This morning I was on the helm, minding my own business and enjoying some pleasant, fast, reaching conditions, when I became aware of a very large, dark shape alongside the boat. Suddenly a massive shark materialized just a few metres away! Judging by the tail fin I guessed it to be a Thresher shark, though I must check my reference books when I get home. A nice bit of excitement for the morning and a very rare sight in the wild.
A little later and the clouds closed in, bringing rain and strong gusts of wind, so we changed down to the 2nd reef for the first time on this trip. As I write the squalls have passed over and the wind is moderating again, so no doubt we will soon go back to 1 reef in the main. We had our best 24 hour run of the voyage, so far, clocking up 205 miles yesterday. The forecast looks good for the next few days ahead, too.
We have now crossed 7 1/2 degrees West so changed our watches again, this time to UT (+0). To the cognoscenti of time zones, and particularly the military, this is known as Zulu Time, a phrase a lot of people will know from watching American action movies. Most people will know their home time as, for example: SAST (South African Standard Time = UT+2), CET (Central European Time), etc, but for international standardisation the time zones are also named after the phonetic letters of the alphabet, but with Zulu rather bizarrely being the prime time zone. Alpha is the next one to the east, Bravo the one after that (which includes SAST), etc, but omitting India and Oscar, which can be confused with 1 and 0.
Thanks to all those who sent in birthday greetings yesterday. We had a great day onboard. The evening was perfect, too, with a bright moon from about midnight but a heavy dew fall on deck, making everything very damp.
A little later and the clouds closed in, bringing rain and strong gusts of wind, so we changed down to the 2nd reef for the first time on this trip. As I write the squalls have passed over and the wind is moderating again, so no doubt we will soon go back to 1 reef in the main. We had our best 24 hour run of the voyage, so far, clocking up 205 miles yesterday. The forecast looks good for the next few days ahead, too.
We have now crossed 7 1/2 degrees West so changed our watches again, this time to UT (+0). To the cognoscenti of time zones, and particularly the military, this is known as Zulu Time, a phrase a lot of people will know from watching American action movies. Most people will know their home time as, for example: SAST (South African Standard Time = UT+2), CET (Central European Time), etc, but for international standardisation the time zones are also named after the phonetic letters of the alphabet, but with Zulu rather bizarrely being the prime time zone. Alpha is the next one to the east, Bravo the one after that (which includes SAST), etc, but omitting India and Oscar, which can be confused with 1 and 0.
Thanks to all those who sent in birthday greetings yesterday. We had a great day onboard. The evening was perfect, too, with a bright moon from about midnight but a heavy dew fall on deck, making everything very damp.
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