Yachting USA – September 2019

14 YACHTINGSEPTEMBER2 019

t

om

s

er

io

THROUGH NEW EYES

I

t was 4 a.m. Our young and mostly novice crew was operating somewhere

between sleep deprived and delirious. The boat’s owner, Tom, along with my brother,

Chip, and I were out to show our fi ve newbie guests—all related to Tom—what the

world off shore was like. One of our guests, Angel, had fl own in from Alaska for the

experience. While familiar with life in the outdoors—such as driving with her family

for fi ve hours to take their boat salmon fi shing—she had never been in the deep or

on the Atlantic Ocean. ¶ Tom navigated his 50-foot express through a pitch-black inlet to

open water, and soon, we were headed southeast for a few hours’ run. Our guests settled in,

and almost all of them were instantly back in REM sleep. Tom, Chip and I sat three across

at the helm, keeping watch. ¶ Watching a sunrise over the open ocean is one of the most

sublime moments that cruisers get to experience, and our guests popped awake long enough

to rub their eyes and take in the fi ery orb stretching its legs to say good morning. Some of

them took video. Some sat in awe. No one said a word. If nothing else happened this day, the

view made the 2:45 a.m. alarm worth it. But there was more awesome to come. ¶ Around

7:30 a.m., we spotted spouts in the distance. Humpback whales. Everyone was awake now.

One spout. Two. Three. Four. Cameras came back out as the magnifi cent mammals cruised

around us. Some whales arched their backs as they surfaced, revealing their jaw-dropping

size. Others fl apped their fl ukes as they dove. Our Alaskan visitor had never seen a sight

like this, or the next one: a prodigious pod of two-tone dolphins leaping in synchronicity

within a few feet of our boat. Our crew exclaimed: “Cool!” “Wow!” “Did you see that?”

¶ The dolphins eventually moved on, but the whales stayed all day. ¶ In the early afternoon,

another one of our crew, Ali, spotted a coff ee-table-size turtle heading toward us. We drifted

as it swam across the bow. Ali climbed up the tuna tower to shoot video of the encounter.

Her excitement was as bubbly as a Champagne bottle popping open. ¶ By the end of the

day, our crew had their fi rst encounters with whales, dolphin, turtles, tuna and more as

they discovered a universe beyond the shore. ¶ And for longtime sea dogs like Tom, Chip

and me, when you get to see that level of energy at the newness of it all, it makes it all new

for you again too. It’s a reminder of how fortunate we are to spend our lives on the water.

Some whales arched their back as they surfaced, revealing their jaw-dropping

size. Others fl apped their fl u k e s a s t h e y d o v e.

patrick sciacca

Editor-in-Chief

[email protected]

E

EDITOR’S LETTER