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Melissa & Dave - Adventures at Sea

Sea lions are noisy

Awoke at 5am to 2 to 3 ft swells rocking the boat. This is NOT like being rocked to sleep in a baby bassinet. More like being rolled down a rocky slope in a sleeping bag. After ½ hour of this we realized it wasn't a big boat wake going by and it was not going to stop. We gave up and got up. We had left wine glasses up top and discovered there was red wine everywhere - that explains the crashing sounds. Melissa got out the bleach and the mop.

We got underway before dawn figuring that at least underway we could turn into the swells instead of the waves being full on our side. This is the only time Dave has seen the sunrise while operating a boat. There was a reef that Dave worried about, but he calculated that by the time he got there it would be light enough out to see it and not run aground. Melissa promptly fell back asleep, but not for long.

About 8am Dave sticks his head into the bedroom and says "Wanna see some dolphins?" Melissa bolted out of bed. After the disappointment of the day before last of not being able to catch up to the dolphins we had apparently come upon the same pod of approximately 100 of them. They were everywhere. You didn't even know where to look there were so many of them in every direction. They were playing and leaping out of the water all over the place. We just cut the engine and drifted for ½ hour just to watch them.

After they swam away, we continued on. Melissa was brave enough to cook bacon on the stove in 2 to 3 ft swells. Dave is starting to think that she might make it on a long voyage around the world. We are at 5 days aboard with no refill on water. Breakfast was bacon & egg scramble with mushrooms, onion, tomatoes, and cheese, with homemade salsa on the side. Yum.

A couple of hours later we ran into another pod of dolphins. Not as big as the first pod, but entertaining none the less. This group wasn't diving as deeply so we could see them swimming under the boat and alongside.

We then arrived at the sea lion colony. We can't anchor and go snorkeling because of the danger of losing an anchor on the rocky bottom. Watching the humans is almost as funny as watching the sea lions. One of the sea lions jumped right over one of the snorkelers - right out of the water. They were trilled. Hard to say what the sea lion thought.

We found a small bay we have all to ourselves. It is nicely protected unless we get another Coromuel tonight. Melissa's theory is that we won't get one because the swells we experience last night had to have been generated by one and you don't get them 2 nights in a row. Not precisely an informed opinion, but cheerfully hopeful none the less.

We went to check out the beach and found a lagoon that appears to be a crab breeding ground. Hundreds of them no bigger than your thumbnail. Dave spotted some other native wildlife that explained the strange tracks we saw a few days ago. Mountain goats. 3 of them. They blend into the landscape because they are sand colored. We debated over whether they were native (hard to imagine they evolved on these remote islands) or if they were left here by Cortez and his crew (romantic but far fetched).

Dave lifted a rock on the beach only to discover we startled a lizard. It moved so fast it nearly didn't see Melissa and ran right between her legs. She screamed and jumped about 10 feet in the air. Dave still hasn't stopped laughing.

Lunch was salsa and chips and ham & cream cheese rollups. Dinner was papaya and mango salad with grilled mustard chicken.

After dinner Dave shined a light in the water. The crill were swarming around it. Very eerie.

  

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