That is indeed what the fire shield is for. More or less.

After confirming the thing is thoroughly disintegrated, Ipaxalon lets loose a final breath of cold in the direction of the shards on general principle, then heads back up to sea level.

It did manage to put some scrapes and bruises on him — fire shield is really more of an offensive spell than a defensive one. He casts some healing once he's airborne again. 

That was fun! 

Continuing to look for boats. If he spots one that's the right general size and number of sails, he'll get close enough to check for a name. 

That one's the wrong one. That one is too.

There's the correct ship!

Hello, correct ship! He enters a slow glide nearby and looks for a Rebecca.

She's down on the deck, perched on the railing, singing with the sailors. She's got a frost-patterned fur coat on around the wings against the nippy breeze.

He wings around to that side of the deck to listen in.

His English is decent, but the sailors might be alarmed if he speaks, so he puts a tongues up to minimize confusion. 

He just listens for now, though. 

The song is in Dutch; Rebecca's accent needs work. She waves to Ipaxalon.

He waves back! He continues to not interrupt the singing. It's nice.

It comes to an end eventually and she takes wing to join him.

"Hello! It seems I misjudged the length of the voyage to Amsterdam. I apologize for that."

"That's fine. It is very quick, isn't it? I was surprised too."

"Anything eventful happen on the trip or in port? And how's progress with the fiddle?"

"Nothing much happened. I'm trying to learn a bit of Dutch but a few of the sailors know enough English to get along. I haven't saved up for a real fiddle yet but I think I'm making some progress on magicking them up!"

"I'm still getting used to English, myself. What do they speak in South Africa?"

"Dutch with a different accent, I imagine."

"Sensible to learn it, then. Any monster attacks? I fought one on the way here, it was quite the tussle."

"A little one. Big ones are more out in the open water that gets less traffic."

"I'll want to befriend some captains who sail the deep ocean, if only for occasional hunting trips. When I can make the time, anyway. Your world is...bustling."

"Isn't yours? It sounds plenty exciting from your stories."

"I suppose it is, in its own way. I've had a long time to accumulate stories, though. I think being so thoroughly a stranger to this culture makes it feel like a lot to absorb at once. I'm making progress, though. Thank you again for your part in that." 

"Anytime!"

"Do you want to hear the highlights from the last few days? It's mostly been politics, but some bits may make for interesting gossip."

"Gossip away."

"Well, the big news is that the health of King George III is better than it's been in years, and Queen Charlotte is reportedly thrilled..." Coincidentally, the Crown has grown significantly more sympathetic to certain causes in Parliament, of late. Ipaxalon summarizes this and several other tidbits of London's public scene that touch on his work.

Also a talking dragon made an appearance at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, imagine that. 

"Were you just there to watch a play, or was something else going on there?"