32 ALBACORA 



whales every instant, he ran a zigzag course. I free- 

 spooled just enough to keep my marlin on the line. Care- 

 fully Walt picked our path through the whales. My 

 line spun out crazily. Then suddenly we were safe be- 

 yond the whales and riding not very far from the Ex- 

 plorer. I tried to pick up line but there was such a belly 

 — or sag — on my line that I made no headway. Walt 

 gunned the motors full. It was fifteen minutes before I 

 had complete control of the marlin again. "Let's stay 

 away from the whales," I said to Walt. Within a minute 

 we both heard Lou's voice from the Explorer bellowing 

 a directly opposite command. 



"Get right on top of them," Lou roared at Howard 

 Thuet. 



"Right on the whales?" Howard called back, his voice 

 just as loud in his surprise. 



"Sure," Lou shouted. "Doty, get into that harpoon 

 pulpit. Can't miss from there." 



Hedley Doty had been a full commander in the Royal 

 Canadian Navy during World War H. He had seen 

 action both in the North Atlantic and the South Pacific. 

 But his wartime experiences could not have been more 

 trying than the next few minutes. From the WaWa, both 

 Walt and I had a perfect angle on Doty's ordeal. 



Obeying orders. Doty crawled out on the harpoon pul- 

 pit, a projection forward on the boat, and gradually 

 worked his way toward the end of it. When he had ar- 

 rived, his legs straddled the boards as frantically as a 



