Dolphin Trip

Today we undertook a dolphin trip. We were at the docks just after 9 am, to be ready for 9.15 for 9.30 (yes, we were rather eager). Boarded the little vessel, which was the same one that ferried us from the ship to the docks when we first arrived on St Helena. This was our first time off the island! We had a few drops of rain while we were sitting on the boat in the harbour, waiting to go back and collect three or four more passengers who were a little late. We couldn’t get them straight away because there was a tour ship, Saga Ruby, visiting the island today and its little ferry was offloading passengers, so once we had boarded, we moved away giving them a chance to alight, and then our boat moved back. It’s fairly perilous getting off and on the boat, you have to basically wait until it’s close enough to jump across from or to land. No injuries were sustained though, and there are plenty of hands available to help. Anyway, we left harbour around 9.40 or so, and navigated out around the island to the south, towards Speery Island. As anticipated, we encountered dolphins about half an hour into the voyage. There must have been hundreds of them, some near, some far, swimming and leaping and jumping about. Some of them would swim just in front of the boat, every now and then popping out for a leap and a breath of air. Others would keep pace next to us. They swim unbelievably fast, without much apparent effort. Nick says that they are the fastest sea swimmers. It was really awesome to see so many dolphins, up close. We had no really unusual encounters, no dolphins tried to board the vessel or smile at us, but it was still amazing. We circled around a few times where the dolphins were swimming, then headed off again to Speery. This we circumnavigated, getting into some rough waters which was fun, before the trip back up the coast. Speery Island was also an awesome sight up close. It rises straight out the ocean, all tall cliffs and jagged rock faces. Not your typical tropical island with white sands and a palm tree! We stopped for a while at Lemon Valley, where a couple of people braved the salty waters for a swim, Nick included. He reckons that the water here is much saltier than in SA! The boat had been anchored while they were swimming, but while the swimmers were still in the water, the captain started up and moved off a bit, I’m not sure why, so they had a bit of a distance to cover before getting back on board. We had some lunch (we just brought sandwiches and chips and things) while there (or before for those who were starving), and then went back to James’ Bay, arriving back at around 2.30. All in all, it was a lovely outing, though it was incredibly hot and surprisingly unwindy on the boat at times. Hats, sunblock and lifejackets were worn at all times while outside! The boat did have a little enclosed bit as well, but not much circulation in there so it was more bearable outside. Some of us on the ship felt the motion of the waves more than others, and weren’t entirely comfortable with the resultant nausea, but thankfully there was only one casualty by way of a three-year-old (not mine). Everyone else made it to land without incident. We had a brief stop at another point because Nick’s cap blew off, so the kind captain stopped, turned around, and everyone on board shouted directions as to where it was so it could be fished out with a long pole. Easier said than done though, because the waves are up and down, the boat is rocking and the hat is bobbing, so the crew member who retrieved it was duly applauded. Caleb’s cap also blew off (what’s with the Clevely men?) but has been sacrificed to Davey Jones’ locker. Nick is quite sun burnt. The boys have commented that the house is rocking, which I thought was nonsense until I sat down to type this, and realized that we are actually feeling the after-effects of the motion of the sea.