All is well on the Elena. Yesterday we had a very special encounter. At about noon, local time, two whales approached the boat from our stern. Due to the large swell, we could see them coming from a distance. The whales were visible through the wake of the larger waves. They paused briefly at our lure, which we were trolling about 80 m behind the boat. They looked at the lure and fortunately didn't bite... They were around 6-8 m long, white belly and quite slender. The girls on board defined them as dwarf whales, the boys as Mink whales. The first thing we are going to do in St Lucia, just after drinking rum, is to buy a better whale watching book...
The whales stayed with us for over 3 hours, approaching the boat up to 3 meters. After a couple of hours the wind became to strong to keep the parasailor up, so two of the crew went to the foredeck to snuff the sail. While doing so, one of the whales came next to the bow, turned on its side to see what we were doing. It was sensational, seeing such an animal in its own element, checking us out.
Until now this has been an absolutely great trip. The boys (3 years and 1.5 years) are coping with boat life really well and we are happy! Another 880 miles to go and even though we are enjoying every bit of it right now, we are looking forward to the finish!
Kind regards,
Adam and Crew,
s/y Elena