Giant oceanic manta ray

3 April 2013

After a good start from Santos harbour, the wind decreased and speed went down in the afternoon of Tuesday. Just when we wanted to start the engine, we saw something like a fin on the water surface. It came towards the ship and turned out to belong to a giant oceanic manta ray! A beautiful animal of 4 meters wide ‘flew’ past the ship and seemed interested as it stayed close to the ship. After circling around the ship for a couple of times it dived back into the deep. We started the engine and after a couple of hours there was already enough wind to go back under sail without support of the engine. There were also some showers passing over, most of us appeared in sailing jackets but a few of us were so eager to appear in their swimming shorts instead. The wind is still increasing, and we decide to reef the sails to be able to have a fair but calm night at sea. This morning we were accompanied by several flying fishes. Now we are left all alone with the beautiful blue ocean, the warm wind and a lovely sunshine. We are definitely enjoying ourselves!