Small, shy and unassumingUnlike their boisterous, cheeky dolphin cousins, who often charge up to yachts for a look and a spot of bow riding; harbour porpoises will mostly try to avoid any interaction with boats.
I haven't ever seen a dolphin or porpoise in Southampton Water, so was amazed as we had just set our sails, to see a dorsal fin surfacing near the Weston Shelf bouy, not far from the dock head. I can't imagine the little chap being over enthused by the noise of commercial shipping and military hovercraft buzzing around and suspect that's why he didn't hang about for long.
Perhaps the very low spring tide brought him this far up, as sand eels would have been easy pickings for predators.
We ran aground whilst leaving the marina (another first) and were rather tickled by the seagulls walking around on the mud a few boat lengths away, many flapping off with mussels in their beaks, whose shells they leave as presents on finger pontoons.
Anyhoo.
After a half decent sail that involved far too much depth sounder watching, we came back on the flood and I and cooked some proper food for the first time in a week. Looking at the forecast, we may have a chance to recharge our nutritional batteries in the next couple of days, as the weather is looking pretty unsettled and I'm not sure whether I can be bothered to go out for a battering and a cold shower if it's blowing more than 20 knots.
Sometimes it's better to be rained on when sailing, rather than on the receiving end of bucketfulls of freezing cold water, mostly in the face.
Fuff out.
I haven't ever seen a dolphin or porpoise in Southampton Water, so was amazed as we had just set our sails, to see a dorsal fin surfacing near the Weston Shelf bouy, not far from the dock head. I can't imagine the little chap being over enthused by the noise of commercial shipping and military hovercraft buzzing around and suspect that's why he didn't hang about for long.
Perhaps the very low spring tide brought him this far up, as sand eels would have been easy pickings for predators.
We ran aground whilst leaving the marina (another first) and were rather tickled by the seagulls walking around on the mud a few boat lengths away, many flapping off with mussels in their beaks, whose shells they leave as presents on finger pontoons.
Anyhoo.
After a half decent sail that involved far too much depth sounder watching, we came back on the flood and I and cooked some proper food for the first time in a week. Looking at the forecast, we may have a chance to recharge our nutritional batteries in the next couple of days, as the weather is looking pretty unsettled and I'm not sure whether I can be bothered to go out for a battering and a cold shower if it's blowing more than 20 knots.
Sometimes it's better to be rained on when sailing, rather than on the receiving end of bucketfulls of freezing cold water, mostly in the face.
Fuff out.
7 comments:
Luckys sods, shouldn't you be doing bopring DIY or working or summat rather than sailing all the time... I am Jealous!
You know that buckets of water in the face thing? Hubby doesn't much like it either...(and we're nowhere near any large bodies of water!) Teeheehee!!!
Ant - DIY? Nooooooooo. None of that gardening lark either. Work, then sailing!
Pat- LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!
Question: how do the seagulls crack the mussel shells? I've heard that ravens will drop them on rocks or a paved road, but seagulls aren't that smart.
Nanuk, they do drop them sometimes, but mostly just hold them in their beaks and whack them on the pontoons to break them.
"bosun are those seagulls a swimming or a walking?"-"they be a walking skipper!"-"ready about!" :))
Weeeve all done it, if you aint grounded you aint sailed!
How true Orb! :)
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