Day 14

WHALES WHALES WHALES!!!

What a day. Definitely a "best day yet" contender!

The anticipation was tangible from the start of the day, as we knew we would today pass the half way point. This was celebrated in excellent fashion with a delicious meze lunch of artichoke hearts, olives stuffed with anchovies, rolls filled with pate and gerkin and ham, cheese and chilli sauce, crisps, herring in dill, bread and salad and rum tots for the grownups (and Neptune). Delicious - thanks mum! Pudding was a celebratory box of truffles. We hadn't actually passed half way by this point however, so when the actual moment came, there were jelly meerkats to eat, courtesy of Marcus' mum and dad.

And here must come a confession, Angela. Mum sent Marcus home with a little gift to open on Christmas Day and delightedly told us all that she'd found him the perfect present: jelly meerkats! I quickly pointed out that she had just re-wrapped the kind gift you'd given us for half way and sent him back to open them in front of you. She was mortified, as she'd thought she must have found them on one of her many stocking up trips. The present was quickly aborted, and it is only now that she has allowed us to spill the beans several thousand miles away!

Half way passed and we settled back into a very stress-free day of 4.5-5 knots in light winds and small seas. I was on watch, mum had just appeared on deck and dad was checking the fishing rod when we all heard a small pwwwuuuussshhh. We looked up and there was a fin and rather a lot of body gently cruising past. Our first whale! Marcus dashed up to the cockpit too and we all watched in awe as about 3 minke whales swam alongside the boat for 5 minutes or so. They were so awesome and it really felt like they had come over to see us and find out what was going on. They were practically touching the underside of the boat - less than half a metre from the hull and slowly swimming, surfacing and then diving away. Absolutely brilliant.

Other highlights of the day include speaking to dad's parents and brother, and the Wombat (who is not in Oslo) via the satellite phone, a delicious pizza for tea and receiving Joe's third text which only arrived today (6 Copa America games rather than 4!). Thanks to YI for your blog comment and your ode, which is worth sharing here:

"Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready." (The Old Man and the Sea)

My 8-10pm watch last night was fantastic. Dad stayed up with my for an hour and we used mum's excellent stargazer app on the iPad to look at the brilliant stars. The sky was so clear that we could see many constellations and planets including the twins of Gemini (Castor and Pollux) and all of Orion, including his bow.

A near accident this morning as I went flying from one side of the boat to the other whilst preparing Marcus' breakfast of cheese and cucumber sandwiches. It could have been very nasty, but luckily I managed to not drop the bun I was putting mayonnaise on (or injure myself).

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