Dolphins On Our Bow -- A Special Edition

We have now been at sea for three days. This is our third night and by tomorrow, I think this trip will be our longest non-stop journey. Everything (so far) has gone smoothly though we would have much preferred more wind. Finally, later this afternoon, the wind picked up to about 10 knots and we were able to begin sailing with our screecher (asymmetrical spinnaker). Finally!

Well, after an excellent dinner (brought to you by Barb), the sun had set and with no moon out again tonight we had a very dark night of sailing. Yes, sailing! I was on watch and all of a sudden I hear a noise beside the boat. It turns out to be dolphins swimming alongside. But this time it was different. The water is super nutrient rich, particularly with photo luminescent plankton. So as the dolphins swam by they lit up the water like meteor trails in the sky. It was a spectacular sight to only see the luminescent trails as they swam by our boat, circled back and did it again. The trails were so long, they looked like gigantic snakes slithering through the water, but these were friendly dolphins.

This made for a special time on watch!

We are now about 80 miles outside of Ztown and hope to make our destination sometime tomorrow afternoon or early Thursday morning, but since we are only traveling at 4 -5 knots at this point, time will tell.

Michael (along the Mexican Pacific Coast)
(17 degrees, 52.9 minutes N by 102 degrees 55.9 minutes W)

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