I have moved into a house in Ireland I viewed once, then bought

With families chatting in the seats around me, a young girl knitting across the aisle, I gripped the arm rests.

I’m not a good sailor, so as I stared out at a flat calm sea, I went through a version of the same ritual I do when I’m on a plane: I figured that if I never took my eyes off what was beneath me and ahead of me, that would make it safe.

I texted the builder boyfriend, a keen yachtsman, to say I did not understand how anyone could go on a cruise. All that sea for miles. What was there to look at?

To my utter astonishment, a circle appeared in the water just beneath my window and a head popped out. Somehow, I was seeing a dolphin by accident. The creature performed a joyful turn in the air and disappeared under the water.