Day 11 – Magic dolphins
Samuel stayed in Porto for a week, and one of the students who we met wanted to come along so we got a new crew member on the boat – Filip – who’s never sailed before. During the night we could feel the hurricane from further north. In the morning the Atlantic was quite bumpy. We headed for a long distance sailing trip – Filip got to try night sailing as his first time on a sailboat!
What a night! Everywhere around us there was thunder which lit all the Atlantic. It was very unpleasant to be out at sea in those thunderstorms. But getting into a port was not an alternative due to the access to the nearest port was rinsed by smashing waves. We just had to wish for that the thunder would go around us and stay at a distance. Scary, but also very spectacular. You feel very small in a small boat on the Atlantic when you are so truely exposed to the powers of nature.
To this light show made by nature came another magical moment – dolphins in sea sparkle! How can I explain how amazing this is? It’s so frustrating that it’s not possible to capture with the camera, a rolling boat in the dark with a long shutter speed is not a possible combination. There was about 20-30 dolphins coming against us in the black ocean. The only reason we could see them was because of the sea sparkle that shined when the dolphins were moving in the water. They were like a lightening that appeared in the water, or like falling stars. The Dolphins entertained us for a while where they jumped and played along the boat. We sat at the front of the boat and were stunned. You could see the contours so clearly in the luminous shine of the sea sparkle underneath you. The thunder was flashing at the horizon. It may be the most magical thing I’ve ever seen! To quote Niclas: ”The Northern light are put to shame!” (Norrsken – släng dig i väggen).
The thunderstorm never came close to us that night, and we arrived Peniche in the morning. It’s a small, cozy fishing village that the same week hosted a major surf contest, Rip Curl Pro Portugal. It was very sad that we missed out with just a few days. The city close by – Nazaré has among the highest waves in the world. It was also a shame that we did not have time to stop there because it looks really cool on photos from there. And people throw themselves out in those waves! It’s crazy.
