Yellowfin Tuna

Rhumbrunner
Fri 13 Jan 2017 14:37
12/01/17 1640 Niall
Great day yesterday, not only were we stonking along on a beam reach with full sail up, but we caught supper ! Chris trailed two strong lines with large hooks in squid like lures. Just after we had taken chicken out of the freezer for supper we hooked two yellowtail tuna ! Chris reeled them in and, with Stuart, killed and filleted them on the stern. So we had the yellowtail just a couple of hours after it was caught. So delicious !

Today we have clear skies, lighter wind over the port quarter and calmer seas. So the pole is back out on the jib. The main is away to prevent it shielding the jib. The full mizzen is out. We have slowed a bit to about 7 knots.

Yesterday we managed 176 miles.

We will only make blog entries every 2-3 days, when we collect weather data, to save on satellite phone costs.

13/01/17 0700 Niall
Wind has swung round to the south now, still running on poled out full jib and full mizzen. Large swell rolling through under us which causes an uncomfortable roll in the boat.
We are all settled in to the routine now. We have 3hr watches through the night and 2hr through the day. Its Chris regular routine and works well. We sleep a lot, which I particularly enjoy :).
We have a plotted track to follow, with waypoints every 150miles as day markers. We are about 1/2day ahead of schedule.
With the wind 170' astern we gybed over the genoa and set the balooner on the starboard pole. We are currently making 7.5 - 9.5 knots over the ground. Perfect downwind sailing conditions. To add to this the temperature is now getting warmer so that its definitely shorts & t-shirt sailing.

13/01/17 1400 Niall
With the wind now behind us, we have furled the jib and unfurled on to the port pole, launching the ballooner (downwind cruising jib) up the opposite forestay track and out on the starboard pole. The mizzen is away to clean the air on to the two head sails. We are averaging 8 knots over ground now. In the last 24hrs we've covered 175 miles. 2 squid lures are trailing in the sea, fingers crossed.

Current Position 13/1/17 14.00GMT 26:16.0S 008:10.0E

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