Sunday 6th May 2012
Early in the morning, the overnight overcast cleared away from the N to give bright sunshine - but only for a short while before cloud increased again. The air is cold and the inside of the boat is cold from the low sea temperature - presently around 14C, having slowly gone down from 17C near Tasmania.. Wind is somewhat less and seas are a bit calmer than the last few days - we're actually sailing quite gently, at around 6 knots.
So many birds around today - being near Stewart Island and the many islets around it, clearly makes a difference - I even saw a seal this afternoon - popped his head up and looked at me!Majestic Royal albatross (Southern) soaring on fxed wings, white-rumped storm petrel fluttering over the surface, lots of Buller's, and the occasional Black-browed, albatross, ...prions, Flesh-footed shearwaters and a handsome Cape petrel late this afternoon - reminds me of the first time I saw one - was also a day out from New Zealand, in 2010. Spent a long time trying to get photos - so difficult!
DMG today - 146n.ml.!
Problrm withAP - stopped working - so I'd best close this and try to see if I can get anywhere - fluid leaking a bit - have just topped up fluid level... Hydrovane working fine in calm conditions and light wind (down to 8-9kt just now) which has veered to ENE and so is taking us away from land - good news!! But we're fairly close to land now (just 30 ml from SW Cape) so best to see if I can get one of the two APs working ... Bye for now!