ALBATROSS

ALBATROSS

Position: 21D31'.399S 161D58'.639E

Chesterfield Reef - 233 nautical miles to go

Countdown to Australia - 820 nautical miles

Wednesday, October 26 - The strong winds died during the night and by 3am our speed was down from 8 knots to 2.9 knots. We took the sails in and motored and motored and motored until around 4pm in the afternoon. It was really disappointing not to have any wind after all our planning back in New Caledonia. It was very hot inside the cockpit and the air was still. Arthur and I read books while Ian did a few odd jobs around the deck including patching up a weak area on the hem of the main sail. We hadn't seen any other ships or marine life (except Arthurs big catch) since leaving New Caledonia. We were all pretty restless and anxious to get sailing again so we could reach Chesterfield Reef early Friday morning. This fringing reef has a big lagoon with a few sandy islets. We are planning to anchor near Long Islet in the south east corner of the lagoon. The area has a large variety of sea bird colonies vying for resting and nesting space and also turtles can be seen laying their eggs on the beach at this time of year. I can only imagine what the snorkelling and diving will be like in this remote part of the Pacific. This afternoon we had a nice encounter with a pair of birds that I believe to be Albatross. Ian and Arthur called out from the bow (where they were chatting) to say that a couple of white booby birds were on the ocean and to take a look. I stuck my head out of the cockpit and saw 2 huge white birds the size of swans with grey/black wings and big bright yellow hooked beaks bobbing past Faraway. I ran down to get my camera but by the time I had returned the birds where too far-away. I couldn't believe it but when I mentioned it to the boys they doubted it was possible for Albatross to be in this part of the Pacific. I also remember from natural history TV shows that these birds fly an incredibly long way but I can't remember it ever being mentioned that they sit on the water for a rest and a bird chat. It is my mission now to spot some more and hopefully positively ID them either way. After the bird show we decided to put the sails out and give the engine a rest. We managed to get 4 to 5 knots in light wind which was pretty good to take us through the night. Unfortunately the speed wasn't enough for us to arrive at Chesterfield early Friday morning. After some quick calculations Saturday morning definitely looked more likely. That evening I made roast chicken, potatoes, vegetables and gravy for dinner. Arthur was pretty impressed to be having a baked dinner miles out to sea but it is one of the easier more satisfying meals to make on a passage plus you get great leftovers the next day.