Prufrockery?

This one got stuck in transmission somewhere a couple of days ago.

We're about 600 miles from the Cape Verdes - That's a Sydney-Hobart race. Or a drive from Sydney to Brisbane - at 2.5 knots. ETA at my CV waypoint 9 and a bit days, equalling our slowest ever S2H. Was it Prufrock who counted out his days in coffee spoons? We count ours in S2Hs. Some distances to contemplate: Falmouth to the equator about 3337nm; Eq to mid point behind S Atlantic high about 2220 and mid point to Cape Town 1550 total a bit over 7100 miles. Nearly 12 S2Hs. Accuracy is largely irrelevant as the variables are Big. So about 71 days F to CT if we go that way or roughly December 10. In practice we might get lucky and do it a bit faster - last time we did Port Stanley to Falmouth in 71 days, I think.

I've learned a new word - jizz - it means the overall aspect of a bird, shape, flight, size, beak, rump, plumage - the lot, all together as a single impression. It comes from the twitchers' bag of bits - those slightly obsessive people we met in Nome in planeloads, festooned with cameras, big binoculars, telescopes, water bottles, mostly under an amazing variety of hats and wearing those waistcoats all covered in pockets and zippers. Apparently there's something very rare indeed in the all time twitchers' list of birds-one-must-see that lives out in the back blocks of Nome and almost no-one has it ticked off. A good twitcher with lots of experience will be able to identify a bird by its jizz on the basis of a tiny glimpse - others apparently claim to be able to do so and make fools of themselves amongst the elite. I wonder what is the etymology of jizz?

My small claim to jizzery - I watched a storm petrel for at least 30 seconds up near Madeira - lovely lovely acrobatic bird, flapping and flopping and pattering its feet all over the surface scooping up things to eat and the impression I have in my mind almost exactly fits the Madeiran Storm Petrel except that it seemed smaller than the 42 cm wingspan quoted in the book.

Last time we were here, about 100 miles further west, we sailed through a big dust storm blowing off Mauretania. The whole boat was covered in fine red powder and it cut down the output from the solar panel by about half.

And no, to those who remembered, my mobile didn't ring me from the depths off Madeira. Sad! We were too far for any signal anyway so maybe it was trying - ET where were you? We needed a contraption.

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Prufrockery?

We're about 600 miles from the Cape Verdes - That's a Sydney-Hobart race. Or a drive from Sydney to Brisbane - at 2.5 knots. ETA at my CV waypoint 9 and a bit days, equalling our slowest ever S2H. Was it Prufrock who counted out his days in coffee spoons? We count ours in S2Hs. Some distances to contemplate: Falmouth to the equator about 3337nm; Eq to mid point behind S Atlantic high about 2220 and mid point to Cape Town 1550 total a bit over 7100 miles. Nearly 12 S2Hs. Accuracy is largely irrelevant as the variables are Big. So about 71 days F to CT if we go that way or roughly December 10. In practice we might get lucky and do it a bit faster - last time we did Port Stanley to Falmouth in 71 days, I think.

I've learned a new word - jizz - it means the overall aspect of a bird, shape, flight, size, beak, rump, plumage - the lot, all together as a single impression. It comes from the twitchers' bag of bits - those slightly obsessive people we met in Nome in planeloads, festooned with cameras, big binoculars, telescopes, water bottles, mostly under an amazing variety of hats and wearing those waistcoats all covered in pockets and zippers. Apparently there's something very rare indeed in the all time twitchers' list of birds-one-must-see that lives out in the back blocks of Nome and almost no-one has it ticked off. A good twitcher with lots of experience will be able to identify a bird by its jizz on the basis of a tiny glimpse - others apparently claim to be able to do so and make fools of themselves amongst the elite. I wonder what is the etymology of jizz?

My small claim to jizzery - I watched a storm petrel for at least 30 seconds up near Madeira - lovely lovely acrobatic bird, flapping and flopping and pattering its feet all over the surface scooping up things to eat and the impression I have in my mind almost exactly fits the Madeiran Storm Petrel except that it seemed smaller than the 42 cm wingspan quoted in the book.

Last time we were here, about 100 miles further west, we sailed through a big dust storm blowing off Mauretania. The whole boat was covered in fine red powder and it cut down the output from the solar panel by about half.

And no, to those who remembered, my mobile didn't ring me from the depths off Madeira. Sad! We were too far for any signal anyway so maybe it was trying - ET where were you? We needed a contraption.

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0700/16th

Position 2616 01849 Trip 1765 = 100/24

This is day 9 out of Lisbon plus another 6 from Falmouth to Lisbon so 15 sailing days at 1600 today. As I write we are about 1537 nm from Falmouth so it's even money. We have to resist the urge to count when we are this far out but we are now at least under 100 to go if we use the first time's numbers of 114 days to Hobart. We are planning our resources as if we are going non stop to Oz, so half a mars bar a week and all that jazz. But Cape Town is a definite possibility and the weather down there will dictate the rest. I'd still fit to bust love to go to South Georgia but I think we really need to get home.

Still sliding down wind in variable soft northerlies. Need to get a bit further west as we go but that should happen with the wind pattern shown in the last GRIB. New one should come in when I send this.

Sue - one very hung over Z - been carousing for 2 days. Hope you had a good burf.

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We must be half way to somewhere

For the first time since we started this nonsense back in 2004, I've got a bird book and time - leisure really - to learn how to use it. The book is Onley, Derek and Scofield, Paul 'Albatrosses, Petrels & Shearwaters of the World' Princeton and Oxford 2007 - Thanks Carla!! - and today I used it for the first time. Two solitary birds, almost no time to study them but the first a soarer and possibly a Black Capped Petrel or a Cahow. Both just within their assigned territory. The other, a flapper, was probably a Sooty Shearwater but could have been one of the many all grey Petrels. I had not realised how many different species there are and sub species and variations, down to new versus worn plumage.

The Plan - we could still see Valverde at sunset but I think we can say we're past the Canaries. Once again, trying to stay just out of the influence of weather shenanigans to the west and hold our line roughly SSW towards the Cape Verdes and then to St Peter and Paul Rocks at about 29 W just north of the Equator. To get there, we have to cross the ITCZ unless we find ourselves still in it. The Trades will die at about 10N and then who knows? The big arc behind the South Atlantic high to get us across to South Africa is most likely but we won't know till we see what's out there. We are now almost half way between Falmouth and the Equator - variable wind but always from the North. Twin poled - about to try an experiment with the red sail but it means taking it down first so needs the right moment. Lovely relaxed sailing - not used to it!

Once again, we're crossing the old slave routes. How much misery here, how many dead just thrown overboard, nameless and forgotten?

Thanks for all your messages. No ISS for a month or so and a 1 iron for lightning - nobody, not even God, can hit a 1 iron...Something to do with golf, I assume! If anyone wants to send a message to all seven or so of our followers, such as, for instance, the one about the ISS, I think you can use the Comments field on the blog. Not sure though.

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