A magical day

Looking back over the year, one very special sail stands out: the day of the dolphins

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It was back in July when the BBC was warning the UK to wear ice cubes under their sunhats. Forgive us here in Shetland for the lack of sympathy; our main greeting up here was ‘Do you think we’re ever going to get a summer?’ We’d had a cold through April, grey clouds in May, wind in June, and now July seemed settled into the gloomy drizzle. My boat still hadn’t had her varnish done, nor her books back in their shelves. 

All the same, I’d been watching the forecast and this Monday had been looking good all weekend. I headed out as soon as possible, in summer clothes, ie only one jersey and jacket over my thermals, and taking a bag with a spare jumper and an extra jacket just in case. The wind was from the west, but light enough for me to be able to hoist the mainsail in the berth, and in less than 20 minutes I was in the middle of the voe... becalmed.

There was a sail at the end of the voe, one of the Brae boats, and they seemed becalmed too. I set my sails and had just got moving again when there was a ‘whooo’ puff of air from beside me. I had visitors: a pair of white-sided dolphins who’d come to play.