Singing to the Dolphins

Day 129

Miles today:  65      Total miles: 2,647.9

Hours today:    5.9

Locks today: 0.    Total locks: 34

Today we had a glorious cruise from Venice to Punta Gorda, with a stop at Burnt Store Marina for fuel. We are pleased with our fuel economy, 2.75 miles/gallon, or 2.5 gallons/hour. Pretty impressive!

Dolphins were plentiful today! I read somewhere that if you knock on the side of the boat or sing, the dolphins like it and might put on a show. I stood on the bow for a good 25 minutes singing to the dolphins that swam right along with us. They were so close, they splashed me several times! The 2 of them really liked "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells", which I sang ad nauseam. They kept pace with us the whole time- but one song was clearly their favorite. You won't believe this- but when I sang the theme song from the 60's TV show "Flipper" they actually turned on their sides and looked at me! I am not making this up! I have the pictures to prove it!

For those of you who are too young to know about "Flipper", here's a link to help you out:

http://youtu.be/azEOeTX1LqM  These dolphins are the second audience to appreciate my singing voice- the first being the residents of my Dad's nursing home. (Alzheimers Unit)

Here's the more typical shot:

And, just to illustrate Mark's often repeated advice to "not drive where the birds are walking", I offer this: