It’s a Small World

Part of me has been putting off writing about the final day of the sail because I can’t really describe it. I’m sorta sick of trite sentences talking about beauty, and feel like I’ve been plastering these posts with them.

The fact is, this day was a Gift. Maybe a bunch of gifts. It was a day that softened the eyes and made us step back in wonder and awe that the magic was tangible and specifically for us.

We had to be leaving the Marina by 4am if we were gonna make the crossing to Anacortes with a nice safety margin. The sky was getting light already as we cast off and joined the other early boaters headed out. It was quiet, just Heath and I, and so relaxing.

The way the weather works here, when the air warms up in the morning there’s often a band of fog that extends a couple off shore. Leaving early, we managed to get beyond it before it came. It was a gray wall behind us, but no threat. The wind picked up so we raised the sail and shut off the motor.

Peace. The rising sun made long reaching rays behind Mt. Baker and cast the rest of the Northern Cascades into sharp relief against the sky. A few fishing boats were hard at work at the numerous Banks, but mostly it was just us and the beautiful world. We visited, drank tea, and visited some more. The sun popped out from behind Mt Baker and the world started to warm up.

We were almost back to San Juan Island when it happened. I was standing on the bow of the boat messing with the head sail, when I suddenly saw a massive spout right in front of us. Several more quickly followed and by that time I was pointing and blubbering and Heath was up there with me. Correct. We abandoned the helm and flew to the front, staring with awe as the whales breached and splashed.

They were Enormous. Way bigger than us. Also a little shy, but none the less, we spent at least 30 minutes out there, all by ourselves, and watched them. Words absolutely aren’t able to describe it. Plain and Simply, it was Magic. They were Gray Whales by all appearances.

Back at Anacortes, we were telling the staff about them, and trying to describe them and they were very surprised that we had seen Grays. The one lady had lived there all her life and never seem them, tho there is a pod that lives there. See? A gift. Pure and simple. Who, in one day, can have perfect sailing, see the sun rise right behind Mt Baker AND see Gray Whales? It’s mind blowing.

And then it was over. Rob’s car was there for us to drive back to Gabe’s and we headed out. A small fish n chips stand called us for lunch, but we wished we hadn’t stopped. It was yuck. We barely had time to stop and pick up our things at Gabe’s before they had to bring us to Sequim to catch the psychedelic Strait Shot bus back to Seattle. It was painted like a hippy bus, but super comfy inside.

Seattle was very jarring after our morning. At night like that it was full of wigged out people who did things like sniff the sidewalk and run into the side of our bus with only a blanket on for clothing. Our Hotel was on the Pride train, as well as the modern train, so that was different. Everything in the room was run by an i-pad and yeah, just get me out of the modern world and back to where things are quiet and natural. Please. I really don’t care if my bathroom has ROYGBIV options for lighting, or that they can fade and change. Oh well. We survived and were glad we weren’t out on the street.

And so ended another lovely vacation.