19:55.499N 041:24.454W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Mon 19 Nov 2012 19:25
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"Yacht Salesman's Day - 19 November"
Watches last night were exceptionally wet, we still
had a following wind and only the headsail working. It had been grey all day,
but we made good headway. As dusk fell the wind strengthened and the
darker clouds caught us up and deposited heavy downpours on the 'on watch'
helmsman (helmswoman) and the crew below, until the washboards and hatch were
pulled over, shutting the helmsman out to enjoy the elements on his own. When I
went on watch it was a dry, but soon enough it began to rain and then it
poured. Noel came up to relieve me and kindly encouraged me to hurry below
before I got wet! Get wet! There was not much of me which felt
dry, my shoes were full of water, it was up my sleeves, the cushion I was
sitting on was soaked so were my undergarments, my back from an earlier
goffer caught before I put up my hood, was wet too. Once below I
passed up nibbles and a drink to Noel, but I felt so mean
to close the hatch on him. Evidently it poured all the rest of
the night so I was not the only one soaked.
As dawn broke, the wind changed direction from
the north east to the south, the rain had passed and the sun came up
with the promise of a pleasant day and the gentle winds. Once enough
bodies were awake, we raised the mainsail, shaking out all but one reef,
released the foresail from its pole and sat back to enjoy the beam
reach. As the ocean swell dropped Whisper settled into a gentle motion, no
more being flung from one side to the other, even items stayed in the lockers
when opened. It really has been a yacht salesman's day, sunshine the whole
day, force 4 from the south and we are on course. What more could we want!
We had the most glorious view of another Tropic
Bird today, it was thinking about landing on the masthead, whilst it was
circling we could see its most beautiful fan tail and its bright red bill, sadly
I did not have my camera to hand, but I was able to get a photo of a flying
fish. Sadly, unbeknown to us, it had landed on the foredeck during the
night and was beyond rescue but was willing to pose for a photo shoot
before being cast back into the food chain.
It was interesting that we had not seen any
Shearwater for a day or two, when one was spied yesterday. This was a
Sooty Shearwater, a different species from the Coreys Shearwater of the Eastern
Atlantic, which we had been seeing. The Sooty Shearwater is from the East
Coast of the USA. We are getting there!
Photo: Flying Fish
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