Back on the high seas...

Quartermoon
Mike Share & Sammy Byron
Tue 27 Jul 2010 17:36
We are about 450nm out from Palmerston and we've probably had the most uncomfortable sailing to date so far! Wave patterns from several directions have been picking QM up and skewing her in every direction - the main Ocean swell is pretty big from behind but not too bad, until another one comes from the side and slams into you!
 
The wind was a nice 18-20 knots but right from astern which is our worst point of sail (the spinnaker is just too much hassle with 2 of us and the dinghy over the hatch) but we were making good progress with either just the Genoa and now just the main out. Then overnight the wind died to about 10-12 knots meaning we only had 6 knots of apparent wind, not really enough to make good progress so we had to resort to the engine for a few hours    ;-(      At least it's killed the swell a bit....
 
The sun has just risen and it's yet another stunning sunrise over the Pacific off our back balcony - I'm almost awake as the sleeping patterns are slowly coming back after nearly 2 days out here.
 
So it just leaves the fishing left to mention; which has taken a turn for the worse.... Heading to Bora Bora we left a double lure out overnight to see if anything bit. Something big obviously did and took with it our 2 most successful lures and a heap of line. Guess that's why you bring lines in at night... Even more frustrating is the success/failure of my home made lure. I made it from a coke can so it's nice and shiny and somewhat resembles a squid (I did say somewhat). We've hooked 2 huge Dorado/Mahi Mahi/Dolphin (not like Flipper) which we brought in right to the rail, before they have both managed to freak out, unhook themselves and swim off. Absolutely infuriating after you've done the hard work and have decided how you are going to cook them! We haven't caught a good sized fish since before the Tuamotu's (due to reef poisoning amongst other things). Anyhow the teriyaki chicken tasted really good instead!
 
Like any good fisherman I am blaming the hook which looks a bit open. I have closed it up and am sitting here waiting for the next catch. 3rd time lucky and all that....