By early afternoon, the wind dropped to zero – complete dead calm. The surface of the water became like glass, and the only indication that we were on the Pacific instead of an inland lake was the small, long period swell. Seven hundred miles from land, the silence was overwhelming – no wind noise, no engines, no birds, nothing. It made our ears ache.
The first disturbance seen were a few ripples in the water, and then a few small grey specks in the distance and the sound of splashing. In another couple of minutes, Madrone was surrounded by a pod of 50-100 dolphins. Obviously on their way somewhere (chasing the tuna school?), they paused to circle and investigate the boat.
What they found was evidently pretty good, because they spent the next 5 to 10 minutes chasing each other around the boat, jumping and spinning in midair. The water surface was so smooth and the water so clear that we could see them swimming deep beneath the boat. How deep? Hard to tell, but far enough down that they looked small.
A magical experience, and our reward for deciding to drift instead of burn more fossil fuel motoring through the rest of the high.
By late afternoon, the wind picked up to 5-6 knots, and we enjoyed a gentle spinnaker ride until about 1am. By then, the wind filled in and we were gaining speed under reefed main and genoa. It feels good to be making progress again
Day fifteen: 93nm (Only 23 hrs in this day – we turned clocks forward) Position: 37 57N 136 16W
