Global sailors Brent Crack and Mary Bevan have seen many wonders during their travels, but nothing quite like what they saw in the waters of False Bay on December 10 while approaching Cape Town.  The Canadian couple set sail from Panama in December 2022, stopping over in Easter Island, Pitcairn, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, New Zealand and Australia before making the big trek towards the African coast. They crossed the 20 000 nm mark shorly before reaching the Cape of Good Hope.

The highlight of the trip?  Read their own account below, published this week on OSASA’s Sailing South Africa WhatsApp group:

Last night was one of those epic nights that only come along ever so rarely. 

We departed Gordon’s Bay Yacht Club and were immediately into brilliant blue bioluminescence.  The water churning along the hulls lit up the surrounding area like a spotlight was on us.

About ten miles from the Cape we were joined by a large pod of dolphins, streaming through the phosphorescence as they swam and jumped.  They left trails in the glow as they went and were visible a long distance from the boat, 500 meters or more, just by the glow as they swam. 

And then we went through many huge schools of small fish. The whole sea was glowing, and the dolphins were hunting.  The fish were jumping all around us, boiling as they were being chased and eaten.  The smell of fish in the air was abundant, just from the sheer numbers jumping at one time.  Every now and again, larger fish would join the dolphins and dart past, completely visible in the bioluminescence.

Words do not adequately describe it.  Pictures would not capture it.  Memories are all that exist  

Now we are stuck in drizzly foggy gloom as we slow motor our way up the coast towards Cape Town. 

Before coming to False Bay, we had never seen dolphins in the bioluminescence, and now we have seen it twice – once on approach to the bay and again on departure.  If you are passing through the area at night, keep an eye out – you may just have a special event to observe.

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