“And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters.”
1 Nephi 17:5
They pitched their tents on the seashore. They arrived at the sea after wandering in the desert for eight years. During that eight years they had waded through much affliction. But God had strengthened and nourished them because they had kept his commandments. The place they arrived at, they called Bountiful because of its abundance of fruit and honey. Can you imagine how overwhelming the great expance of the sea would have appeared to them after wandering in the desert for eight long and bleak years. They called it IRREANTUM, meaning "many waters."
And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters. 1st Nephi 17:5
This is a piece of music that I composed while contimplating the words of 1st Nephi in the Book of Mormon about Father Lehi's families journey across the desert to the land Bountiful and IRREANTUM.
One of my favorite photos I took of a large male Killer Whale swimming directly at us. Taken near Kruzof Island in Sitka Sound, Alaska
It was a typical autumn day in Southeast, Alaska. Think fog stretched out across the sound in large patches. I was captaining a whale-watching tour boat and had about 12 passengers onboard. One of them was my 9 year old nephew from Nevada. He was definitely out of his comfort zone. Nothing in his life up till then came close to what he was experiencing.
Because of the fog, we had to locate the whales by sound. When we got to the area where we expected to see humpback whales, we would stop, kill the engines, and listen for the sound of whale blows.
We saw Humpback whales, Orca whales and even visited a Stellar Sealion rookery.
We finished the tour with one last look at Humpbacks and then it came time to start our return trip back to the dock in Sitka.
We were enveloped in thick, wet fog. For effect, I would turn off the engines and listen to the whales as they sounded and surfaced. It was eerie and ethreal when the sky and the surface of the sea were the same shade of gray.
One completely loses ones sense of direction when viewing whales in the fog.
I would reposition the vessel for a good viewing angle everytime the whales would surface. With that thick fog in every direction, there were no fixed landmarks to reorient yourself with. With eyes looking through camera and binocular lenses one quickly becomes completely disoriented. Of-course in the wheelhouse I had the radar on and could see the outline of the shoreline and various small islands to orient myself.
Just as I started to slowly motor away from the whales, I announced over the PA that we were heading back to the harbor. My nephew stuck his head into the wheelhouse and said, "Uncle Brad, why are we going this way? His question confused me. I said, " Which way? Well, you said we were heading back to Sitka, so we should be going back that way," he said as he pointed directly behind the boat.
It took me several seconds to comprehend that in his fog induced, disoriented head, my nephew actually thought that we were going the wrong way.
I studied his face to see if he was joking with me. The quizical look in his eye made
me realize that he was completely serious.
It took me several seconds to conjure up my response. My natural inclination was to be sarcastic as he was questioning "the captain." But, realizing that I was talking to an impressionable young boy, I turned to face him directly, and as jovial and animated as I could, I said, "Terran my boy, you're just gonna have to trust me."
To this day, I don't know if he doubted me right up to the moment that we entered the harbor. As a 19 year old, I lived in Japan.
Shortly after moving there, I went outside early one morning and couldn't understand why the sun was rising in the west.
"He will lead us safely home, If we listen to his voice." Let The Holy Spirit Guide Hymn #143
I pulled the tour vessel away from the dock in Crescent Harbor in Sitka, Alaska and headed out into the sound to embark on a whale-watching tour. I had 50 passengers on board that were eager to view whales in the wild surroundings of Southeast, Alaska.
It was a gray and foggy day, and the sound was choppy with 1 to 2 foot waves. Just as we left the protected waters of the heavily forested islands on the edge of the sound, I looked down at the radar and realized it wasn't working. I had only moved to Alaska about a year before and although I knew the waters well, still, a jolt of uneasiness pulced through my body as I realized how difficult it would be to find the passage back into the channel in fog on my return trip in three hours without the aid of the radar. Radar is an important tool when visability is poor. It allows the operator to see landforms and other vessels in fog or darkness. I knew that as the captain, the passengers were relying on me to get them out to see whales, and them safely back to the dock.
As we headed out into the open water of the sound I said a silent, heart felt prayer and asked Heavenly Father to safely guide me back to the small opening on the edge of the sound that would take me to the safety of the harbor. A thought entered my mind. It said, " look back and see where you have come from so that you can identify the opening of the channel amoung the forested islands of the edge of the sound on your return trip."
I did. I studied the shape and height of the islands surrounding the channels mouth. Within minutes the fog enveloped the edge of the sound where I was looking. It's a good thing that that thought had entered my mind precisely when it did.
Further out into the sound another thought echoed in my mind. It said, "study the angle of the waves in relationship to the compass bearing. Then, on the return, you'll remember the wave direction and you'll be able to use it as another tool in finding the mouth of the channel in fog.
The tour progressed and we were able to see sea otters, whales and a bear. The fog would open up from time to time, just enough for me to see prominent land forms and then I could verify my proximate location. Still, without perfect visability, I moved ahead slow and very cautiously.
Back in the sound the weather conditions had not changed. As I approached the approximate location of the mouth of the channel, I used the wave orientation and the prominent landmarks that peaked out from the fog occasionally, to orient me back to the channel. I great since of relief washed over me as I located the channel markers and entered the safety of the channel. So much of a feeling of triumph because of the poor visability and malfunctioning radar, that I almost forgot for whom my safe return was due. I said a silent prayer of gratitude.
. . . . . there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.
D&C 84:88
