It was the 18th of May, just a couple weeks before the start of hurricane season. We were anchored in a lovely fishhook shaped bay at the base of a long since dormant volcano that makes up the largest Island in the Coronados. It rises from the sea to almost a thousand feet and has the telltale signs of a violent eruption. The side that was blown off and the crater that was left in the wake of the explosion is clearly visible.
We were headed to Coleta San Juanico, a beautiful anchorage along the central coast of Baja about half way to Bahia Concepcion. It was early morning when we began raising anchor. Liana was on the bow pulling in snubbing lines and making ready. The deep blue water was calm and peaceful. I listened to the rattle of chain as the windless pulled it aboard, feeding it into the locker. The boat dipped forward following the chain on the sea floor. She stopped at 50 feet to use a rod to knock down chain castles that piled up in the locker. The chain slumped to one side and soon the process continued. The bow started to pull downward a bit as the set of the anchor in the deep sand pulled back and loaded up the tension on the windless. This is momentary because the windless can lift thousands of pounds and at this point only a few hundred were being pulled. “We’re off.” That’s my cue to watch our set and drift. A few more seconds and one more chain castle to knock down at the 25 feet mark. All the while spraying the chain of salt and sea life with a fresh water hose. Sometimes the anchor comes up covered in mud. I saw the roll bar as the shank settled into the rollers.
I put Silhouette into gear and brought the diesel up to 2000 rpm. I looked all around for close aboard boats and Liana climbed into the bow seat to be lookout. We had just left the turquoise waters of the shallows around the Coronados when we saw up ahead a disturbance in the water. At first we thought it was birds all floating together but in binoculars we could make out the rolling white water. I saw one lone dolphin leap seven or eight feet above the water and knew instantly what this was.
I pushed the throttle forward and watched our speed come up to eight knots. We were just a half mile or so out of the bay. In a few minutes the wild thrashing of black and gray sleek bodies in the water made our hearts leap. Hundreds of dolphins! I slowed and we followed the group, Silhouette slowly making a big circle as the whole surface of the sea was alive with these wonderful creatures. Once again, Liana and I were privileged to witness this beautiful, magical moment. Enjoy just a short clip of this amazing event in the Sea Of Cortez.