"Clip on immediately," the first mate cries out.
The rolling North Atlantic swell causes me to momentarily pause in my headlong rush to the boat's side.
"But I need to take photos of the dolphins," I try to explain.
Yet, Steve is insistent that safety must come first, and after five days on board Brighton Belle as a beginner it has already been instilled into me that we do not leave the cabin until we have donned our lifejackets with safety line looped around our shoulders ready for instant deployment.
The sight of dolphins swimming close by causes me to doubt that old mantra, 'one hand for the ship and one for yourself'. How can it possibly apply when I need both hands for my camera?
I clip on and lie on the deck, my thigh pressed against a stanchion and the rest of me edging out over the sea.
I need not over worried about missing shots as the dolphins were patiently waiting for me, darting back and forth.
I always find the prospect of dolphins swimming nearby totally mesmerising as these animals are highly intelligent and organised, yet from a different world from us.
One is a little camera shy, but I call to him and he playfully rises to greet me.
Oh, the joy to become one with the dolphins…