Dolphins at 6 knots
01 April 2016 | 15 22'N:113 09'W, On Passage, Mexico to French Polynesia
Deanna
Ten years ago, Mark and I sailed our Catalina 42 sailboat from Victoria to Mexico to Hawaii. Throughout our year long voyage, our sailboat, Salacia - named after the Roman goddess of the sea - was frequently accompanied by dolphins. Large pods would energetically approach the boat, and I would yell "DOLPHINS," and start my happy dance! Often, several dolphins would stay and swim around the bow of the boat for 15 minutes or more. The magnificent creatures seemed to have a great attraction to Salacia's bow: they'd play joyfully in her bow waves, racing up and then gliding forward to surf in her waves. I made a habit of sitting on the bow-seat and watching these creatures perform graceful jumps and dives. Moreover, from my perch, I could view the dolphins swimming underneath the water, just a couple feet away. Frequently, I swear that I could see their dark eyes looking right back at me. This experience - repeated many times throughout Mexico, crossing the Pacific Ocean and in the Hawaiian Islands - was one of my fondest memories of my time onboard Salacia.
Sadly, our Manta 42 catamaran has not held the same attraction for dolphins. Speakeasy, named after the secret drinking establishments set up during the prohibition era, doesn't arouse the dolphins' interest in the way that our sea goddess sailboat did. Certainly, mono-hulls create much bigger surf waves than catamarans. Moreover, when I saw photographic evidence that dolphins scratch their backs on Moonshadow's anchor line (a beautiful 60+ foot monohull) in Tenacatita, I nearly gave up.
But now on the open ocean, when Speakeasy reaches speeds of 6 knots or more, the dolphins come! Several times now, I've viewed large pods of dolphins far aft of the boat on the port side. In each case, over forty dolphins have approached Speakeasy with fantastic energy and speed, like they are competing in a race. Their jumps appear strong and athletic as they sprint toward the boat. Some dolphins jump in pairs, some glide just above the sea's surface and others eject and climb high out of the water, sometimes ending in a belly flop.
When the dolphins reach Speakeasy, they slow down and change their pace to match the speed of the catamaran. The creatures start by slowing down to swim close in to the boat, just a foot away from Speakeasy's hull. Then they increase their energy and zoom forward along the boat's waterline, to get to the bow wave at the front of the boat. The dolphins stay forward and play in the frothy surf waves for as long as they can, and then they careen back to the aft of the boat to repeat the experience again and again.
I am thankful and full of joy each time the dolphins approach our boat. To travel alongside Speakeasy, the dolphins purposefully slow down and swim with less speed than which they travelled toward us in their pod. Regrettably, when Speakeasy's speed drops below 4 knots, the dolphins seem to lose their interest and head away from our catamaran. However, at 6 knots, here they are! Dolphins do enjoy surfing and fun play with Speakeasy. Yay!