FINNROSE 13.00 038:56:60N 047:21:90W SAT 06/07/13

Finnrose
Sun 7 Jul 2013 00:11
The wind gradually easing over the late afternoon allowed the two reefs to be taken out of the mainsail. We progressed under full sail until eight o’clock in the evening. Accompanied by a vivid sunset, we reduced sail for the night after sundowners.

Following dinner, the wind veered to ESE, force 3. To top up the batteries in the absence of the small, quiet generator, the adult engine was switched on. The clouds cleared from the sky in the late evening, and the combination of clear atmosphere and absence of light pollution revealed a spectacular star-studded sky of phenomenal depth. With the lowering temperature of the water as we move north, this was complimented by increasing sparkling phosphorescence, tumbling in the breaking bow waves, a really magical sight.
The wind dropped further to force two, veered eastwards during the night – our only company being around 1 a.m. when a small fishing boat came within half a mile, the closest encounter yet. We continued to motor through the night, revealing at dawn a mill-pond calm sea and blue skies. This gave welcome relief from the constant balancing act to move about the boat, and allowed everyone to have a calm breakfast (and some a second breakfast) on deck around 7.30.

There were a few clumps of seaweed drifting past the boat, which break away from the Sargasso Sea, so Liz took the opportunity to retrieve some in the landing net. Smelling very strongly of the sea (no surprises there) it consisted of a delicate network of pale yellow and green threads, with tiny buds (rather like tumbleweed in a desert), which dried out very quickly to a white brittle mass in the sun.

A sudden noise alerted Mark, who was working on deck, - a pod of sperm whales were swimming slowly towards us. Several black fins broke the surface, and gradually they revealed themselves to be about 10 metres in length, pausing to blow a few times before disappearing below the surface again. Much larger, isolated grey-coloured whales slowly surfaced at a further distance to blow several times, producing impressive spouts. We estimated their length to be around 25 metres, but we think that although grey in colour, they were probably the same species. Thankfully they did not decide to come and say hello!

Mark had noticed that a split pin had broken in one of the fore-stays, so Ken M took Liz to repair it, and to inspect the other pins in the rigging. This was a valuable exercise, as after so many miles in changing sea and temperature conditions, some of them had become very brittle. They broke off easily when touched, or had actually sheared off. The broken ones were removed, replaced, and taped over again.

We continued to motor in the calm sea, and were lucky enough to see another pod of whales, followed by a pod of dolphins just before lunch. At mid-day, with the temperature rising to 36 degrees, a breeze arose, which was welcome over lunch-time. With the mainsail and genoa set we continue on our eastward journey, considering Finnrose very privileged to have a day such as today.