18. Meeting at sea

Louis saw something at sea and asked me to find out what it is. I heard about it in a blog from people who sail. I hope I'm not mistaken.

Louis: There are sort of transparent pizza pocket that float on water with purple and red, but it's a transparent envelope. I believe these are the babies of something, but I was wondering what. Can you look?

Of course I searched. I believe these are velella. Contrary to what one might think, these are not jellyfish. They are surface-bound organisms. It only moves with the wind. So if the wind sends them on the beach. They fail.

Yesterday morning, no wind, then a few hours later, he managed to pick up 4.5 knots and again dropped to 1.9 knots in PM. But that's okay because he's trying to get to Faial at the same time as us, so he's in no rush.

As he has time, Louis will go to Flores today, the closest island to the Azores and one of the most beautiful it seems, to at least see land. He should pass between Flores, the easternmost of the Azores, and Corvo, the smallest and northernmost.

For the moment the wind is blowing at 9 knots and Soleau 1 is sailing at 5.2 knots.

They are 218 nautical miles away.

21-22 degree today

Waves of 1-2 meter

Wind decreases to 4-5 knots in PM and 6 -8 knots at night

Louis: Wonderful day. It's nice and warm. I listen to Bach. The Vita e Bella!

He still has a lot of humor, our captain. He seems in great shape. The sun and the heat seem to do him good or would it be our next reunion?

I hope I'm not mistaken about what Louis saw. We will know soon. In the meantime, here are some velella.