NAVIGATION by ERIC LOIZEAU
“Change of watch between Bunny and Martin.
It’s 07:00am local time and the virtually equatorial sun is already glistening high up in the cloud-free sky. The empty horizon stretches around us and far off in our wake there may well be a piece of an island to the north, fading away into the mist and bluish tint in the clear morning. After all the hubbub of Panama I really love this!
Copyright Eric Loizeau
It’s barely been 12 hours since we set off and the marine fauna has joined us. The Pacific Ocean is far from empty. We’ve been approached by a couple of delicate frigate birds, which can’t bear the heat of the tropics. They’ve settled impassively at the top of the carbon masts used to hoist the kite. Mr Black Head and Mrs White Head are watching us from atop their perch with their sharp, piercing eyes, waving their sharp, oddly curved beaks. We admire their elegance and their skill for calmly readjusting their balance according to the movements of the boat.
The sea has lost her silty hue and rediscovered the indigo blue that so becomes her. The light trade wind has made a welcome return and the tiny white-crested waves are encouraging Martin to turn his thoughts to the kite.
Flocks of seagulls are glittering in the sun’s bronze rays hunting for shoals of fish racing across the surface of the wave, they themselves being pursued by some hungry predators.
And emerging from a distant horizon, a school of playful dolphins rounds off this idyllic morning.”
