Jeff's Log ~ Friday, 10/19/07

Friday, 10/19/07 13 04.9N 52 00.6E

Another day of sailing in the Gulf of Aden. We had a rain shower this afternoon. It was the first rain that Pipe Dream has seen in months. It didn’t last long, but the boat sure did brighten up a bit. After the shower, when I came on watch, I noticed a warship on the starboard horizon. Our angle to the course happened to get very bad at about the same time, so we tacked and our new heading took us right past the Augsburg, which is a German warship. As we got close, they pulled ahead of our port bow and did a complete circle around us. When they came around our stern, They were less than a boat length [one of ours, not theirs.] away from us. Their crew was all on deck, and on the loud speaker they wished Pipe Dream and her crew a good voyage. The wind was up at the time, and they had to put some turns on to keep up with us. It made all of us feel very comfortable, and I was in awe from just sailing a boat in that close proximity to a beautiful warship. That was quite a salute to us on their behalf also. They gave us a big blast on their horn too. After our meeting, they went back on station, and we sailed on for the Maldives, and watched as our protectors disappeared off our transom. We should be entering the Indian Ocean tomorrow.