Close Encounters.......

Not the first encounter of it's type, but by far the most thrilling.

Went to Maracas beach on Sunday, the fav beach on the North coast of Trinidad, and with it's hugely variable sea conditions, a great place for a novice like me to practice in relatively safety. It was a pretty flat start to the day as I launched through light surf at 09:30. Seas were easy with light swell to 1.5 to 2m with some wind chop. Decided to circle the 2km bay, out to the point then straight back to the beach. This would give me upwind, downwind and cross wind/wave practice. Objective was to stay in control and not swim!

I had covered the cross chop and upwind sections and was turning about 1km out from the beach to head home when I heard a woosh sound from behind. Startled I swung about to see 3 fins side by side slightly behind and to the right of the Ski. A brief heart flutter later and I recognised the forms below water as dolphins. I had encountered them before when with friends further along the coast, but I had never seen them come this close, and never alone.

A few more splashes from the other side and I realised I was surrounded! I quickly counted 7 dolphins all within 10 feet of me. I wonder what they were thinking of my ski, a Huki S1-R which is light grey with white tips. They were very curious. For the next 10 minutes I paddled slowly then quickly and they paced right with me. I did circles and stopped and they mirrored everything I did. One of them, a very pale almost albino grey, swam almost continuously close to the bow of the ski on it's side, looking up. The crystal clear water gave me a clear view of all of them as they were so close.

At times they played, crossing the bow one after the other, and other times just cruised alongside so close that they were just inches from the paddle as it hit the water.

As I got close to the beach, maybe 100m out, they slowly lagged back and then turned and swam parallel to the beach, then headed back out to sea.

I landed and shouted over to my wife and daughter on the beach who saw them heading back out.

I had 3 more outings during the day, but didn't see them again. The crowds were gradually arriving for their Sunday beach parties and I guess they must be shy!

I'll go back next Sunday to see if they will keep me company again! This time I'll take my camera.

Awesome experience!

The Sunfish has given me quite a few frights over my short padding career. It seem just about every time I venture out of Hout Bay in Cape Town I encounter one of these strange fish.

The ocean sunfish vies for the title of strangest fish in the sea. Its Latin name, Mola mola , means millstone. Recorded up to two tons, this gentle giant inhabits all tropical and temperate seas. www.earthwindow.com/mola.html

The favorite trick of the Sunfish it seems is to scare paddlers like me by popping a fin out the water and mimicking our friend the Great White. This happened again on Sunday on our paddle from Hout Bay to Granger Bay. John B may have got a photo of the fin in amongst the paddlers before the sunfish dived beneath the surface.

These are a majestic fish and a true pleasure to encounter.

Ja Those stories really make the sport unique. Perhaps the most memorable paddle I saw (from the lifesaving duck > as usual) was the 2004 Dolphin Coast Challenge. It was one of those absolutly perfect Durban days, the sea was dead flat with not even a breeze. The paddlers took strain but the scenery was great.

Along the Day 1 route we passed 3 different pods of whales. As we approached we would cut the motors and together with the paddlers drift in amoungst them. They were so close you could see the barnacles on them and feel the spray from their blowholes. The paddlers could've touched them!

Throughout the day the dolphins came to the party but after seeing those whales the dolphins were just a sideshow! Where else can you experience that!?