A sailor has become an unlikely surrogate father to a family of unborn ducklings after their mother set up home on his boat.

The devoted mother duck, named Quackers by skipper Ron Pringle, has been tending a clutch of ten eggs aboard the retired accountant's 30ft yacht for the past month.

She is so trusting of the 70-yearold sailor that whenever he takes his yacht Caracyl out to sea, Quackers decamps to the harbour jetty in Eastbourne for some well-earned "me" time, leaving the easygoing seafarer in charge of the brood.

Ron, from Eastbourne, said: "I check on the ducks every day and I feel I've struck up a good relationship with the mother duck.

"She tends her eggs in a little cubby hole I use for storing rope.

"In fact, she's wrapped a length of rope around the eggs to stop them rolling around when it gets rough.

It's amazing how calm she is in my presence but if someone else comes on board she will snap and squawk at them. I like to think she knows who I am and trusts me to look after the eggs while I'm at sea.

She certainly never seems to kick up a fuss and she's always waiting on the jetty when I get back. I think there's a lot we don't know about wildlife and we're fools if we dismiss them as dumb animals."

Ron reckons the eggs will hatch some time this week.

He said: "I can't wait to see the youngsters paddling around. It will be quite an event.

"Why she took a shine to my boat I don't know.

Perhaps because it's painted red while most of the other boats are white or blue."