CATLYN VOYAGE

Sunday.  18 July 2011.

Being so spoilt with the good winds and sneaky squalls to push us forward,   we have to get used to the 5knots of speed with the screecher in a 6knot breeze.  Thank goodness for this light sail  taking advantage of the lightest huff and puff in the air.  We tried the main,   we tried the genoa,   but nothing beats the full windy belly of our screecher.  We were used to this speed while sailing from Walvis Bay to St. Helena and then to Salvador.  It was as if a very calmness slipped over Catlyn,   resting for a while.

The night was moon lit with stars peeking through the flimsy clouds.  A warm breeze was blowing and we could feel the humidity and the temperature increasing.  Even the sea temperature is increasing and this morning the sea was a deep dark green.  Can it be from the Amazon River we are passing now?  Although we are about 300nm from it,   can this amazing river system color the water of the ocean at such vast distance?

Marco was up last night with a fever and a head ache,   but this morning he is his jolly self again. Even I feel like myself again, spending the morning in the shower, for a lot of pampering!  I even put some perfume on.  It might last for an hour in this heat.

Our Little Wonder was making water most of the day,   and was filling our tanks with 9 gallons an hour.   Marco told us about the flying fish laying their eggs,   like egg yolk on the patches of sea grass floating in the sea.  Right there we decided to inspect all the sea grass which got caught on our lures.  We saw some brown jelly like creatures  with sloppy feet,  and the occasional white hard little shell.  Inside this little shell was an embryo like thingy with a prawn like tail.  We had fun popping the bubbles of the grass,   keeping them afloat.

The sun was setting,   and as usual we bundled outside on the fore deck to greet the day.  Being 4 degrees from the Equator we witnessed the most spectacular Sun Set we`ve ever seen.  Words can`t describe it!  We stood in absolute awe,   watching the sun go down in the west,   but what we couldn`t believe was the visual miracle on the eastern horizon.  Beams of color were arising from the sea,  floating through the sky…