Our whale show marked the end of the solitude the vast Atlantic Ocean
brought us. We have been moving closer and closer to the Brazilian
shore. The first signs of land we passed were the islands in the
archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. The signs of nearby land were the
booby's (ganet like sea birds) that accompanied the boat for hours on
end and made for some good enterntainment. These birds feed on flying
fish and our presence made the flying fish fly and the booby's dive. As
we came closer to the coast (but still several hundred miles off) other
ships became more common again. The majority of the ships we
encountered were bulk carriers heading in an opposite direction.
Unfortunately they were too far away to spot their names or make them
visible on AIS so I can't say whether it was one of Corus's ore or
pellet cargoes... The last two night as we were as near as 50-80
miles to the coast we could make out the lights of cities like Vitoria
as they are reflected on the clouds. For the passed 16 hours we have
been cruising between oil rigs, production and drilling ships,
supply-vessels and tankers. Very impressive kit and so much of it so
close together. Trust me this beats the North Sea in terms of the
size of the kit. Our depth sounder is picking up signs of the sea bottom
again. Yes land is near and so is a cold beer!
