23/11/2009

Waking at 7.30 am, half and hour early from my off watch, I called good morning to Chris who was in the cockpit. 'Come and look at this,' he shouted, 'two white egrets are circling the boat.' These beautiful birds had been there for some time, flying close in as though trying to land, they couldn't as the boat was in full sway and has been for miles and miles. They dropped close to the water then flew high, then fluttered around us again and again in a heart rending way. We have concluded that these birds must have been blown out to sea in bad weather and think they have come from the east as they must surely have had the wind with them to get out this far. To the east we are 810 miles from the Cape Verdes (we didn't see any egrets there), over 1600 miles from Canaries or Madeira (didn't see any in these islands either though they may be there) and over 1500 from the Azores; further still, of course, is Africa and Europe. The nearest land to the west is over 1200 miles away which is where the trade winds are taking us. We are pretty sure they were Little Egrets that belong on muddy shores and creeks or coastal lagoons but they don't belong out here and we feel they will die as they looked floppy and weak.

We have had birds land on the boat but usually much smaller and migratory birds, one hung on for two days once but the only one that survived was a sleek pigeon that we managed to get to drink some water. It is a miserable business waiting to see what will happen to the poor creatures.

Usually getting on watch at 8.00 am I first look at the GPS and complete the log book. I am particularly looking for the accuracy of our course, an increase in our average speed and the distance left to go. Then I like to calculate how long the rest of our journey will be if we continue at our average speed. As of this morning our average speed has increased to 5.9 knots so we could take only another 8.58 days but our weather guru Herb has predicted slackening winds over the next 2 days so who knows!

Flying fish have deposited themselves again, a large one is on the side of the cockpit and I alert Chris to lunch possibilities. Ah yes, he knew about that one, it had landed fully in the cockpit and he had trodden on it in the dark, adhering to the floor are the scales. Flying fish have extremely large scales for the size of fish, looking about there are other bodies and even more scale trails are evident. The cover on the outboard motor is covered in scales on one side, this school of fish obviously came over from the port side. The outboard motor is mounted on the push-pit rails at the rear of the boat, it is at least 2 metres higher than the water so gives an idea of how high these fish can fly. They don't just glide, they flap their adapted fins like wings and when nearing the water again they slap their tails down to get further lift off. Unlucky when a yacht comes along to end their escapades.

The water maker has started its merry tune, yesterday it produced 20 litres of good water after water maker man Chris had spent some lengthy time tuning it up as we hadn't used it before. It gives us much more flexibility with our water consumption although obviously cannot be relied on so we are still careful with our tanks. It would be great to arrive in Barbados with full tanks of pure water!

It is almost sea bath time, sitting on the step of the stern scoop strapped on by a harness and with feet in the water. Waves rush over the lower half and a jug on a string does the rest but stopping the shower gel from flying over board is tricky. We have a fresh water shower head at the stern so a rinse off in fresh water gets rid of the salt. Yesterday the boat was rushing along at 8 knots whilst I sat soaping with feet dangling and waves heaping up their own white foam, it was very exhilarating if rather strenuous keeping balance.

14.30 pm the time when we log our day's run. Yesterday will take some beating as it was a run of 163 nautical miles, that's an average of 6.79 knots over 24 hours which is great. Sometimes we were surfing down waves at 10+ knots then tottering in the trough at 4.5 knots. This last 24 hours has been different, the night was fast but things have slackened this morning. The log shows 851 nautical miles which gives a day's run of 155, not so good as yesterday but still very pleasing.

Good contact was made with Herb this evening who gave us a 4 day weather forecast which includes winds varying between 10 and 20 knots. We are slowing down into the lower gradient but the seas are not losing swell so it is really lumpy, noisy and difficult to move about. Once the sea has moderated with the lesser wind it will be really pleasant. Although we have not been able to have hatches and windows open very much due to positive winds and big seas, the following wind comes straight through the main hatch, more so when the spray hood is down which it is during the day, so the boat doesn't get too hot although it is very warm all the time now. At night we sail with the spray hood up but the bimini down so that we can see the stars and the moon when there is one. The moon is just coming into its sixth day so is not much of anything and it sets early so the nights are long and very dark.

02.00 am We are 15º 03' north, 40º 32' west and have another 1095 miles to go.