The sun rises and makes a glorious start to the day, shining across flat, calm sea, in such contrast to our first morning. The wind (and blowing at around one knot, I hesitate to call it wind) hardly stirs the surface of the water.
During the position roll call we hear that lots of the other boats have had no wind either, and although they are ahead of us they are going or have been going, just as slowly. But every cloud has a silver lining. The slow speeds means that nearly everyone seems to be catching fish, so Mike puts the line out and half an hour later, just as I am about to put the purchased fish into the frying pan, the line screams out. As Mike pulls our catch nearer to the boat I can see that it is a good sized tuna, but it’s a fighter. Time and time again it goes under the boat, pulling the line against the hull, then just as Mike gets it to the bottom step, with a huge jerk, it pulls off the hook, and for a few seconds swims around at the back of the boat, taunting Mike, before swimming off.
He puts the line out again and we cook and eat lunch. The sea is still so calm that we treat ourselves to a glass of wine too.
I am in the middle of an afternoon nap when Mike comes down to wake me again as we have another one on the line. From a distance it is easy to see that it is a mahi mahi as they always come to the surface when they are caught, unlike tuna which normally stay down low for as long as they can. We are luckier this time and manage to get it up into the cockpit and into the grill of death without it splattering itself all over the cockpit. The alcohol Mike pours into its gills quieten it down a little but it does thrash about a bit before it gives up. I really hate that part, although the gutting and filleting doesn’t bother me at all. Mike actually does the gutting and I do the fancy bits, producing eight nice steaks, six of which go straight into the freezer and the other two I marinate in olive oil, lemon juice and garlic for lunch tomorrow.
During the afternoon the wind and the seas pick up again and at 3 pm we are able to put the main sail out for the first time and turn the engine off. The sea conditions are pretty unpleasant though and added to smell of fish, it’s not long before I start reaching for the sea sickness tablets. It becomes another very uncomfortable ride. It’s amazing how it can all change.
Mike switches on the generator and to his extreme discomfort, it makes ominous sounds. I have to be honest and say that I can’t hear the difference over the noise of the sea, but he puts on his miner’s lamp and just goes to check that the cover is still fixed over it, which it is. As it’s dark and the sea is rough, he leaves the investigation for the morning. That’s another bad night’s sleep he’ll probably have worrying about it. Wonderful.
Our position is: 19 deg 00 min S, 171 deg 48 min E
Distance so far: 9040 nautical miles
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