Tuesday 2nd December 2014
Yesterday before dinner we had an unexpected visitor. I
have it on good authority from our resident ornithologist (George) that it was a
Little Egret. As we were approximately 600 miles off shore at the time, we all
agreed that he is an unfortunate nominee for the Darwin Awards! His chance of
survival might have been higher if he’d have stopped for a break, however, he
insisted in circling the boat at least 2-3 times, most probably assessing his
options before deciding that stopping was not one of them. Perhaps it was the
smell; I can’t say I blame him!
We’ve maintained a steady rate of approximately 170 nm
per day, not stellar, but we’ve opted for an easier ride to avoid gear failure.
The wind for the past 24 hours has deviated no more than 10°either side of east,
however we are continuing to plough a heading of 160° M to avoid jibing too soon
as the wind is forecast to veer slightly south of east tomorrow morning. As we
have only just crossed our rhum line to the north for the first time, waiting
for the anticipated veer tomorrow shouldn’t be too much of a problem. According
to the plotter, there is a southerly tidal drift of 1.5 knots which we hadn’t
taken into account and would lend greater credibility to a more northerly track.
Of course, this could simply be an aberration of the plotter; separating fact
from fiction is not always easy!
Following our rejection as a suitable stopover by the
egret, we decided to get our house in order and sorted the rubbish for
recycling, cleaned the decks and defrosted/ cleaned the fridge. There are always
jobs to do; never a dull moment!
Latest fishing report: it seems that only fish of over
30Kg can catch a squid lure flying along at 7-9 knots; that’s the second lure
we’ve lost to fish that are just too big.
We’ve just heard that Leopard should arrive at St Lucia
tonight in a record breaking time, having averaged 14 knots; what kept you
boys?!!!
Lastly, we have a ‘guess what it is’ competition for you
(how desperate are we for newsworthy items!). Answers on a coastguard to
20:28:62N 37:16:54W
See picture 2 ('Guess What it is')
What is
it?