Manning the Helm

Today we were called to the bow to see a pod of dolphins feeding on a bait ball, which is a large school of fish that have been herded into a ball for the dining ease of predators. When dolphins are feeding, they generally don't come to the surface and you know they are there because you see shadows below highly agitated water. From the bridge this looked like a frothy mess of white caps covering an area the size of a foot ball field. The officer in charge of the bridge at the time, being a good fish loving carnivore, realized immediately that this was a dinner opportunity not to be missed and the ship took a small change of course in the hopes of pulling its fishing lines through the area that would presumably be filled with tasty morsels. However dolphins are not the dullest creatures to swim the sea and they soon realized that we were in the area, closing in on their choice of dinner locations. Another important thing to note is that as the ship is only able to make a maximum of 12 knots, dolphins can swim significantly faster than the good ship Hi'ialakai if they feel like it. Thus a game of keep away ensued and the dolphins rather easily out maneuvered our vessel while continuing to maintain the privacy of their feast. After about 30 minutes of this, the scientists and crew admitted defeat and we turned our hopes of fresh fish to another night. As things were quieting down and we returned to our original heading, I remained on the bridge watching the remnants of the dolphin pod move away. Evidently in need of further entertainment, the officer covering the bridge asked if I wanted to steer the ship. I must say that it has been some time since I answered a question so quickly and I spent the next 20 minutes or so manning the helm. That has been the highlight of my trip thus far and is actually much more difficult to do than I first expected. The ship steers like a car on ice and there is constant correcting to stay on course. But the ship has now been safely returned to the experienced hands of the officers and crew and we are again heading towards Wake Atoll. I will, however, be spending more time up on the bridge - just in case.
I hope you are having a wonderful evening. Good night and keep in touch,
Cristi