Tuesday

Another beautiful day, although we could wish for more wind.

We have had lots of excitement today. We thought we had caught a fish this morning, but it turned out to be a bird that had got the line caught around its wing. Luckily Brennan freed it and if flew off apparently unharmed. This was immediately followed by the other fishing line going out. This time it was a fish - a small skipjack tuna which we shall have for supper tonight.

Straight after this we caught another bird - a very large one which unfortunately managed to snap off Michael's 'pink lady' jigger j(no replacement on board) and his best lure - the one that caught the 38lb mahi-mahi. Again the bird luckily flew off apparently unharmed.

Just as we were catching our breath and sitting down to have some lunch several pilot whales appeared - a wonderful sight. They swam around and under the boat and followed us for about an hour.

An exhausted swift then joined the boat, trying to fly inside and trying various resting places. It was with us on and off for several hours, but seems to have disappeared now.

Our swift has just appeared again - it flew right above me at the chart table and then around the cabin. Unfortunately I think it is unlikely to survive.