Slow cruising with the angels of the ocean

Jeff Wrinch experiences some magical wildlife encounters while on passage to Italy

My attention was diverted away from the helm as I noticed something flopping about in the water 100 yards ahead. A fin? Two fins? No, they were wing tips attached to graceful and gliding manta rays. I called my wife Melanie and we turned off the engines to try and avoid frightening them off. We drifted slowly towards them to discover that our Privilege 435 catamaran, Rock ‘n’ no Roll, was surrounded by a family of them, eight in all.

Incredibly they seemed not the least bit bothered by us, cruising around gently in circles, just doing their thing.

Now stationary, I stripped off, donned mask and snorkel and slipped into the water with them. Wow! In front, beside and below, everywhere I looked, I could see one; this was magical. After a while they got inquisitive and glided gently straight towards me. It was a little intimidating having a 6ft wing span, huge white mouth and big beady eyes heading for you, but with a gentle flap of their wings they glided by. We spent about an hour with the mantas before they dived slowly into the deep and we said goodbye. Another magical moment to cherish and we felt it was an auspicious start to this new phase in our sailing adventure, although it wasn’t to last long.