We left San Cristobal and spent about 3 days in Floreana. No, we were not anchored, just drifting past it. Being becalmed is not a very pleasant experience generally as one flogs the sails and rolls around in mild discomfort. However, it allowed us to do and see some very interesting things.
Just off of Floreana, whilst becalmed with no sail up (fortunately we had some current taking us west), we watched a resident mahi mahi (dorado) circling the boat. There I sat, for an hour on the bow, speargun poised waiting for a decent shot. Unfortunately it shot off when it saw me before i inject it with a little stainless steel. Then later that day a school of large yellow fin tuna (3 / 4 feet) circled us. This was too good to be true. So in I went with the speargun into the middle of the pacific ocean (about 2000 feet of water beneath me) with Sally spotting on the bow. Water crystal clear and just inviting you to swim down into it. The old tuna were having none of it and buggered off. Not wanting to venture too far from the boat in the middle of the ocean, I was reluctant to follow.
Fishing throughout the passage was exceptional. It is an enormous ocean, yet we would get a strike almost every time we put the lure in the water (and we had to be doing 4.5 knots+ too). Flying fish seemed to be having a wonderful time committing hari-kuri on our decks each night, Part of my daily routine in the morning was to clear the deck of the little fellows. When we first left Galapagos (first couple hundred miles) squid also leapt onto our deck with the goal of shortening their own lifespans. I had never seen squid leap onboard before!
With the exception of a single bonito tuna, the rest of our catches were mahi mahi (one of the best eating fish in my opinion) all about 1.5 - 2 feet in length and mostly females we noticed. We lost two fish and threw a few small mahi's back. Most were perfect 2 person sized meals. For anyone interested, we used a red and white squid skirt with a size 8 stainless hook on 1 foot of trace. Low drag, cheap and incredibly successful (beats all the damn rapala lures I used to spend $40 on only to lose to bigger fish)!
I am sure I recall as a child crossing the Pacific and having fantastic tropical squalls with loads of thunder and lightening and enough water falling from the sky to purge all my sins…
As there was no rain water and we were conservative with our reserves, clothes washing did not get done. By the end of the trip, I was actively sniffing all my undies in the wash basket to find the least smelly to wear. My parents at this stage are probably tutting away thinking that when you are out at sea you should not need clothes, however I have this innate fear of catching my equipment in a winch or on a sharp split pin or something equally horrific and living out the rest of my days with the nickname "mono nut" or "stumpy".
Having an SSB is very useful. There was the informal Gallopers Net run by British vessels Minnie B, Spruce and Flapjack who were net controllers tracking our merry bunch of sailors across the puddle. We would check in daily and people would tell us weather conditions where they were allowing us to navigate accordingly. We also made friends who we looked forward to meeting when we reached port.
Truth be told, running downwind is a fairly pleasant form of sailing. For most of the trip all the hatches were open with good through flow of air to keep the boat from being stuffy or hot. There is a slight squirrelling motion that one gets used to. The quality of the sunrises (that Sally never saw as she was always catching flies at the time) and sunsets were fantastic. The colours that mother nature is able to produce are quite astounding. I will never tire of sitting in the cockpit, coffee in hand watching a new day unfurl before my eyes.
I was expecting the middle of the ocean to be devoid of life except that below the waves. But there was birdlife throughout the passage. Not being an ornithologist, I would have a hard time telling you what the hell I was looking at other than to say we saw small finch sized birds that "scooped" up the water (eating whatever organisms were on the surface) and a few gull types. The small birds did not look like the types to sit on the ocean for a snooze at night and none did land and rest on Orion. We are talking about birds 1500 miles from the closest land. What the hell are they doing all the way out here?
I suppose we only really got into a good solid groove / routine at the half way mark. The end was now closer than the beginning and everything was going well. We celebrated with a half way party.
Sally made "Gem's Tipsy Tart". A recipe she got from Jean (on Legend IV), who swears that she got it from my mother (Gem) 25 odd years ago. The trouble is that my mother is adamant that she has never made anything of the sort before. I put it down to old age and mild dementia. Mother, your tart was lovely and I even sacrificed some Jonny Walker Black label for the syrup!
For interest sake we decided to send off a message in a bottle. Well 3 actually! These we plopped into the water at our half way mark. We will be very interested if anyone A) finds them and B) takes the time to respond. We even put our mailing address in incase we find some one who is rather old school and responds by snail mail! Wouldn't that be
exciting?!
exciting?!
On the subject of litter in the ocean, there is none! Admittedly this is probably due to the wind and current coming from Antarctica where there are few humans to pollute the sea. Makes for a nice change coming from the Atlantic / Caribbean.
Don't be so silly, I made Tipsy Tart often in the past 26 years!!
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