Hayleys Feb 2nd Report
02 February 2010 | South Atlantic Ocean
Hayley Shephard
Feb 2, It is the afternoon of our full day at sea and already we are settled in to our watches. I do the 4am to 10am watch and the 4pm to 10pm watch. This is perfect for me as I get to enjoy the sunset and sunrise and film during these special times of day and evening. I saw my first Wandering Albatross soaring in the southern skies and soon after sighting it, it landed. The wind was just too light. It was only blowing about 15 knots at the time which is not enough for that huge 12 foot wingspan. You know who came to mind when I saw that Wanderer? - All the keen and curious kids I was honored to share my adventure with at the schools in Alert Bay and the Young Naturalist club - so hi to you all from the middle of the Drake Passage.
This morning I enjoyed (and filmed) Hour Glass dolphins swimming beneath our bow, the water was a brilliant blue and they weaved back and forth as though painting a continuous figure eight. My body is finally adjusting to the movement of the boat and after an entire evening of feeling rather queezy, I woke this morning with much more energy. I hate taking sea-sickness medication so today I have gone without. And I'm doing ok, so far. We'll see how these spuds and lentil stew sits.
Wow, I can't believe we are going to be onboard with no land in sight for 7-10 days, on this small but strong n sturdy 54 ft boat. I feel so little, so insignificant, it humbles me to recognise that we are a simple little dot in this great expanse of open sea.
Right now we are traveling at a heading of 98 degrees SE, going at a speed of 6b knots We have the engine on due to not enough wind for our sails, although we still have the jib and mizzen up. Bet-Anne is doing great, she also is adjusting too the motion of the boat and this morning we had a cuppa tea together discussing how easier it will be to film Albatross from land. She laughed at me while I was trying to hold on to the boat, camera in my hand, attempting to film a swift moving Albatross soaring just above the oceans surface, flying at a speed much faster than our boat.
All the best to you! Thanks for your interest and keep a close eye.