Since noon yesterday the motor has been on pushing her along at 5.5 - 5.8 knots. Absolutely no wind. Oily clam. Painted ship upon a painted ocean. Noon position was 46 15 N 10.09W, Noon-to-noon 135 miles, to go 585. Barometer slowly falling. GRIB forecasts show good N-NW winds for tomorrow.
Several ships passed by today heading for the Channel.
Had a visitor this morning. Going on deck at 06:00 I nearly put my hand a little bird, a little bundle of black and white feathers on the coaming of the companionway...600 miles from land. I cleared out the egg crate that I had strapped down in the forecabin holding fruit etc. and put a large black plastic bag over it. Carefully I took him in my hand. Just two little peeps as he was startled awaken. He weighed nothing. In the crate he perched for a while on a cabbage leaf and maybe had some water from a blow. No interest in a partly rotten orange or in some muesli. No chance of him becoming a vegan and I didn't have any insects. He was a House Martin. Very similar to our Purple Martin. By noon he had died. They always do. At least he didn't die falling into the ocean.
The sad end to my visiting Martin is that when I threw him overboard he landed on the cabbage leaf that I threw with him. He floated away in the wake on his little green boat.
No comments:
Post a Comment