Position: 56.21.8N, 05 53.5W
Weather: windy (force 5 –7) but bright and sunny
Distance travelled: 35 miles

Today we sailed. With the wind at Force 5 by 8.15 the sea state was marginal for observing , but perfect to set sail in the Silurian. Today we would need lifejackets and several layers of clothes. We would need our yellow waterproof suits. We would need to attach ourselves to the boat. As we discovered, we would need to hang on for dear life.

There was a fairly subdued silence as we watched Graham and Marcus putting all their gear on. Then Juliet climbed into 5 layers. If they needed all this, what did we need? Clearly this was to be no gentle putter down the Firth of Lorne.

When the sails were raised the Silurian tipped over to an angle of 45 degrees and she set off like a mad horse, plunging and bucking through very large waves. Well, they seemed large to me. “Is this exceptional?” I ventured? “Average” said Graham. Right.

It was the ride of my life. It was fantastic. It was cold and wet and felt highly dangerous and it was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done.

And then Maya saw a breaching Minke whale. She saw him leap out of the water, shouted and the rest of us watched as he smashed down into the water. He breached again, turned over and we saw his white belly before he went down again. He breached eleven times and we shouted, whooped, hung on to the boat and would not have wanted to be anywhere else on earth. As luck would have it nobody had a camera in their hand, proving you can never have your cake and eat it!

He came round behind the boat, breached for one last time, and then he was gone.

Ten minutes later, inevitably, I was seasick. But I will never forget him, Maya’s Minke.

Log by: Jackie Perry (and Michael Siu).