Tuesday, November 30, 2010

In the clutches of Doldrums


The wind gods still seem to be paying little attention to us, thus we continue to sail whenever we can and motor the rest of the time. The last three days we were experiencing almost 3.5 kts of current against us! That and the light winds have made the progress painfully slow. The equatorial line squalls have not relented though and keep us company for a couple of hours, mostly at night, sending gusty winds and of course some refreshing cold showers for the crew.

Sighting some of the islands of Maldives was probably the only event through an otherwise dull day. Well, so I was thinking, lying down on the deck after sunset, gazing at a clear sky when suddenly I heard the unmistakable sound of a Dolphin exhaling close by. Jumped to take a look at it in the dark night and was greeted with an absolutely stunning sight! Since it was dark, the Dolphin itself was not visible but its motion was creating a streak of bio luminescence in the water as it moved! The Dolphin kept racing with the boat creating eerie blue streaks after itself and splashes accompanied by the “whoosh” sound of it exhaling when it surfaced. The streaks would become dull as it went deeper and brighten up as it closed the surface. What a sight! It’s a pity that we couldn’t capture the moment on a camera. Well I suppose some sights of the sea can only be enjoyed at sea!

4 comments:

neha said...

Sounds beautiful!

Swati said...

Wonderful description!! Glad you are enjoying!!

All the best to the whole team...praying for good winds. Take care...

SaltyDog said...

Commander Donde,

It's great to hear from you again. Nice story of being seranaded by the dolphin in the dark. It reminds me of when I heard an Orca next to my boat one night while commercial fishing off the coast of Washington state. Enjoy your voyage with the full crew. And good luck in the Cape Town to Rio race.

From Seattle, WA, USA
SaltyDog

Jay said...

Dilip,

Good to hear from you again after long time. This time you seem to be more relaxed in writing perhaps due to the presence of the crew. Your encounter with dolphine sounds amazing and you are right that camera won't do the justice. Although a picture could have been helpful, it is thrilling to hear from you in your own words how you experienced it. It is an experience, which makes much more sense in words of an experiencer than a mere picture. It transports the reader to your boat at least for a brief period of time. Keep writing ... :)

-Jaydeep