Two Great skuas

After Neptune’s and his court visit on board, now one, then two Great skuas started to follow the ship. Sure the smell of the secret potions and rotten fish brought on board by them to initiate the Pollywogs to his kingdom has something to do with it. The largest and more powerful of the predatory northern skuas, breeding in oceanic islands all the way up to Spitsbergen, but dispersing southwards from August onwards, seem to enjoy flying with us and look around the decks with interest flying on several occasions right above our heads in the Poop deck. Neptune -borrowed by the Romans from the Mythological Greek god Poseidon- sure is the venerable god of the sea and water, but also from earthquakes, like the tremors he leaves behind as a result of his admission and baptism rites… and the mess after them. His visit on board ended up with a clean up that lasted until the evening, when an impressive full moon rose at the East while at our Starboardside we could enjoy yet another beautiful sunset. Anyway, party, mess and all, Neptune is always welcomed on board “his brother’s Zeus ship, the Europa”, which proudly carries a figurehead of him, transformed in a white impressive bull, courting the princess of Tyre Europa, offering her a ride to Crete, where she bore him three sons (Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon). From now on, we will be sailing in the Southern Hemisphere. Not just this but also the autumn in the Northern Hemisphere has transformed into Spring. The part of the earth that is directly aligned with the sun, receives the most heat. The poles, being at a very flat angle, receive the least heat. As the year progresses and the earth rotates around the sun, it tilts on its axis. This tilt changes the area of maximum heat absorption from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern and back again—hence our seasons. On board the switch of hemisphere and season is welcomed by starting to add again more canvas to our rig. Once the electrical system of the Main Skysail Mast has been checked and overhauled, is time to hoist it, rig its yard and bend-on the sail. A process that sure will take a couple of days involving permanent crew from both watches. All happened today while sailing nicely well up the wind, enjoying the fair SE-ly breeze. 97nm done during the last 24 hours in a good 205º course, making a total mileage sailed from Canary Islands of 2063nm.