Blistering heat wave . . . and a dolphin surprise!

Today the heat wave that brought triple-digit temperatures to the East Coast had really started to put a damper on our vacation. It was too hot to want to do anything - and the heat had literally taken all the wind out of our sails. That is, no wind at all for sailing! So, we finished off the classroom activities and took our second exam in the morning. Travis and I are now both certified in ASA 101: Basic Sailing and ASA 103: Coastal Cruising.

We then took the first part of the afternoon off, and were considering a make-up sailing day for Friday because the weather was so bad. However, around 2 pm it looked like the wind had picked up a little so we called our instructor and he was game to go out and try sailing. Boy were we in for a treat!

There were literally no other boats on the water. It appears, however, that when the boats are away the dolphins come out to play! We found ourself literally surrounded by several pods of dolphins. Literally, every direction that you looked you could see them in the distance leaping through the water, and even doing flips in the air! At times, several came up right next to the boat and swam alongside us. It was the most magical thing ever! If I didn't have some photos to prove it, I would have though we had dreamed it the next day.

This is one of the photos I got of a dolphin swimming alongside the boat. What started out as a bummer of a day ended up totally magical!