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Skyelark of London - Feb 10 -11th



Feb 10
We started the day with a sausage and cheese frittata, a Skyelark staple under passage and a nice filling breakfast. Clouds have moved in for the first time, while they do help to lessen the heat of the near equatorial sun
it also brought short periods of rain. The winds remain on the nose so we continue to motor towards our long dreamed of destination. We had a beautiful sunset, the sea flat as a mill pond extenuated the rose hue upon
the small ripples from the light breeze. For the first time since starting this leg we saw some flying fish hopefully a sign that larger predators are lurking about and the possibility of another fresh fish dinner.

Feb 11

At 0330 the winds finally picked up and we were able to sail again, not as pleasant for sleeping but this boat was not designed to be a stinkpot. Wiggo and I were on the late watch, 0300 to 0600, the moon had set for the night  and the clouds overhead obscured the starlight so we sailed off into a pitch black abyss. All of a sudden I could smell the distinct odor of fish followed by the sound of wriggling, I knew from experience that a flying fish had found his way into the cockpit so I grabbed a torch and hunted him down. Now anyone who has had to clean these fish off the deck in the morning knows they can be smelly little buggers, but years of travel in the Caribbean have also taught me that properly seasoned , dredged on flour andfried they make a nice breakfast snack. It was without haste that I grabbed Lightning, our trusty new boat knife the old one proving near useless on our canal transit, and soon had him gutted wings off and wrapped in the fridge for future consumption.

Around noon the winds finally increased and we sailed on with double reefed main and single reefed headsail, us and the boat enjoying the ride. At 2140 Sarah spotted a light dead ahead, a quick check of the AIS confirmed we had caught up with the fleet as the yacht Merlyn of Poole answered our vhf inquiry. Spirits were brightened as we no longer felt alone on the sea and the thought of soon reaching the Galapagos seemed much nearer in sight.

Log by Sam


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