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Jo - 20:28:60N 37:16:54W



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?



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