Sole, Lundy, Fastnet

There are few shearwaters around now, and surprisingly, no storm petrels. The fishing reflects the cold water too, so no more mahi-mahi. The weather has turned much colder; the sea is no longer blue.

Watching the endlessly changing pattern of the waves, listening to the fizz from Avocette's wash as we surged across the ocean, my heart leapt. It was unmistakable. The blow, the fin, the enormous arching grey back - a Sei whale, almost as long as the boat. It powered over to us, dived under the boat, and surfaced the other side. Its shallow dive was barely below the surface. We could see the "fluke-prints", or swirls left by the beat of its tail just below the surface as it swum alongside us. Its sickle shape fin followed by it's arching back rose from the surface, submerged, then rose again. Then it was gone. As silently as it had come the whale had carried on its way.

Last night was dark - very, very dark. I have never sailed on such a dark night. There were no stars. There was no horizon. All was inky black. All except the bow wave, the wash, the crests of the foaming seas - all lit-up in the dazzling brightness of the most intense bio-luminescence that I have ever seen.. It was hypnotic.

Sole, Lundy, Fastnet, names from a distant memory. We are almost across Fitzroy and already the seas seem to have changed. Gone are the great ocean swells with their wind blown waves. It feels like the short chop of wind against tide. Tides! When was the last time I had to worry about those?

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