The Story of Bra

During our long journey, we had four other yachts nearby that all kept in radio contact on a daily basis to exchange positions and information – always have to check on who's going which way, how fast, with which sail configuration and what weather and sea conditions – remember, this is NOT a race!

Half way through the journey, Liquid Courage, with two American chaps aboard became the home for Bra, a red-footed booby who obviously decided that he needed a break from flapping those wings. At first he settled on their spray dodger but, as birds will, he kept leaving little unwanted gifts behind. Don and Devon managed to persuade him to move back to their dinghy where, whenever he faced inwards (or, more importantly, whenever his rear faced out) his little presents were no longer a problem. I guess he liked this spot as he stayed for eight days!

Each day, Don would give us a 'Bra Report' that became the main topic of conversation with each net. If you're wondering about the name, it came about as Don & Devon, long-time buddies, call each other 'Bro', so what to call their newest crew member, why not Bra? As one of the other radio nets called themselves the Penguin Net: we became the Booby Net!

Bra would go out fishing for a couple of hours each day, return to poop and preen, check out the company then settle back in for the night. Devon even managed to feed him from his hand; quite unperturbed he was (I'm referring to Bra here).

However, all good things must end and, a couple of days out of the Marquesas, he must have smelled the land as he took off for his morning fishing trip but didn't return. I know we're talking about a bird here but we (especially the female contingency) were very sad indeed. Bra had become a focal point for all of us on the long, long days at sea.

The Booby Net suddenly became the Braless Net.