The wind died yesterday as forecast at lunchtime. The peace and quiet of gently sailing along on a fine reach changed to the monotonous background drone of the diesel. As planned, we took the lines of the nearby vessel to avoid them having to spend a few days idly drifting around awaiting the wind to fill in. With flat seas and no wind it was an uneventful process with an audience of pilot whales to judge the quality of the job.
So from being completely alone we have now spent the last 19 hours with another boat 140 metres behind, several pods of dolphins and pilot whales and some bird who landed on the end of the spinnaker pole a day ago and has hitched a lift ever since! Various others have tried to share his perch but that results in loud squawking and much wing flapping as they are sent away – clearly not a sociable chap and one I would rather not have as the colour of the end of the spinnaker pole is rather different than it used to be…
Strangely the nights are now cooler and more damp but that does make off watch time more pleasant down below.
Latest stats: 158 nm to go. Approximate position: 0 degrees, 46N, 87 degrees, 22W. Thats just 46nm from the equator, which we expect to cross sometime tonight!
All is well onboard and we still expect to arrive tomorrow. Even better news is our official paperwork has now come through from our agent so clearing in should be relatively simple.