Wednesday, September 16, 2009

DAY 2 - 200 miles!

1600 (1500 UTC)
Position 19deg26.5S, 174deg09.94E
418 miles to New Cal
1252 miles to Brisbane
course 230 degrees
Almost 200 miles on the first day, way to go!!! By mid afternoon yesterday we had a stiff SE breeze, around 16-18 knots, we watched as Viti Levu quickly disappeared over the horizon behind us. We had shimmi under full sail the whole night, almost reefing a few times, but deciding in the end to just let her fly. Probably the first time on shimmi that we spoke about reefing and then NOT doing it. You sailors out there will know what I mean. It made for quite a nervous night, with shimmi flying along at 8-9 knots across a rough ocean on a broad reach. It also started raining by late evening and it has not stopped for almost 24 hours. Its uncomfortable, cold and wet. It was too rough to sleep in the forward cabin so we made temporary beds in the saloon. A giant oil tanker on an opposite course passed within half mile of us, scary as we are under sail and cant really maneuvre.
On the up side, we caught 2 big Mahi-Mahi, from my chin to the deck, these I pulled in hand over hand whilst shimmi hurtles forward under full sail. There are a few tricks to it: First of all leave the fish for a while to chill it out a bit, then, once you decide to pull it in, get its head up out the water and pull it hand over hand all the way to the boat in bodysurf mode, in one go, without allowing its head to go under again. If you let the line slip and the Mahi manages to go under, there is a helluva jerk, enough to yank you right off the back of the boat. This is to be avoided.
Chantal and I have been doing 3 on 3 off since leaving Fiji, basically it means that for 3 hours you handle the kids and do watch, simple. Our radar is on the blink and our wind instrument is on the blink. By noon today the wind started dying and we have been motor sailing on and off for most of the afternoon. A bit of cabin fever is setting in, but not too bad, its just hard right now because everything is WET. Please, no more rain. On the plus side, as the wind dropped, the sea became much smoother. We caught a small yellow fin just in time for lunch, it was yummy with pickled ginger and wasabi. Anyway, its my 3 "off" hours right now, I got to use them or lose them!
Tomorrow is Chonny's birthday, she will 38! I don't have a present for her, dont ask why not. But we have some cake mix and I will make her the best Gin and tonic for miles!
Cheers
G