What's Happening On the Water

I just had a great call from Martin.  He was in the middle of the ocean at two in the morning.  He said that the weather has been beautiful, but the water has been so calm that they have had to run the engines for the past few hours because there is absolutely no wind.

Being on the water; the climate, wind, and water can shift in minutes.  This was the case a few days ago when the wind shifted and caused a bit of a catastrophe.  The wind had picked up to about 20 knots and it was perfect weather to put up our new parasailor.  However, a few minutes into launching it, they noticed that the wind had suddenly caused a slight tear in the wing (opening) in the sail.

Martin wasn't too happy and he and his crew took it down to start their first repair.  Sails are notorious for rips and tears, but nothing this early considering that they've only used it three times.  Martin contacted the company, ISTEC, and told them what happened.  They are going to replace the wing when we get to St. Martin, but in the meantime, it had to be repaired since they have 2 more weeks on the water.

So, Amara quickly turned into a repair shop with the sail taking up the entire salon.

Looks like our salon turned into a sailmaker's shop.

Patrice and Garry busily sewing away making repairs to the sail.

I also got a treat in my email today when Martin sent me some great pictures of their typical day on the water.  I thought I would share.

Garry taking in some sun.  

This is probably the part of sailing that I am looking forward to the most.  I can't wait to just get some sun and start relaxing.  I'm afraid that I've forgotten how to relax with all the months of preparation and building up to this new adventure.  Taking a snooze in the sun will be welcomed by me and come without protest.

While sailing, they saw more pilot whales.  

...and Martin caught some Bonita for dinner.  

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The other night, the crew had an amazing experience that I need to share with all of our readers.  Late into the night, Patrice motioned for Martin and Garry to come up to the bow of the boat.  There they saw a pod of dolphins that were swimming off the bow.  It looked as if the dolphins were lit up and glowing because of the phosphorescence in the water.   

Marine phosphorescence is a heatless light generated chemically by marine plants and animals. Movement in the water sets it off and causes marine life’s bodies to glow.

Here are some examples so that you can get a visual of phosphorescence in marine life:

When Martin saw the dolphins, the glow from their bodies trailed in the water for 3-4 inches behind them.  So, while they were all standing at the bow in complete darkness, the dolphins below were glowing in the water.  Patrice had seen this before and was so excited to share this experience with Martin and Garry.  He said that he had never seen or heard record of this happening with dolphins.  (I searched and didn't find anything.)  

It was such a surreal moment for all or them and the experience of the glowing dolphins stayed with all of them for hours.  Garry said that when he woke the next morning, it was the first thing that he thought about—he just couldn’t get the experience out of his mind.  

Of course, in their amazement, none of them took any photos.  However, they did happen to get pictures of another pod of dolphins that they saw today.  This was the only one that came out kind of clear.  (Hold tight. Amara's photographer will be there in two weeks—Me!  Then there will be pictures a plenty of dolphins!)

I can't wait to see the dolphins and promise to take some good photos while on our adventure. 

As always, it was so great to talk with Martin.  At the end of our conversation he ended it with, "After a great week on the water, all is well in the world."  He's right, I do agree, but I think that all will be even more "well" when Lily and I join him in the Caribbean.

Speaking of dolphins...

I'm not sure if you have seen this already—if not, you need to check out this video.  If you don't think that dolphins are intelligent, you may think again after watching this.

This is a friend of Garry's who happened to be diving off the shore in Hawaii.  While in the water, the wild bottlenose dolphin swam up to him as if showing him that something was wrong.  I won't give the story away.  You can watch it unfold in the video below.  It really is so amazing!