William Butler, an American, had
long dreamed of sailing all over the
world. He wanted to travel to new
places and he loved to spend time on
his boat. He took his sailboat on long
trips and often set sail from Miami,
Florida. From there, he sailed to places
like Bermuda and Venezuela. His wife,
Simonne, did not love the ocean like
William did. But when he asked if she
would sail around the world with him,
she said yes.
One night they awoke to the sounds
of thumping outside the
hull
of their
boat. William and Simonne looked out
into the water. They were surrounded
by whales. The whales
shone
in the
moonlight. William and Simonne
watched the whales passing close to the
ship. Then, there was a loud crunching
noise. William and Simonne heard the
sound of water rushing into the boat.
There was suddenly a large leak. Had a
whale hit their boat?
There are more than 70 species of whales
and dolphins in the ocean. Many kinds of
whales can grow to be much larger than
the average sailboat.
hull:
the outer body of a ship
shone:
to glow from reflected light
“
If God had
given us a list
and said this
is what to take,
we couldn’t have
done better.
”
SIMONNE BUTLER
SURVIVING THE SEA
7
