Hawaii – Sailing and Porpoises

Sue Oldham, Judy Box and I signed up for an inter-island sailing trip in Hawaii for about a week. We had loads of fun, did some snorkeling (no wet suits needed, thank goodness), learned how to feed frozen green peas to outrageously colored fish (who would have thought?), learned a little bit about sailing. I was the most novice sailor and not the least interested in learning, having been yelled at by the skipper. (How would I have known that, "Pull the SHEET!" meant pull the rope – why isn't the sail called a 'sheet?' That would make more sense. The more I tried to comply by pulling the sail, the angrier he got – which, later I discovered, was a cover for his fear. We were in the middle of the Molokai Straits – which apparently is a dangerous crossing.)

Knowing that the skipper's style of teaching contraindicated my style of learning, I re-positioned myself on the front of the boat – my place of preference. I love communing with the elements. After about 3 days, it hit me that I hadn't seen any porpoises, and I was missing them. So I asked if there were any porpoises around Hawaii. I had just assumed there were. I was assured there were. Then it was a matter of proactively waiting for the porpoises. I didn't want to leave without that connection.

About 3 hours later, we saw a porpoise … Great Excitement!! (A little creepy that we 'ordered them up," and there they were … unless, of course, they were there all along, and we hadn't noticed.) The first one was followed by 2 or 3 more streaking our way. Then more sleek bodies – from all directions. It was like our boat was suddenly a magnet for porpoises. There were about 11 of them in all – racing the bow of the boat as we broke through the waves. I was afraid the boat would overrun them, because some of them were so close to the boat – as in, right next to it. I was exhilarated. I laid down on the deck and reached my hand down to the sea, but I was too high to reach.

 But there was one that looked like the baby of the bunch. He was turned on his side, right below the bow, so he could look me in the eye. And he did. And I did. And the whole world was contained in that connection. He knew. I knew. We knew.