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Blubber in the Rigging

When racing offshore, such as in the Oregon International Offshore Race from Astoria, OR to Victoria, BC, there are always plenty of safety concerns. But getting clobbered by a breaching humpback whale isn’t usually one of them. Nevertheless that’s exactly what happened to the aptly named L’Orca at about 9:30 yesterday morning, only a half hour after starting the 250-mile race.

The 38-ft sloop was blasting downwind with a chute up in about 18-20 knots of wind at the time. Luckily, Captain Jerry Barnes, his son Ryan and the rest of their crew were all in the cockpit when the 30-ft cetacean suddenly sprung out of the ocean only inches from L’Orca‘s starboard beam. "It hit the mast about halfway to three-quarters of the way up," explained Ryan Barnes, "and proceeded to fall forward and on the starboard side of the boat." The entire rig came crashing down, the toe rail sustained damage, and the starboard lifelines and stanchions were all "demolished." Souvenir pieces of blubber, as well as a barnacle were found on deck.

If anyone doubts the authenticity of the story, these bits of blubber and a barnacle will serve as evidence.

© Shawn Eggert, USCG

L’Orca was safely towed back to Astoria by a Coast Guard 47-ft motor lifeboat out of Station Cape Disappointment, WA. No one knows how badly the whale was injured, other than its scrap from the rigging, but Guardsmen who responded doubted that the incident would cramp the style of the humpback, which probably weighed close to 20 tons. Goes to show, you never know what surprises await you out in Mother Nature’s watery playgrounds. 

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