Mike Mate

It took an hour to steam up river, to the old port of Bilbao, in Basque country. We passed the commercial port, then the passenger ferries, security lights turned the night-time river silver. The river grew narrower and shallower. We rode on the edge of the flow, just before high-tide. Boatswain Penny stood bye the anchors on the bow, she noticed ripples in the water, kept thinking ‘there is something there’. We tied up at the maritime museum (close to the Guggenheim). An old Basque man was watching, smoking a cigarette, as we did so – he lingered all the while we put the chaffing gear on the ropes, he scared me. I asked Fernando (2^nd mate from Spain) to talk to him, find out why he was here. The old man replied that he was the proprietor of a nearby Bar, he’d watched us come past and had been amazed to see the dolphin escorting us up the river. “Is it trained” he asked Fernando? I thought nothing more – the man is mad – I told the watch-keeper to keep a watchful eye on him, it was four in the morning and time to turn in. With very little sleep, I arose to greet customs officials and ship-agent at eight. Forty Spanish volunteers arrived on board. At ten, I welcomed the Mayor of Bilbao‘ Mr Iñaki Azkuna’ on board the Rainbow Warrior – her first-ever call in Bilbao. Language was a barrier until there was no need to talk anymore. The fire-brigade caught our attention, they were alerting paddlers to pull over to the side of the river. They were herding a dolphin (with a small zodiac boat) back out to sea. The mayor and I stood on the bow (beside ‘Dave the wooden Dolphin’) and watched a little common dolphin swim past on its way out to sea, the little thing turned when it reached us, swam a few circles beside the boat, looked up at us from the water. ‘Ees a pikinin’, commented the mayor in delight. It’s a miracle I thought.