Sunday - 10 June 2018 - updated

We have now settled into the routine of watch-keeping. Each member of the other watch is roused 15 minutes before they are due on deck. Some of us leap straight out of bed, fearing go back to sleep, while others take a few moments to come to life and then prepare. Everyone is scrupulous about being on deck before watch changeover.

The weather has been nice but rather overcast for much of the day. We have made steady if unspectacular progress towards our destination. The wind has been about 15 knots, consistently from the northwest, so we have been off the wind. The day has been enlivened by the sighting of two pods of dolphins. These were a cause of delight to the crew. Harry asked me yesterday if I thought we would see any, and I was very positive in my reply. I am very glad to have been proved correct.

We started to hear a vessel broadcasting a message saying that it was not under command and that other shipping should keep clear. This usually happens when something is broken, and the ship cannot be directed as required. In this case we listened to their chat with the coastguard and learned that they had an engine problem that they were working to fix. In the meantime, this large tanker was just drifting in the western approaches to Britain. It was also in our path, so we changed course to head further west and give it a couple of miles clearance. By the time we were level with it, she had fixed her problem and was resuming her normal course.

For the second time in 2 weeks we picked up a passenger. Again it was a pigeon and we think by the rings on its legs, it was a racing pigeon. He looked tired when he landed on the sprayhood at the fourth or fifth attempt. He settled down to rest for a while, but then got quite excited when we started to serve our dinner. We were not keen for him to stay, so did not feed him. His response meant that we had to clean the decks. He stayed overnight and only departed at about 6:30 the next day, heading north.  If this was his destination, we had added about 70 miles by the time he left. 

Distance covered today	125	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	203	nautical miles
Distance covered 2018	923	nautical miles

 Steve (and Tricia)