Dolphins!!

This deserved a post dedicated to only this experience!

We were so thankful for our two, more laid back, travels days. We were hoping to get some business and school work done on these calm, likely much less stressful days.

It wasn't long after we left Cocoa that we saw some dolphins. This isn't rare a sight on our travels. We see them quite often, but it never gets old. As I gather the kids up on the bridge to start some school work, Gord announces that he saw some dolphins double back and he thinks they are coming to our wake. Sure enough, on the starboard side, we see dolphins racing in our wake. They twist, turn, jump and surf in our waves. They really put on an impressive show. And like they were speaking to each other the whole time, in perfect unison, they dodge to the left and disappear into the sea. We were so excited and awed by the experience that it took awhile to settle down. Once we composed ourselves, we headed back up to bridge to get started on our work.

Just as we regained our focus, we heard a splash through the window of the helm. MORE DOLPHINS! We race down to see them. They are completely unbothered by our presence. These ones show off as well. This same sequence of events happens 8 times during this travel day and each time is equally exciting. It's difficult to get any work done. Once, when three dolphins were racing beside us, Jaxon and Brooklyn were sitting on the side of Holy Cow to watch these beautiful creatures. As the dolphins jumped into the air, the kids got an incredible front row view. When the dolphins landed back into the sea with a splash, the spray would reach Jaxon and Brooklyn. The kids were overjoyed every time the sprinkling of salty water hit them.

Later, I was on the bow and saw a dolphin ahead of us double back. I expected it to rush to the wake behind Holy Cow, but instead, it swam with us, at the bow just under the surface. I could see it speeding through the water and was lucky enough to get a quick video before it jetted off, but it didn't leave us. A moment later, we saw it leap out of our wake to have a little more fun.

When we arrived in Daytona Beach thrilled with our day of travel, we couldn't help but hope we might be lucky enough to see dolphins in our wake again.

We have over 25 videos of dolphins joining us. Below is a few of our favourites. In the final video below, the kids think they saw a smaller dolphin, a baby, with the group. Near the end of that video, the dolphin in the lead looks as though it turns its head to look up and back at Jaxon and Brooklyn. What an incredible day for us!