby?” Terry wonders “Yes! A Mom and Calf! Look! The baby is breaching – she can’t quite make it all the way out of the water” —–“Is this a good position?” Jude calls to Terry who is perched precariously on Blue P’s bow manouvering carefully around the furled jib.
“WHOAH!” Mom is tail lobbing. Half her body is up out of the water. Baby is so close it looks as if Mom is going to land on top of herm – but she doesn’t. “Looks like they’re playing” Terry shouts during a brief lull in activity. He’s performing some fancy footwork to keep the whales in focus as they circle around Blue P at about 100 meters. Their play is so exuberant and Baby’s ingenue breaches are so adorable. Then Mom BREACHES – WHHHHUUMMMPPPP! The SIZE of HER!! There are no words equal to the AWESOMENESS of a 40 TON WHALE leaping clear out of the ocean into the air. “Sky Hopping” as our friend Martha thought it was called – A much better description of defying gravity!
So special to finally witness a Mom and Calf playing together like this. We are so juiced! We’ve waited 5 years for this moment – and to capture it on film so we can share it with you was worth every minute of boredom and discomfort.
Mom and Calf are moving north. They’re getting farther away as the wind blows Blue P south. Then “Looks like playtime is over. They seem to be resting now”. Terry observes. “Heads up!” Jude calls. She swings Blue P around in the direction of a nearby cove where half a dozen boats are congregating. “There are a couple of whales over there. Maybe they’ve finished sleeping” We hang around with them for a while but they’re not interested in people. They dive and easily give us all the slip.
Meanwhile it’s getting pretty windy so we decide to head back towards our evening anchorage. Evans Bay has once again erupted in white caps and heavy winds. We angle across the waves, navigating around another whale who is also crossing. “Happy sailing friend”
There are 2 other sailboats already anchored in Burdwood Bay so anchoring is a bit tight. But it’s protected from the NW waves and the gusts will blow us off shore not towards the other boats, so we settle in for the night.