Friday 5th December
2014
....more excitement yesterday
afternoon as we were visited by a Minke whale, identified by George from a handy
whale and dolphin identification guide. The whale was really curious to check us
out and swam all around the boat as well as underneath, turning corkscrews and
getting really up close. The whale was only about 7- 8 metres long and possibly
a pup and he stayed with us for nearly 30 minutes
As of 0951 hrs today the crew
celebrated the fact that we now have less than 1,000 nautical miles to Rodney
Bay St Lucia. However, whilst we have made good progress to date, the winds have
become progressively lighter and when you are moving along at less than 5 knots,
1000 nm feels like a long way to go! The smart money is now on the
12th December for our arrival.
During the day, we caught up with a
large catamaran (Svetlaya) and unusually our convergent courses brought us
within 70’ of each other on port tack. We exchanged greetings and carried on
past. However, as we passed them approximately 1.5 boat lengths ahead, we were
caught in their wind shadow. This usually isn’t a problem as the boat behind
usually bears away or hardens up to windward. However, when the boat was within
1 boat length a lady on board started shouting to us to get out of the way
because their steering was not fully functional! George who was on the wheel had
the presence of mind to switch the engine on and start to motor, however it was
too late and they caught the sugar scoop on our starboard quarter. The damage
looks messy but thankfully is neither structural nor have they penetrated the
hull. I certainly feel shamefaced that in a patch of water the size we are in
that we could have had a collision with another boat despite all our mitigating
circumstances! It has certainly put a dampener on today’s
proceedings.