15th October 2009 | Journalism, Travel
By Frank Coles
Originally appeared in What’s On Magazine
Dolphin!’ yells one of the crew. All heads swivel in the direction of the shout and 20 yards off our port bow, four inquisitive dolphins rise from the water, curiously nosing around the bright red life buoy that we are using for man overboard drills. We spend the next twenty minutes sailing around the area where we first saw them and are thrilled as the dolphins, in turn, track us, arching their backs out of the water to get a better look at these humans and their peculiar games.
An amazing day’s sailing ends on a high note, with picture perfect seas, moderate winds, easy swells and comfortable temperatures. The novice to day skipper course with Bluesail Dubai has taken 11 days in total, five days of theory and six days on the water, and is hopefully the start of a life long passion that will enable me to see the world in a new way and talk people’s ears off with tales of nautical derring-do for years to come.
Back to School
The United Arab Emirates has the sea in its blood. However, living in Dubai, the sea is usually hidden behind a wall of five-star luxury and often overlooked among more immediate challenges, like navigating the relentless tide of mechanised sociopaths on Sheikh Zayed road every morning. Read the rest of this entry »
