Gray Whale Encounter

I've seen gray whales from the shore in Oregon and have seen them several times on whale watching cruises in the San Diego Bay, but this Saturday I saw one up close while sailing with Holly's family. We were sailing out towards the ocean and passed a navy sub being towed out of the submarine base. We watched the sub get hauled out to the ocean and then head down south towards Mexico. We were excited because it was cruising on the surface and we were hoping to see it dive. We made it out to the open ocean and were starting to turn back when I saw a large gray hump surface and disappear. I started gibbering excitedly about a whale, but no one else saw it. It was heading south towards Mexico, so perhaps like the sailors on the sub it was hoping for some lovin' south of the border. We turned back around and criss-crossed over the path it seemed to have been taking, but we over shot where it was. Holly and I saw a blow spout and we headed towards that. After a few minutes it surfaced again about fifteen feet away from us! It showed us its barnacled and scarred back and then showed us its tail before it disappeared for good.