Steve Turner initially thought a sea monster had surfaced beside his 34-foot sloop, Riva, during a crossing of the Pacific in 1992. Its eye was the size of a grapefruit, and he was looking right at it.

“There I was, with my brother and my girlfriend halfway between Manzanillo, Mexico, and Lahaina, eye to eye with this gigantic creature that had raced up to our starboard side,” Turner said. “It could’ve splintered the boat and annihilated us.”

Instead, the sperm whale stopped 15 feet from where the three sailors sat, frozen, on the deck and locked eyes with each of them, one at a time.

“I guess it was looking deep into our souls to figure out whether we were friends or foes,” Turner said. “After deciding we were OK, it moved away but kept pace with us for at least 30 minutes before it disappeared. That experience was wild and scary and totally amazing!”

Turner is the genial owner and skipper of Kohala Sail & Sea, which offers daily tours off Kawaihae, on Hawaii island’s northwest coast. He regales guests with stories about his adventures at sea, which makes the exhilarating trips all the more enjoyable.

His passion for sailing spans 40 years — ever since he went on a sail off Maui that changed his life. He was 16 at the time, born in Phoenix but living in Lahaina. A family that was traveling around the world on their yacht dropped anchor there for a spell so their two teenage daughters could attend Lahainaluna High School. He befriended the girls there, and they invited him to go sailing.

“That wonderful family showed me whales, dolphins, the power of the wind and the beauty of the sea,” Turner said. “We went out early in the morning and didn’t get back until dusk. It was an incredible day! I saw something in them that I hadn’t seen in anyone else before: independence, freedom, contentment. They didn’t call one particular place home; they were really children of the world. By the end of the day, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be like them. I wanted to sail!”

Turner started devouring sailing magazines and dreaming of buying a boat. Eleven years later, in 1987, he finally did; he’s owned at least one boat ever since.

A U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain for 25 years, Turner describes the seas off Kawaihae as “a sailing paradise. Kohala and Mauna Kea volcanoes typically prevent the wind from creating steep pitches on the ocean’s surface. Instead, the water remains relatively calm, providing great conditions for sailing.”

This is peak whale-watching season — when the humpbacks are in Hawaii to breed and calve — and Riva doesn’t have to sail far from shore to come across them. The mammoth mammal is easy to spot during a “blow,” with the spray rising 10 to 20 feet high as it surfaces to breathe; when it dives fluke-up, its tail slowly submerging under the waves; and when it breaches, jumping out of the water in a breathtaking acrobatic display.

Federal law prohibits watercraft from approaching within 100 yards of the humpbacks, but even when they can’t be seen, they can be heard. During every whale season tour, Turner drops a hydrophone into the water, which enables passengers to hear the male humpback’s distinctive “song.”

To the untrained ear, it sounds like screeches, squeals and moans; however, scientists believe it has a melody. Although its meaning remains a mystery, theories abound; it might, for example, be a mating call or a way for a whale to establish a leadership position among other males.

Whale season or not, no sail aboard Riva is exactly the same as the next. Wind and weather determine the route, and Turner tailors his narrative to guests’ interests. There are periods of silence, too, as everyone marvels at the views, which encompass Puukohola Heiau, one of Hawaii’s best-preserved heiau (temples) and a parade of volcanoes: Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Kohala, Hualalai and, on a clear day, Haleakala on Maui, across the Alenuihaha Channel.

“The most amazing thing about sailing is to have the power of the wind take you wherever you want to go,” Turner said. “You’re free! Even if the wind isn’t in your favor, if you want to get somewhere badly enough, eventually it will change and take you there. An analogy to life, maybe?”

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.