27/11/2009

This morning after the storm the sea is a heaving lumpy mess with swell coming from both stern and port sides but the wind is falling light so progress is slow, we have done about 8 nautical miles in the last 2 hours. We are on a close reach 70 – 80º to the wind under full sail, slightly nervous as the sky still looks ominous and the air feels moist as if to rain. The torrential rain we experienced yesterday has washed the sails and the decks look scrubbed, the last of the Cape Verdes harmattan dust has been blown and washed away from the boat's bits and pieces. Our small white friend, the egret, stood in the cockpit through it all, now

bedraggled with a soiled tail and wing tips he looks pterodactyl like with his head drawn down into his shoulders, his long neck hidden from view. He never sits, he has stood swaying patiently on his stilt like legs since joining us. We are amazed that this delicate creature has survived the awful night but there he is tottering over for a drink, he climbs into the old washing up bowl and gulps down water.

There was only one flying fish this morning, I guess any others were washed off the deck by the stormy seas, I have the idea of gutting the fish and somehow finding something this bird will eat. This is the gory bit - I drop the guts into a plastic dish and then remove the eyes and drop them into the dish. I place the dish in egret's view and the eyes roll about as the boat swings, he pounces on them and they are swallowed in a flash. I then wonder if possibly being more used to live moving insects as food he needs to see movement to trigger feeding. Right, still slightly wary of the pterodactyl beak I find a pair of wooden tongs, pick up and waggle a worm-like part of the guts and hey presto egret grabs it and it slithers down his throat. Nothing else is waggle-able, I cut up the fish but he is not interested. My next tactic is to prepare a tiny amount of al dente noodles, he stilts over to the companionway and waits, not trying to fly in today. I dangle the springy noodles in front of egret and feel like a proud mother as he gently picks up the ends and flicks them into his beak. I feel so relieved I could cry then feel annoyed with myself for becoming so attached to this wild bird but he has been so gallant braving the storm, the ugly boat movement and near starvation. He is also very beautiful, charming and quite endearing following us about, waiting and watching us whatever we do. He is passive and very dependent. We wonder if this is an immature egret as he seemed to so enjoy being fed from the tongs.

Noodles lose their attraction and egret flies up onto a cockpit locker and starts preening, a good sign? I wind up a small colorful rope and he swoops in looking vigilant but it is not what he was expecting. The next swoop is on the fishing lure which is a rubbery squid but looks snake like. I wonder if he tackles small snakes, he has to be held back from the lure with its massive hook.  He then taps at my foot gently with his beak, he is investigating my freckles hoping that they are ticks no doubt. I lose my fear of his beak, he seems quite without aggression, I wonder if cattle egrets may be used to people when they live in farming environments. My first port of call in Barbados is the library, we want to know all about egrets, the different types, and their habits.

We have been motoring for two and a half hours as the wind is of no use to us. Whilst motoring we make extra use of the water maker as laundry needs doing and this is the biggest drain on our water resources. We should have harnessed the storm and channeled the rainwater into our tanks. This was done in the past and sometimes still is on some long passage yachts but we want to ensure clean tanks and one can never be sure that the sails are clean enough or the decks fully free of flying fish scales to venture putting collected rainwater into the precious drinking water supply. Perhaps if our water maker doesn't perform we will try collecting into plastic containers but not yet!

Egret decides to fly off, he soars away and we lose sight of him, only for ten minutes and he is back but horror, he tries to land on the cap rail to the gunnels which surrounds the deck and misses his footing. He drops into the water flapping and floundering but not for long, this little stalwart manages to take off from the water, he is so weak we don't know how he manages it but he is back on board and looking relieved to see us. What a champion! The wind is increasing after a slow day, there is still heavy cloud to the east and south east of us. We are losing ground as our average speed drops a little and our day's run is only 131 miles. The night passes without incident, Chris saw a small ship going north otherwise nothing.

28/11/09

We seem to be well clear of bad weather now but today is heavily humid, the only salve being a cold shower but half an hour later another would be welcome. Roller coaster sea water baths are off the menu as we have started being prickled by something in the water. I thought this might just be that the water is so briny but Chris thinks it could be phytoplankton, which at night makes the water highly fluorescent where the boat creates wake through the waves. Whatever it is, it is unpleasant on the skin so it's hose, bucket and flannel from now on.

Today the egret will not eat. For the first time there have been no flying fish on deck so no fresh tidbits for him which might have helped. I chopped up some mussels and Chris tried breadcrumbs with honey but all to no avail. We have another 4 days to go and even if he survived until Barbados where we know there are egrets it is unlikely he could adapt to the new landscape and we suspect would fall prey to something as he is so weak. All a bit miserable.

Our days run is a puny 120 nautical miles. Herb has forecast more light winds and possible squalls, we don't want those but at least we are moving and not becalmed which happened to us last time we crossed the Atlantic.

29/11/09

We download and send emails overnight when the satellite signal is usually very good. We have had an email about egrets from our nephew Nic who lives in Switzerland with his family, thanks Nic. He says apparently there are 10 types of Egret but he thinks that cattle egret sounds right. They are migratory but he could not find any reference to them crossing the Atlantic, mostly just moving north or south depending on the season. They eat just about any type of animal/insect food, though apparently they have been recorded eating figs (in case we happen to have any on board.) Nic suggested either minced meat or perhaps cutting the fish up into tiny chunks and see if he takes them. We don't have any meat on board and the egret has turned up his beak at chopped up flying fish, whole tiny ones and anything else offered whether on tongs and waggled or just in a dish. We actually do have figs on board but not fresh ones. Unfortunately egret's tenacity and his luck have run out, he lay down at about 11.30 pm and died at about 03.00 am. It seems such a shame that this wild bird had to die in what for him is such an alien environment and not on home ground, wherever or whatever that is. At 07.00 am Chris gave him a burial at sea, he said he was as light as a feather.

Our day's run is only 111 miles today. We were hoping to get to Barbados by Tuesday but it looks as though it will be Wednesday. 400 miles to go, doesn't sound much now after the last 1640 but still some way to go.