TNS454 01/12/15

“Hey Over here! Hey I’m over here! Look at me!” shouted the Minke whale as he jumped out of the water trying to catch the attention of the people aboard the sailing ship. “Look how high I can jump!” he called leaping ever higher from the water to show the sailing ships crew his white underbelly. I assume that the whale was doing something like that anyway. It was a
fantastic site watching a single minke whale breaching from the ocean as though it was a display just for us. It’s also nice to have an expert on board who can identify the species as otherwise most of us would have had no clue and some even thought it could be a fish.

We are once again under sail with all our square sails being set this morning. Everything but the royals set before smoko and the royals were set after happy hour. Happy hour was happy as ever by the way. Given the amount of sail we seem to have set I’m almost surprised we haven’t rigged some bed sheets up just so we have extra surface to catch the wind. Apparently it
wouldn’t be the first time.

Personally it has become clear to me I need to sail more. My hands still burn from hauling ropes this morning and from the last few days. Clearly I’m not the “old salt” I thought I was. The spirit is willing but the flesh is soft and blistery. Yes I do have gloves, no I don’t intend to wear them.

It seems that most people’s night watches were uneventful last night as they often are this far from land. One watch did see a ship 5 miles away though. Ours was at 17 miles so we didn’t get anything…..Gutted. That said we also didn’t mistake the moon rising astern for the lights of a very large ship.

In other news the medical purser has continued to develop his laundering business and is no longer just laundering money. He has diversified into cleaning tools even going so far as to remove a screwdriver from the catch tray of the washing machine. What he plans to do with such clean tools as this we do not know but we shall continue to monitor the situation.

When asked to make comments for the blog our American crew members replied simply “It’s warm”. They are making outlandish claims that they have fought off the assault of whale pirates. Not certain our Minke whale friend who was so keen to say hello would agree with them as he swam away safely some time ago unharmed. These claims are utterly outlandish I assure you all. The dolphins did all the work, they just took the credit.

As for me folks this may well be my final entry as I pass the torch to another member of my watch so you are no longer subject to my random witterings. From me its adieu and farewell. Fair winds and calm seas to you all.