16:54.90S 014:10.28W Girl Power With a Little Help from Our Friends

Irene IV - World Adventure
Louis Goor
Mon 30 Jan 2023 14:21
Girl Power With a Little Help from Our Friends

Well, it is 11:32am and the beautiful female Mahimahi Liz and I just caught
is tucked away in the fridge awaiting a delicious barbecue this evening! Rob
and Giles are MIA! They DO NOT like fishing! Yesterday, when the line
started running, a sure sign that we had snared a fish, they both groaned.
Some eye rolling was also spotted. That fish got away. Today Liz and I took
matters into our own hands. After one failed attempt at 08:00, when we lost
a small tuna, we are currently brimming with pride at our success. Rob and
Giles are still MIA! With some help from Bonga, and an answer to my
question on the radio net this morning concerning how best to play a fish on
the line, we landed, poured some vodka into its gills, filleted, cleaned up,
and refrigerated the fish without too much fuss. The men onboard would
prefer to catch sheep, pigs, or cows, so tonight we will oblige them with a
stash of steak in the freezer. Then we can all enjoy surf and turf.

In Giles' defence, I would like to mention that there seems to nothing that
he cannot fix! He has fixed our generator battery problem, and all is
purring along nicely. Yesterday, he fixed the hydraulic switch on the
pedestal, which furls the Genoa and Main out and in. A vital piece of
equipment, especially on this passage when we are experiencing such variable
conditions and wind speeds. He says he does not know exactly what he did,
but all we care is that it is now working. He did have his head down many
holes as well as buried under the pedestal cover and studied manuals galore
for countless hours. In Rob's defence, he hand-furled the Genoa with much
sweat and muscle flexing yesterday. Two days ago, one of the Genoa sheets
exploded - that is, the covering unravelled and left ragged edges on two
ends with a raw patch in the middle. With expert splicing techniques, Giles
put it all back together, good as new. Additionally, he has done some gluing
for me in the galley. He wins the MVP (Most Valuable Person) award for
today.

After a gentle night of steady winds mostly from the southeast, we continue
our westerly course, sometimes heading a little south, to catch some
stronger wind, towards Salvador. It's looking like 8 days, give or take,
before we reunite Louis with his beloved Irene IV. In the meantime, the
girls are in charge of fishing and the boys in charge of fixing!