Well it has been 24 hours of sights.
Great excitement with the shout off whales of the larboard bow saw even Roz (who has been malingering in his bunk, complaining of some bug) come bounding out. There was a pod (maybe 5) of pilot whales about 150 meters way. They swam with us for a few minutes before making way for some common dolphin who entertained us by swimming at the bow. One youngster, clearly a male, doing the dolphin equivalent of pulling a wheelie, leaping clear of the water and winking.
There has been an increasing use of phrases like "pig pen" and the passing out of €2 coins (the price of a shower in Kioni) and as it was warm the solar shower was put to good use. Being just big enough to shower 2 people (one after another) I thought that rank had its privilege but I was wrong. I got the bucket at the back of the boat.
The wind dropped and we started the motor.
Night brought some low level cloud and there was talk of bad weather but I poo pooed this saying that the ancient mariner always adds the line about squalls just in case. And then a magic thing happened, the moon came up and illuminated the clouds to show a lattice work of clouds the like of which I have never seen. Through the gaps the stars were clearly visible and close to the moon the light produced fantastic shapes. The whole effect was enhanced because it looked to emanate from the moon and sweep passed us to the southwest. It was either an omen saying "turn around" or urging us on!
The late shift can be very dull but as Tom and I sat watching the world go by another pod of dolphin arrived. It was still bright moon light and as they broke the surface they set of the photo-luminescent stuff. They stayed around the boat for about 2 hours.
Tom and Roz then tried to land what I am sure was a large tuna (the man in the shop said that we were guaranteed to catch them) and it must have been large because it hurt Roz's hands. But it had other ideas and it disappeared under the horizon.
I was woken by a pounding on the cabin and having ascertained that the mast was still up and the sails were still set I visited the little room at the front. The pounding returned followed by Jack who disconcertingly wished me a good morning. It was too early and this is not the place to air our dirty laundry but there was a frank exchange of views (perhaps not the right word). I would like to think that I won my point and that such things will not re-occur, however it is likely that the next time dolphin come to perform at the front they won't be the only ones with an audience.
Jon (who is also fragrant) and the fragrant bunch