Approximation to Some Land: 25th-26th July, 1811

Thursday July 25th brought thick fog and “much rain”. The 15 lines which had been drying on deck were stowed away. Friday brought better visibility, and Scoresby tried to sail faster by keeping the wind “on the quarter”, that is, not sailing directly with the wind. This allowed him to take advantage of the stay sails on the mizen mast. The Southwesterly swell slowed their progress, however.

With the Resolution still in convoy with the Aimwell, Enterprize, and Volunteer, Scoresby took the appearance of Arctic Gulls and “Looms” (Jackson suggests guillemots), to suggest that they were near to the Faroe islands, and so it was, but he was far from sure: “our Compass differs so much that we cannot tell exactly how we steer sometimes”.