Monday 21st June – Day 15 At Sea (Lini’s Journal )
Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Wed 23 Jun 2010 17:19
on the dawn watch adjusting sails. At 0800UTC I finally gave in and
fired up the engine so Si could sleep for the rest of my watch without
rattles. Dolphins played all round Brindabella but I was too busy to
pay them much attention. Now motoring I finished my Michel Thomas
introductory Portuguese course on the iPod but although his method is
very successful in some areas I hope to memorise a few sentences from
the phrase book; after all, a girl wouldn’t want to land in a foreign
country and not be able to order a couple of beers! Crew Brindabella
are looking forward to a celebratory glass of ice cold Sagres. I find
Portuguese very difficult and think the pronunciation would be far
easier with a heavy head cold!
It was cold today. (There’s hope for better Portuguese
pronunciation yet!) Simon rose from his bunk, enquired as to the
temperature and dressed accordingly. I didn’t so much titter quietly
behind my book as explode into a hearty chortle as he pranced
gracefully up on deck in a flurry of loveliness, wearing skin tight
long johns, deck boots, a broad grin and a fleece that needed to be 6”
longer to render the attire decent. When he popped on my pink and
white flowered reading glasses to check the chartplotter I was about
to reach for the camera, but decided two weeks worth of beard didn’t
do the look justice. He stood with one hand on the binnacle looking
more likely to commence ballet bar work than command his vessel! Not
exactly the rugged Aussie sailor look I’m used to!!
In very light winds we sailed when we were able and motored when we
couldn’t, making slow but sure progress. It was a peaceful last night
at sea and as I came on watch aliens were shining search lights across
still waters looking for a boat to beam up to the mother ship. Either
that or patchy cloud moved slowly past the moon masking all but the
smallest ray that cast a brightly moving circle towards us. As we near
land voices can be heard more often on the VHF and more boats are
visible, not all with AIS (Automatic Identification System that puts
their details on our chartplotter). We keep and increasingly more
vigilant watch as our destination approaches and the seas are strewn
with old fishing line and pots just waiting to tangle round our
propeller.