14/6/09 - 0.24.74S 96.49.93W
Flying Cloud
Julian Nichols
Sun 14 Jun 2009 02:28
It started last night when i cooked our steak - i volunteered to cook onion with it! To make matters worse, we only have red onion on board. I picked it up, peeled it and fried it!
I still need more therapy but it seems to be working!!!!
Then at 11.30 am UTC (GMT), which is 4.30 am local time, we crossed the equator heading South - finally!! As it was night (and Matt was off watch), King Triton didn't make an appearance immediately.
Then we got stuck into the now usual 1 hour intensive yoga routine (yogalates actually), which seemed much more painful today for some reason.
Then, just as Matt was preparing lunch and i was rinsing washing, we caught a large Dorado on the handline. It came in pretty easy and i volunteered to do the preparation work, having been excellently taught by Jenny earlier in the trip.
However, my memory is not what it used to be and i have to say it took a long time to gut, filet and prepare (i think i caught Matt laughing a few times).
Finally after an excellent salad lunch prepared by Matt, and washed down with the 2000 Dom Perignon bought for me by Gavin (which i had promised to drink when i crossed the equator - quite a sacrifice i might add as i had been dry for 70 hours!), King Triton made his frightening appearance.
All i can really say is that following the ceremony i am no longer an equatorial virgin, and woe betide anyone who is unfortunate enough to sail across the equator with me in the future........
Julian
"Soy Capitan;s" corner:
We've just finished supper, and as I sit here to contribute, I wonder whether the two onions I sauteed with garlic to fry the fish in was the best of ideas... That onion Jules had Yesterday was nothing compared to todays meal! Remind me to ask for my cut from the therapist.
Moments before we caught the fish, Jules had proclaimed: "I'm having fish for dinner tonight", and took out some Wahoo from the freezer to defrost... Suffice it to say it was still plenty frozen when I put it back in whilst Jules was gutting the fresh one! A quick lunch with the yummiest of avocados, and then King Triton appeared in a bit of a mood. Since Julian had blasphemously deviated from his true course just for the joy of crossing, and then, as his first time across was the middle of the night (we had to clear Isabella another 15 NM North before we could try and get back to the equator), King Triton was doubly aggravated as he wasn't appeased the first time, and had to wait until the second to get his just deserves... So Jules had his just desserts, all over his head: Rice pudding, and an egg; with his good buddy's Ron, Galliano, and Bananarama followed shortly thereafter down his throat! Only the most extreme forms of bathing managed to clean him of the sticky concoction!
All's well that ends well, and today ended with a fantastic fish on our plates, good company, and a perfect wind!
King Triton
p.s. best days run so far: 180 NM made good towards the waypoint, only 2600 left (if we actually went straight).