32:45.6N 044:45.8W Midday (BST) Fix 26 May 2010 Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You
Oboe D'Amore's Web Diary
Nigel Backwith
Wed 26 May 2010 15:32
2010
View our progress on Google Earth at: http://blog.mailasail.com/oboe
GPS Position: 32:45.6N 044:45.8W
Sea Miles (previous 24 Hours): 125nMs
Sea Miles to date: 2.248nMs
Present Course Over Ground: 057°M
Present Boat Speed 5.8kts
Average Boat Speed (previous 24 hours): 5.2kts
Average Boat Speed to date: 6.1kts
Estimated GPS Position in 24 hours time: 35°:00'N 042°:30'W
Sea State: Moderate with increasing swell
Wind Speed and Direction: 18kts SW (now we're cooking with gas!)
Barometric Pressure: 1010mB
It's Ryan's birthday - Sweet 22 and hasn't been had in a while! We're
catching fish! The winds are back. We're eating up the miles. We're eating
fresh fish. The sun is shining. All's well in our little world. Ryan's
mum and dad are responsible for Ryan, Ryan is responsible for the fish.
Mother Nature is responsible for everything else.
As yesterday progressed, with both sails down in their bags and the engine
burbling away it started to feel like groundhog day. A listless crew
lounged around. The unspoken questions were: "When will the wind come back?
Why won't this stupid storm Nigel keeps talking about simply get it over
with? How much longer do I have to endure warm sun, flat seas and the
company of this motley crew, with their childish sense of humour?" "I've
had enough, stop the world I want to get off!" You might as well read
yesterday's blog again for all the difference it makes.
Hang on! Has Ryan decided to turn his attention to fishing, now that his
Weetabix boat is finished and ready for launch? Is he frustrated at our
inability to catch anything at all? Is he reading: The Cruisers' Handboook
of Fishing, while at the same time adjusting the lure on the line, putting
out 3 more lines, some with homemade lures? Is he pleased with himself? "I
reckon I've set these lines up perfectly, he announced cockily". At that
very moment the main rod bent double and the line ran away till Ryan could
grab it and strike. "Fish on!" he exclaimed and in came a 3 lb yellow fin
tuna. Such joy and merriment. Ryan has become a professional, obsessed
fisherman overnight. He doesn't do anything else. He talks, sleeps and
eats fish. He announced it as his new career and set about studying the
next chapter of the book about how to become a fish monger. He announced
that he wanted to make UK landfall in Brixham, where he could sell his catch
in the fish market. "I want a mahi mahi, I want amahi mahi" he chanted and
set about developing an appropriate lure (actually he took one out of a bag
marked "mahi mahi lures").
Hang on again! Is there a light breeze on the back of the neck? Oh yes,
here come the winds. Time to deploy our secret weapon, the asymmetric
spinnaker, designed specifically for moments like this. Up she goes, bright
red and billowing gently, while we sit in the cockpit and enjoy big, juicy
tuna steaks. As night closes in, we substitute the big kite for the more
conservative headsail, we pole it out for stability and we run east in
restful silence all night.
"Happy Birthday Ryan" all say. "What a beautiful morning." "Of course, the
sun always shines on my birthday. I've been up since 0330 hours waiting for
dawn. I couldn't sleep thinking about that mahi mahi." Eyebrows raised, we
chomp on cereal with UHT milk (yuch!). Ryan baits up a couple more hooks
with scraps of tuna, salted in the fridge overnight, too excited to eat.
"Yes, yes, yes... fish on!" It's a ... it's a ... it's a mahi mahi. "I
don't believe it" utters Nigel in a perfect impression of Victor Meldrew. A
beautiful, 5 lb fish and in no time perfectly cleaned and filleted, just in
time for a special birthday dinner for our amazing birthday boy.
Oh, I nearly forgot. We are no longer storm dodging. We know we are going
to get bitten in the next 24 hours, it is unavoidable but we are prepared
and pointing directly at the Azores, waiting for the "last big push" ...
Nigel
Date: 26 May 2010