Fish and Ships

When Justin took over the watch from Toby and me at 03:00 this morning he was suddenly thrust into the busiest shipping channel we had seen since Panama, with seven ships closing on us from north and soup through a narrow reef channel that provides a short cut between Australia and Japan. We called the 280 foot long Yasa E Mehmet to make sure they were aware of us, because with our speed varying from 7 to 9 knots in the gusts, our closest point of approach was often less than a tenth of a mile. In the event they passed just under a mile ahead, but their lights could be seen either side of our bow, and I stood by with Justin to change course if it all got too close.

This morning we have been watching boobies snatching flying fish on the wing. They hover to windward pad of Tin Tin and when we send a flush of fish spurting out of the water they swoop down as a trio flying at the same height as the fish, skimming the waves, hoping to catch one before it folds its wings and dives back in. It was wildly exciting to see such flying skills and the chase just inches above the water as they followed the contours of big breaking seas.

Noddy on the windward rail

The boobies show great perseverance in trying to land on the wildly gyrating mast at nightfall, very rarely managing a brief foothold before sliding off. However at midday we had a more successful visit from a Noddy, with its dark plumage and white coot-like patch on its forehead, about the size of a small dove. It perched on the rail, preening itself unperturbed by us all trying to take its photo. The last time we had a bird sit on the rail was in Colombia during the night of 55 knot winds, whence it was eventually washed off by a big wave which also took our Danbuoy and life belt. Fortunately Emily stayed secured to the boat.