David Wynne Davies, crew Atlantic crossing, 9th October
Still 350nm to reach SW Ireland calling in perhaps at Dingle rather than Bantry Bay on Wednesday. Apparently it has better fuelling facilities. Andrew and Rob both know the town and say that it was the base location for David Lean’s film “Ryan’s Daughter” which starred John Mills as the village idiot. I trust that the seas around the coast will be kinder than that portrayed in the film! Certainly the coastline promises to be spectacular.
The winds have not been in our favour. We tend to battle constantly against strong head winds or winds marginally off the starboard bow resulting in fairly relentless pitching and rolling. Because the high pressure over UK is likely to persist for a further seven days, we will have to edge our way along the South coast of Ireland in order to strike for home as soon as it shifts.
We have come across only two vessels: the first was a tanker heading North to Iceland and, secondly, a Japanese trawler in mid-ocean. Our constant companions have been the gulls, apparently fulmars. They are reportedly related to albatrosses, swooping and gliding close to the waves feeding in flocks. They have snubby noses with grey wings, and are commonly seen between August and November. One has to question what do they feed on? I wonder whether we will see puffins at all when passing close to Skomer Island off the SW corner of Wales.
It is getting warmer and the hours of daylight are changing – but we are still working at Greenland time. Pushing on at 6kts.