The Ocean is So Blue

This surprised us.  Having been in the Bahamas this winter, when the water as not so deep, it was so blue, like you are looking at a swimming pool.  But the deeper parts, like “Tongue of the Ocean” where the water is over 5,000 feet deep, the water is a dark navy blue color.

So, one of the first things Julie and I noticed a day out of Nova Scotia, was how blue the water was.  Not navy blue, but a lighter shade.  It took us more than a day to get off the continental shelf where the water goes from a few hundred feet deep to over 10,000 feet.

By day three, we were in very deep water, over 14,000 feet deep, yet the water was so blue, not dark, like you could almost see the bottom.  It called to us like the Sirens of the ancient world.  Many times, I felt like jumping in, the only thing stopping me, the knowledge that on the open ocean, simple acts beget tragedies.

Finally, the sun came out and we had two nice days, winds less than 10 knots, 1 to 2’ waves, really nice motoring weather.  So we stopped the boat to take a swim.  Left the engine running, but not in gear obviously, and tied a 40’ line to the stern, just in case of who knows what.  Now, we of course did not both go in the water at the same time, we didn’t even take off our clothes at the same time, in fact, Julie waited until the next day.  But as I jumped in the ocean, I could not but feel great.  The water was so blue under the boat, almost sky blue, and surprisingly, so salty. It tasted much saltier than before.  Julie confirmed that also when she took her swim the following day.

We did see wildlife.  Not as much as along the coast though.  We only saw dolphins a few times, but one group was really large, more than 30.  They swam with us for only a few minutes, whereas in the past, I’ve had dolphins spend 30 to 50 minutes with us. We also had a pair of birds hitch a ride.  Happily, both flew off under their own power after a much needed rest the following day.

A few days from the Azores, we sighted what we initially thought was a float, but it turned out to be a turtle, just floating on the surface. Then an hour later, another turtle.  We also had our only whale sighting, a couple of Humpbacks, maybe q quarter mile south.

Maybe the birds even helped themselves to the flying fish we would find on deck each morning.  Sometimes we can see their impact 5’ or 6’ above the deck level on the salon wall or windows.  They are also pretty small, just a few inches long.  The flying fish we encountered in the Bahamas were much larger, but then so were the waves that night.

And just before Flores, we had a half dozen squid ranging in size from two to six inches long, on deck. I’m guessing the squid got there thru the deck scuppers as the boat rolls in the waves.  The only problem was that sometimes I did not find them for a day, in which case we really did start to smell like a trawler.

We need a cat.

Author: Richard on Dauntless

I’m an eclectic person, who grew up in New York, lived overseas for many years and have a boat, Dauntless, a 42 foot Kadey Krogen trawler yacht. Dauntless enables me to not only live in many different parts of the world, but to do it in a way that is interesting, affordable, with the added spice of a challenge. Dauntless also allows me to be in touch with nature. As the boat glides through the ocean, you have a sense of being part of a living organism. When dolphins come to frolic, they stay longer if you are out there talking to them, watching them. Birds come by, sometimes looking for a handout; sometimes grateful to find a respite from their long journey. I grew up on the New York waterfront, in the West Village, when everything west of Hudson St. was related to shipping and cargo from around the world. For a kid, it was an exciting place of warehouses, trucks, and working boats of all kinds: tugs and the barges and ships, cargo and passenger, they were pushing around. My father was an electrical engineer, my mother an intellectual, I fell in between. I have always been attracted to Earth’s natural processes, the physical sciences. I was in 8th grade when I decided to be a Meteorologist. After my career in meteorology, my natural interest in earth sciences: geology, astronomy, geography, earth history, made it a natural for me to become a science teacher in New York City, when I moved back to the Big Apple. Teaching led to becoming a high school principal to have the power to truly help kids learn and to be successful not only in school but in life. Dauntless is in western Europe now. In May and June, I will be wrapping up the last two years in northern Europe, heading south to spend the rest of the year in Spain & Portugal. Long term, I’m planning on returning to North American in the fall of 2017 and from there continuing to head west until we’re in Northeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, where we will settle for a bit. But now, my future lies not in NY or even Europe, but back to the water, where at night, when the winds die down, there is no noise, only the silence of the universe. I feel like I am at home, finally. View all posts by Richard on Dauntless