End of Day 5 to Portugal
03 June 2009 | 37 22.78'N:12 37.15'W
Aisling
Day 5 to Portugal Is the Atlantic a Super Highway or an information super highway? Since we left Horta we have seen all manner of boats, ships and containers and it's interesting to ponder where they may be all going. Two other yachts left Horta around the same time as us last Friday; one to go north, into the rain and cold, toward Cowes in the UK and the other followed us but left us after about 2 days to go where? Maybe they were taking their time and exploring the eastern islands of the Azores before heading back to the Mediterranean. Or maybe they just fell in love with the Azorean wines and frango (chicken) and didn't want to go any further. Another night a stinkpot (motor yacht) passed us heading east also. Who were they and where were they going? Was it some billionaire who paid his crew to take the boat across from the Caribbean and he will fly to Marbella for two weeks later in the summer while the crew polish and scrub the decks three times daily for the duration of the summer coz that's what they get paid to do (and it keeps them out of trouble). Maybe it was one of the rich old codgers who was at our Mid-Atlantic party!!!! And what about the huge container ship that passed heading west this morning? Was it all the Fiat cars being exported to the USA as the locals can no longer afford the usual gas guzzlers? Was it some flip flop factory sending all its produce to the Caribbean as the European summers aren't what they used to be? Or maybe it was the weekly delivery of Guinness to Bermuda. The whole triangle myth was built around the ramblings from Guinness!!!! Some even suggested that it was a weekly container ship bringing all the supplies to the 9 islands in the Azores. Who knows, but I could swear I could see the Guinness logo through the binoculars. Then there are the bits we don't see too clearly of the super highway. The underwater highway. A fin here and there and we're left wondering if it's a shark, whale or dolphin. The dolphins usually come leaping through the air and we've seen quite a lot of them recently. We saw a pod of whales this morning which led to a discussion about what type of whale. David got the book out and we now know we saw Mink whales. It's when a lone fin swims by you think of Jaws and whether he has been attracted by the lovely dinner smells too. The Portuguese man of war jellyfish have decreased in numbers. Instead we have what looks like a truck load of artichokes that were dumped into the sea and have got slightly soggy and opened out to look a little bit like dried out sunflowers. Following them occasionally we have seen what look like daisies drifting on the current. Possibly some sort of jellyfish but none that our encyclopaedia can name at the moment. And over the last few days we have found squid dried out on deck. Not sure if they are kamikaze squid or if they just got washed aboard in a wave. None of the culinary experts have attempted to try anything with them. So where do all this sea life go? Like the boats, ships and containers do they have a schedule? Are they racing to be in Antigua for shrimp season or the West coast of Ireland for the oyster festival? Where's a marine biologist when you need one???? Or is the Atlantic really an information super highway? Recently the log has being filled with questions about life, the universe and chocolate. Discussions ensue about: peers, the Magna Carta, the theory of relativity, the best chocolate bar for a 3am watch; Mars or Snickers, what is an onc and the jury is still out on this one...how do they get the figs into the fig rolls or the lettering into the seaside rock???? To debate all these worldly topics the voyage may have to be extended above and beyond the expected arrival date and location of Friday to Portimao!!!!
Aisling