The Tasman Sea, New Zealand 11 Dec 2010 36.4116S 171.5354E
Yesterday the boys decided to go whale watching without me. They followed a pod of 10-12 sperm whales along for awhile, and decided that it was a sin to wake an off-watch crew member, even when it started to get exciting. Apparently whales were everywhere off in the distance, so Frank figured they’d be everywhere when I woke up too. But then they came closer and closer to see if this SL gray whale presented any competition (or do we look like a massive sailfish?). Apparently one bull felt a need to exert his authority, he refused our starboard under sail priority, and cut us off at the bow, then flipped us the tail, yards from the boat. Frank said the stomps and cries on deck should have been my wake-up call, but it all merged into an odd dream I was having about driving down a rough road with my brother. When I did wake up, Frank came proudly to show me his pictures. “There’s no magic to photography, you just have to get close enough,” he says.
Meanwhile Logan is pestering Kennan to rig up his RC Helicopter with a q-tip, and ready it for the next pod of whales. He’d heard on a podcast that an Ignobel Prize was awarded to a team of researchers who came up with the idea to use RC Helicopters outfitted with swabs to gather whale snot specimens from live whales at sea (apparently you don’t want to get too close, due to the overwhelming smell). Unfortunately, it was one of the few science podcasts that did not come with the preamble, “Do not try this at home.” They also did not tell us where we’re supposed to send the specimens once we get some.
Our wind came last night, if it holds we should be into Nelson in 2 days or so. It’s a fast but rolly ride with the seas confused by the change in wind direction. But all is well on board (right now at 8 am, all are sleeping on board, except me).
Oh I forgot, at some time in the past week we left the Pacific Ocean behind and entered the Tasman Sea. We are officially no longer cruising in the South Pacific. I don’t know exactly where that line lies, but we’re fully in the Tasman Sea now. According to my onboard, walking Google, Able Tasman sailed this sea in the opposite direction from us. He was looking for the south side of Australia, but found only Tasmania then NZ instead. Apparently no one was able to make it south around Australia’s east or west coast to explore without wrecking their ships on reefs. So he headed way west, then way south then back up this way, missing Australia altogether, but determining for the world that it was not as big as they thought. We’ll wave at his historic wake as we pass.
xoxomo