Thursday, February 19, 2009
Dscf5327
No problem waking up this morning. Had ½ cup of coffee before we started to head out, and then had to circle while a freighter carrying land/sea containers came through the narrow channel. It was boisterous exiting the channel back into the Atlantic then settled down a bit as we turned out and put up the sails.

We approached North Rock about 8 am with waves at 2-4 ft and winds 15-20mph. With it's antenna like light perched on it, it reminded me of a submarine. What a beautiful sunny morning with the winds off our starboard quarter we raised our sails and cut the engine. We were cruising through light mint green waters at 5-6 knots and as the day progressed the color of the water turned a jade green color then a beautiful aquamarine. It was a strange feeling to be moving along at 6 knots and when you looked down you could see the bottom with the sand and coral.

We managed to hold a speed from 6-7.8 knots for the longest time in depths of 10-30 feet and around 12:30 I saw a grey blob under the water. My initial thought was "oh oh - rock or coral head" but to my surprise it broke the water and raced along side the boat. A dolphin was swimming with us and then leading in our bow wake when another one came up along side of us and joined it swimming at our bow. I almost spun the boat around trying to watch them and probably scared them - they darted off at 90 degrees and then rejoined us as I got back on course. I had to radio Sooo Fine 2 and Aurora to give them a dolphin alert. A little later I saw flying fish, so they were probably jumping out of the water as the dolphins chased them. I can't believe how fast and quick the dolphins are. We were going 7.5 knots and they raced ahead of us like it was nothing!