Dolphin 3 Delivery
Robert Feddes, is the skipper of a sailboat called Dolphin 3 (a Moody 33). Robert is from Rotterdam area, Netherlands and leads a ministry called Dolphin 3 Discipleship [See: https://www.dolphin3discipleship.com/ ]. Robert and his wife Daniele, like us, partner with Broad Reach Maritime in Greece.
Along with another Dutch brother, Ernst Winesch, I had the privilege to help crew on one one leg of a voyage to deliver Dolphin 3 to Greece from the Netherlands. Ernst and I joined the journey in A Coruna, a port at the Northwest corner of Spain. Why? Several years ago a retired Air Force Colonel doing missions in the Azores donated Dolphin 3 to Broad Reach Maritime, But the boat needed a lot of work. Robert took on the project, sailed the boat to Rotterdam, from the Azores, and spent two years refitting her.
“For me it was a chance of a lifetime.”
Last June the Dolphin 3 was ready to be delivered to her intended home at Porto Astro, Greece for Broad Reach. A call went out over "KingsFleet," an online network of Christian maritime ministries, for help with the delivery. For me it was a chance of a lifetime. I could get some ocean sailing training under an experienced skipper, while at the same time, practically serve a mission we have come to love and partner with.
“The swells of the ocean and the consistent winds were new to me since most of my sailing experience has been on the Great Lakes.“
I caught up with Robert and Ernst on Dolphin 3 in A Coruna on June 24. After some needed engine work was completed and the boat was supplied for the next 10 days, we set sail on Thursday June 27 around 9:30 AM. We headed out to the Atlantic Ocean with the worlds oldest continuously working lighthouse to our port side (built by the Romans). While our wives followed us on a GPS tracking website, over the next several days we sailed south along the Spanish and Portuguese coasts.
The swells of the ocean and the consistent winds were new to me since most of my sailing experience has been on the Great Lakes. As we ran with the wind and prevailing currents, I never grew tired of seeing the regular wall of waves rise behind us above our transom, then cast us upward and disappear underneath as we rose and sank with the swells.
Several days later after rounding the lighthouse on the point marking the southwest corner of Portugal, we made our way toward the straight of Gibraltar with Spain to our port (left) and Morocco to starboard (right). After entering the straight we made our first stop in the port of Gibraltar (read about our answered prayer that night in the next post).
“God truly leads us on unexpected adventures when we step out and follow him into the unknown!“
This was exciting for me, not only because of the history of Gibraltar, but also because we could see the Moroccan coast from the water. We have been privileged to do training there for the last five years. Last year when we were in Morocco we also visited a veteran missionary couple who live in a peninsular city belonging to Spain called Ceuta. As I peered out at the mountain range that rises behind Ceuta, I thought to myself, "Last year when we were in Ceuta looking out over the Strait of Gibraltar, I never would have guessed that a year later I would be looking back from the opposite direction from the water!" God truly leads us on unexpected adventures when we step out and follow him into the unknown!
We then sailed (and motored when there wasn’t any wind) on the Mediterranean along the southeast coast of Spain. One surprise was how much I enjoyed taking the watch in the middle of the night. On the night after stopping in Gibraltar I had the 2-5 AM watch. While studying the brilliant stars with an app on my phone, I was suddenly taken with the phosphorescent matter in the water splashing off the side of the boat casting a bright lavender light-show all around.
Then I had a lone visitor. A dolphin leapt beside the boat as if to say "Hey there, I'm all alone out here too!" Then he playfully jumped through the phosphorescence and, covered in the stuff, he dove under the boat leaving a glowing lavender streak through the wine dark waters of the night time Mediterranean.
My heart leapt and I thought of Psalm 104:24-26 "O LORD, how manifold are your works!...Here is the sea great and wide which teems with creatures innumerable living things both small and great. There go the ships and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it." Thank you Lord, for letting me experience the joy of your creation, just me and You and that dolphin, out there that night in the middle of the sea!
Due to my vacation time running out and some strong headwinds blowing in the wrong direction, I had to disembark Dolphin 3 in Cartagena, Spain and say goodbye to my new friends. While I caught my flight back to Detroit from Rome, Robert and Ernst continued on without me to the Island port of Ibezia. Then Robert and his wife Daniele finished the trip on past Italy to Greece. The story continues and our God continues to prove himself to be both powerful and playful, giving us joy in the journey.
