Last night, we had boobies on the mast. My inner third-grader is incredibly
amused by this.
I know there is such a thing as blue-footed boobies. I've seen pictures.
These guys have white feet, but someone who either knows more about birds
or is just willing to guess with confidence has said they're boobies
nevertheless. They were flirting with our mast for about the hour before
sunset last night, flying up, flapping a bit, then flying off. Eventually,
one tried to land and failed. A second tried, and failed. But they kept at
it, and their persistence paid off. Eventually, there were three sitting up
there, and nothing we could do would scare them off. They sat there all
night, only leaving in the morning.
I helmed under spinnaker for the first time. Helming is tough work under
normal circumstances. If you read my 'Sailing 101' on spinnakers and
kitemares, you'll remember that there's a lot that can go wrong with this
sail, so extra pressure on the helm. Still, you have to learn sometime, and
I got some good coaching from Alex, youngest guy in our team but probably
the best helm. I managed to hit 20.1 knots, quite a way behind the 29.7
knot record Matt posted last night, but good for a first attempt.
Apparently, we've entered Queensland and have been working up the Gold
Coast. So a special "Hey" to Campari and Ham Semen, two Queensland boys
from Hampstead. Your homeland is lovely, at least from 30 miles offshore.
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