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We set sail from P Town at sunset on Wednesday evening in a 5 to 8 kt. westerly breeze. It was a beautiful starry moonless night with the dramatically lit PTown monument behind us. Our speed was a leisurely four to four and a half knots; we were in no hurry. Around midnight Heidi was dozing on the starboard cockpit seat and I was steering and enjoying the always satisfying soft gurgling sound that ACT III makes as she glides gracefully through small seas when my 50 bpm resting heart rate suddenly doubled. I had heard what sounded like a large gas explosion behind us. I turned around expecting to see a huge propane carrier in flames. Then there was a smaller "explosion" a few yards off our port side. Then more, some very loud, some fairly loud, all of them louder than any Humpback we had ever heard (and we have been practically on top of Humpbacks when they spouted). By now Heidi was wide awake and sitting at attention on the port seat. We looked at each other and whispered, "Whales, and REALLY big ones!" In the dim light we could see spouts and brief glimpses of backs, but that was all. The explosive spouts were close by our port side and coming at an an avarage frequency of one every two seconds or so. Heidi suggested maybe we should get the spotlight. I whispered that I thought it would be disrespectful, but really I was mainly afraid we might piss them off: by now I was sure our visitors were Northen Right whales, which can reach ninety feet in length, and they sounded bigger than locomotives. After ten minutes or so, we could only hear an occasionl "explosion" way astern of us. I marked the spot on the chart plotter and saw that it was right under the "W" in "Right Whale Protected Habitat". The night returned to normal, but we will never be the same.

Josh kindly met us at Pepperrell Cove on Thursday morning with the truck so we could unload gear and take our going ashore dinghy in tow. Then Josh Nute met us with the truck at Wich Creek by our home mooring field in Little Harbor. We arrived home in early afternoon to a very well cared for house, again thanks to our good friend Josh.

We are eager to set sail on extended adventures in the Fall; the cruising life seems so natural. But first we'll enjoy a summer filled with family, friends, singing, tennis, Polly's wedding, and endless preparations, nautical and land based, for extended cruising.