We've had a hair raising 36 hours with squalls bringing winds of 35 knots and a few more near misses with the odd container ship. This morning we started our pass below the south coast of Sri Lanka in the dark and spent frustrating hours avoiding fishing boats looking for hand outs and staying out of the major shipping channel. By the time the sun came up we were finally having a great sail and with a 3 knot current helping us along the way.
To bring tensions on board up to a whole new level this morning however, we had the least expected near collision of all. While looking for obstacles above the water we were suddenly faced with a major one from below. As we sailed ten miles off the coast we spotted a whale bigger than the boat off to our starboard side, while enjoying the sight we were suddenly struck into panic mode as it diverted course and headed straight for us. It then dove down under our hull and appeared to be rising up from below, Jimmy was able to grab the helm and turn us 90 degrees just in time for it surface and slap it's tail with a huge crash right where are stern had been moments before. The whale then continued on the way just as if nothing had happened, why it decided to target us we have no idea but we're thanking our lucky stars we still have our rudder attached and we'll be keeping a better watch in 'all' directions from now on!!
It's now evening and we've left Sri Lanka 10 miles on our stern and are on course for our final run to the Maldives...with just one more Gauntlet to run we have to cross over the shipping channel that runs north up the coast of India. Once again we're doing it at night but with the help of another cruising yacht who have an AIS receiver on board allowing them to track the course of the ships (much like an air traffic controllers screen) it's making it a lot easier for us to avoid a collision. Hopefully tomorrow will bring a more relaxing day and the chance to finally catch up on some sleep!
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