40:57S 42:31E
Tales of Amok's Adventures
Mike Jones
Sun 2 Jan 2011 19:53
Hello Sailors
Fresh strong winds greeted us today, so it's been a hunkered down kind of day. We are going well under the staysail and a triple reefed main, due to gusts of around 30 knots.
The sunrises and sunsets out here have been mind blowing. The current watch pattern means I get the 3am - 6am watch, which means experiencing the joy of watching the sun come up every day. With our easterly course, it makes for some stunning photographs which we'll share when we return. It's amazing how fast the sun actually moves, when the horizon provides a reference point. With each wave the boat rides, the sun peeps out from under the headsail. My eyes can detect a slightly larger sliver of sun with every wave we ride; it's truly an incredible thing to watch. You can look away for the count of 5, then look back and it is significantly brighter than 5 seconds before. As each sunrise is so unique, one can never tire of watching them.
Unfortunately, the Southern Ocean being the beast that it is, changes very quickly. It's possible to report a clear blue sky during the morning radio call, then complete the call and come up on deck and there's no blue sky to be seen and white caps appear from nowhere. I think the sea was definitely in a bit of bad mood today, grey and argumentative. (The beauty of writing this blog when everybody has gone to bed means that nobody is going to draw any similarities between me and the sea when the word argumentative is mentioned.... he he he. Who me?? argumentative?? Why do you say that??
We have come across some albatrosses which are even larger than the last family. Of course we have given them all names as a symptom of the "stir crazies" we are all suffering.
Anyway, thanks very much to Suzanne for forwarding the much anticipated school results, we are absolutely over the moon with Pandora's efforts.
love to you all me hearties,
Salty Sal
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