Spirit of the Whale - Paperback

In 1828, Kaimana and his father, Slim, are sailing their cargo hauler, Island Lady, from Lahaina, Maui, to Honolulu, Oahu, when they are attacked by a humpback whale that holes their small ship, causing water to pour in rapidly. Frantically, Slim and Kaimana make emergency repairs to save their vessel from sinking. With temporary repairs made, they save their ship and sail back to Lahaina for permanent repairs.

While in Lahaina repairing Island Lady, Kaimana feels the spirit of the whale calling him. Reports are that the whale had a harpoon in her side, the result of an unsuccessful attempt by whalers to take her. Kaimana knows he must go to her, even though she is the whale that had attacked them. His father consents, even though he fears for his son's safety. With repairs made to their ship, they sail to where the whale had first struck them.

There, Kaimana, the powerful son of his English father and Polynesian mother, sets out in their ship's dinghy to await the whale. He waits for two days and nights before the whale comes to him for help, but not before he dreams of being a whale himself. One harpooned when coming to the water's surface for the precious air he needed to survive. He dreamed of being a harpooned whale, but it was his own knife that cut deep in his side, wounding him severely. Still, there is only one chance for him to try to remove the harpoon from the whale's side.