The island.
Is in sight. Still 40 miles to go and it's clearly visible on the horizon. The way up. Ascension Island. Ascent. It is of course religious, although just like St H it was created on the fault line of the tectonic plates. Where this island came up. From a 5 km deep sea. This might be a presumptuous statement since I'm not a geologist, but I'm guessing it's true.
We go up after the island. Slightly further north to Cabo Verde. So we go up a little steeper again. How appropriate that there is an island that indicates this! We rise too. To North latitude.
The temperature has now risen to such an extent that shorts and a T-shirt can be worn on deck and it is uncomfortably warm in the boat. Every little job you do involves liters of sweat. I already said it; complaining about the warmth you wanted so badly. I look like a Dutchman.
We'll be heading out into the cold again in a few weeks. I'll set the mode to enjoy. Have a nice sweat.
This morning a gannet flew over. This seemed like one with a lot of flying hours. Its plumage is a bit sloppy and it has a pale blue beak. The bird looked habitually into the cockpit where he saw me wave to her.
(Ladies, Gentlemen and others, I tried but I couldn't get this sentence to be neutered). Then the animal flew over three more times and kept looking at me intently. It had a somewhat ominous character, the look of this flustered bird. I desperately hoped my eyeballs weren't on the menu.
Then it disappeared again. A sign that we are close to land. More life around us.
For the first time I saw a large jellyfish. A kind of transparent membrane in the shape of an eggroll with a pink stripe on top not much bigger than my shelled hands. Another Portuguese Warship? It was knocked over by a wave but quickly righted itself. Didn't want to miss a breath of wind.
Of course, those Portuguese have been experienced nautists for centuries. Nice museum in Lisbon by the way. So that jellyfish has a great name.
You could probably say the same about a lot of other jellyfish. But I don't know all those jellyfish. Not a marine biologist.
If I continue to list all my dark sides for a while, I might as well stop blogging for a while.
Greetings Mark and Ton
