A very lively lady

She’s famous as the boat that sailed around the world with a Southsea grocer as her skipper. For Alec Rose, back in 1968, it meant a knighthood, a book and a place up there with Sir Francis Chichester in the sailing halls of fame. Then 40 years later she went around again, this time with a group of young people crewing. Dan Houston joined them on her way back to India…

The dolphins are like an old couple. For a day or so now they have kept us company, especially while we motor-sail in the shoal water off the beach. One is almost black and looks at least 8ft long while the other looks about half his (or her) size and is basically pink. We see them quite often in the crystal-clear water, over the white sandy seabed, sometimes even between us and the shore. Like us they seem to be heading north up the Malabar coast, and using the shallow water to reduce the effect of the south-going current in this late spring season. We’ve rigged a little awning on the mizzen shrouds which makes being on deck somewhat cooler when sitting aft of the cockpit. The dolphins are the only life we have seen pretty much since we came around the southern tip of India, after leaving Galle in Sri Lanka some four days back.