Nature study – that can be one of the Things to Keep The Woman Occupied on a long sailing trip.  I am happy with this idea, love a bit of nature.  I do already spend a lot of time scanning the sea for mammals and/or fish, and the sky for birds.  It’s time maybe to find out a bit more.  I would be very happy if I could identify at least a few species with some accuracy. 

Dorothy Darden, from the Adagio Journal blog, told us some amazing bird stories at dinner one night.  I don’t think Pete and I will be replicating these experiences any time soon…

Steve and Dorothy sail long distances, to and from the USA.  They have had albatross settle on the deck and travel with them for days – hitchhiking!  Also storks have landed and wandered around to have a look in the saloon before flying lazily off again.  For our part, we have occasionally had a very small swallow or two settle on the mast in the Whitsundays…

Some of their friends had a horrific story about sailing in tandem with another yacht, somewhere off the coast of Africa.  No they didn’t get waylaid by pirates – this is a Nature Story not a Murder and Mayhem Story - but one of the yachts was a beacon for a flock of – vultures!  They circled and then landed on the rigging, where they stayed – another lot of happy hitchhikers.  The crew were not as delighted.  The birds pooped all over the deck, and were starting to make the boat top-heavy.  They were in danger of falling over so they radio-ed their friends.  Not a problem…their friends had a shotgun.  They got close enough and fired a round at the birds to scare them off.  Success!  The whole little flock rose from the first boat and – settled on the second one…