Bermuda - Azores : Day 5
Avventura
Marco Versari
Sun 21 May 2023 22:31
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33:40.577N 53:53.384W alle 20:00 (22:00 UTC) del 21
maggio 2023.
Another perfect sailing day is given to us by this
benevolent ocean. While it is true that the nights are still humid and cold, the
days are in perfect contrast to that. The boat is cleaned, music is played and
the boat's library is once again searched.
This time, Eric Tabarly teaches us how to (not) reef a
sail, and some attempt is made at understanding astronomical
navigation.
The wildlife observation today has been limited to
spotting the "Portuguese men o' war". These small jellyfish-like creatures are
composed of a balloon-like body, an empanada-like sail, and some tentacle-like
tentacles. A popular belief on board is that these tentacles can measure up to
30 meters. I personally doubt it strongly and think that these unrealistic
tentacle standards are hurtful towards most Portuguese men o'
war...
Regardless of the size of their tentacles, they are
found in great number around us, and capsize dramatically when lightly touched
by the wave made by the boat. Anonymous sources on board confirmed taking
pleasure from this form of soft animal cruelty. They are transparent but have
pink and purple reflections on their undersides, and their (huge) tentacles seem
to be dark purple.
A lot is still unknown to us about their lives: How fast
do they sail? Are we to find more of them as we get closer to Portugal? How do
they bring the fish they catch back up from the depth of their (massive)
tentacles?
The boat's library is cruelly scarce when it comes to
these important questions.
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