Dominica to Martinique to St.Lucia, Dolphin encounters

We had lunch aboard as we made our way south to Martinique, we needed to be there before dark. About 4 miles off shore we spotted a school of dolphins, jumping and playing not far from the boat, we slowed down to watch them for a while before moving on. We had a wonderful sail across covering the 65 miles in just less than 8 hours, arriving in St.Pierre, Martinique, just before sunset at 6:15pm. We dropped anchor in the bay, and because I was tired I made a typical cowboys dinner, burgers and beans, we really know how to live.
Monday 16th June
Our schedule didn't allow time for to us to even go ashore at Martinique, and by 8:30am we were on our way again. Just a couple of miles off shore we encountered another school of dolphins, this time it was a huge school of Spinner dolphins, maybe as many as 100. They were leaping and jumping all around us, I was trying to take photographs but there were so many, they were swimming and racing with the boat either side of the bow. Bob slowed the boat down so we could get a better look, but the dolphins got bored and swam off, so Bob increased the engine speed and within a few minutes they all came back to race alongside again. They were so playful, jumping, performing acrobatic feats, and spinning in the air, which is how they came by their name. It was exhilarating watching them show off, leaping so high out of the water and racing along in the wake of the bow. We laughed out loud as one of the dolphins leapt high in the air by the side of the boat playfully slapping the water with its tail as it dived back in. They swam with and around the boat for about 15 minutes before moving on. We watched sadly as they all swam away. What an exciting start to our day, watching these incredible creatures so closely in their natural environment will never cease to thrill me.