As I come towards the outside of the yacht to start my night shift, I hear the birds chirping and I see the moonlight falling on the calm sea. The birds are flying all around the yacht, chirping loudly and frantically, as if to issue a warning of the close proximity of a reef. My experience is that the sounds or sights of birds out on the open seas always bear a message. It indicates land, absence thereof and also sometimes the weather, depending on the species.

Tonight’s message was definitely a warning of the reef coming closer. This specific reef is only visible during low tide. The only warning during high tide is the waves breaking over the reef and of course…the wreck. At 2nm away from the reef, the depth is still 1000m, and then it falls.

We only have 13.8nm to go, and we have been flying along at 6kts with the spinnaker. Even now, after the spinnaker has been dropped, we are being pulled towards this magical reef with no sails and no engines with a speed of 2.4kts!

The excitement is in the air, but we have to drift another 5 hours before the first rays of sunlight will fall on us and on Bassas da India, for the start of the next adventure!