Our wildlife watching continues onboard Nasdaq - essentially just more of the same birds and occasional whale spouts as the previous day, but they do add interest to the seascape. The sun came out for us too yesterday, leading to an unexpected run on sun cream, and a hunt for the strategic reserves. Lighter winds, flatter sea state and warmer air gave us the chance to open up the hatches and air the boat through - with 17 people onboard and limited washing and laundry facilities, we need to take every chance we get.
After a slightly blustery evening when some heavy low clouds came over, things calmed down again overnight, and when the sky cleared it was reassuring to see that the stars are still up there. It's been a long time since we saw so many.
It's a similar story this morning - the "banana" dry suits have been replaced by "cherry" foulies, and the on watch are shedding layers in the light breeze. With the kite up (at the second attempt - fantastic woolling effort guys!) we're making decent speed towards Freo across a gentle sea, in good conditions for helming and trimming lessons.
Nasdaq Bistro staff Clare Lavin and Phil "Henri Lloyd" Wilkinson made themselves the most popular people on the boat (for a few hours at least - our loyalties are easily swayed) by baking a tray of delicious flapjack for each watch to nibble overnight. Incredibly, neither watch was tempted to pilfer from the other's supply, despite them being left in plain sight to cool off - maybe this was because they all live in fear of the tongue-lashing they could expect from Clare if they did. What she lacks in stature, she certainly makes up in vehemence ... For his part, Phil spent more time than is good for him in close proximity to the coffee pot, and all the dancing induced by his caffeine-high seems to have polished the anti-slip surface off the galley floor!
Cheers, Rob