Cleone - Leg 4 Day 9 - Hitchhiker

 

For the last 24 hours, we have been carrying a hitch-hiking Brown Booby.  He arrived cautiously, landing on our Pulpit after a bit of fishing.  For the first ten minutes or so, he found getting his balance rather precarious, and needed to keep his wings semi-unfurled.  But gradually he got used to it, and perched gracefully (for a Booby), preening his wing-feathers.  Every so often, he would fly off for a spot of fishing, relieving himself on the way there or back.  So, you would think, a hitch-hiker with good manners.  And thus he remained all night.  But this morning, he discovered that it was much easier to perch - or even squat - on the deck; it's very comfortable and makes an ideal open-air loo!  But he still goes off fishing (we saw him take a flying fish just as it landed) he is quiet and docile, so apart from slooshing the odd bucket of water over him and his area to keep it clean, he looks as if he has settled in for the duration and we welcome him.  His mate, however, tried the spreaders (cross-trees) but finding this uncomfortable, settled for the top of the Main Mast, perched on the arm which holds the wind instruments.  This was bad news, particuarly as he almost completely obscured the tri-light, making us a hazard to navigation (if there was any other ships around - we have not seen any since day one, apart from the odd yacht).  Nothing seemed to want to discourage him.  But by accident, I used the VHF to try and contact one of our fellow yachts.  His wing was probably touching the antenna, and no doubt it gave him a hell of a jolt because he flew away instantly and has not been back.  Thank goodness for that, and we know what to do if he or any other booby tries that one again.

 

Apart from that, it's been a grand day's sailing.  We have not had quite the record breaking progress of two days ago; but another 161 miles has been added to our total, or knocked off our distance to run, whichever way you care to look at it.  The fleet is now well spread out, with us at the back.  This makes for difficult communications on the morning Roll Call, particuarly as some of the yachts have their radios better set up than others.  We think ours is OK - last night, the skipper conversed with Kealoha 8, one of the leading yachts, on the evening radio schedule, and worked out that we were 500 miles apart.  That's over three days' sailing for us, and we are still not yet half way!  But there are other yachts rather closer to us, and even one or two behind us - some of the boats have not yet departed from the Galapagos for various reasons.

 

The weather is glorious, the wind is fresh and life could be a lot worse.

 

So very best wishes to all of you, from a fit and happy crew.