Salsa af Stavsnas - A fish big as Andreas 06.20S 114.21W

A fish big as Andreas 06.20S 114.21W

Salsa af Stavsnas

Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde

Tue 28 May 2013 03:39

It is dark again, another day has passed by, and what a day!

But take the last first. As we move westward the morning sun sets in later and later, we have to adjust our clocks.

So when everybody is asleep, I make a note in the loggbook and then change the time on all clocks. The only one that remains the same is Ellinors wrist watch. So when I wake her up she will realize she has gotten one extra hour of sleep. That usually makes her happy.

Sailing today has been magnificent, the night looked like we could be hit by squalls but got just a touch this morning. Then the sun came out and we all took it very easy because the waves have been nasty. Not these rolling kind ones, no, these are steep, 2-3 meters and hit the boat from the side. Not only that, they wait until you think you know how they move, then they give Salsas butt an extra kick so everything goes everywhere, including yourselfe. But then the afternoon drama came and we could no longer be lazy.

When you read this piece, try to put on an american redneck dialect, if you can:

The pink octopus attracted a BIG Mahe Mahe today, when I say BIG I mean BIG! When I came up on aft deck I saw that creature jump out of the water (like they do on all pictures with macho fishermen deap sea fishing you know...) And I said -WOW!- and became very macho.

But being very macho, I still had to sit down and reel in that fish centimeter by centimeter, :- Honey, can you slow down them boat please?- I said with my macho mouth and kicked in an extra gear to haul that BIG thing on board, because we where hungry for fish.

I mean how many beans can you take? Then my little blond daughter came and sat by my side, and she said: - WOW PAPA that fish is BIG! I have to write to Lisa about it! -

And I became more macho reeeling that BIG fish so I said:- Honey we aint got that fish yet, cool it down, and then I talked to my wife, with my deep macho voice, and I said: -Honey Pye, I think we gonna need that big hook soon.

And my wife she was sailing all by herselfe trying to cool down 17 tons of glassfibre, aluminium,wood and steel so we didn't have to fight a BIG fish and a BIG boat at the same time.

So she came with the big nasty hook and her red rubber gloves and alcohol. And them fish knows, that when my wife has them red rubber gloves on, that smells that dead is coming.

As she was unsure on how to use that big hook, we traded, so she got them reel, the fish was now hauling on the side in the water, quite finished by jumping and fighting.

And that macho hook just digged in and ombord it came, and it was BIG! Erika said -wow, that fish is as big as Andreas! And it was. And my wife standing there serving that fish a happy hour of laboratory boose, said- Where are we going to cut it up? The galley is to small. Ans I said, - we have do to it here honey and then, just then a big wave kicked our ass and we almost fell overboard with a drunk fish and everything. Thank god the pink octopus was still with us...

We had blood all over the aft deck, oh man. Erika said: - Its good momy is a doctor because things like this dont bother her-

And Andreas wanted to borrow them red rubber gloves all the time to feel the fish.

Now you would think the excitement was over, no no. The fishing was over yes, we have meat for three days now, at least.

Now as Ellinor started cutting up the fish I thought I better get our little baby Salsa up to speed again, so I rolled out the canvas again and soon enought that Hallberg Rassy had pushed the pedal to the medal again.

Well being macho does not mean being smart, does it? So here she goes at full speed again and I throw a bucket in the ocean to haul out fresh cleaning water for the surgeon, the fish and the deck. Well that bucket sure did digg in the water and I was not the one to let it go and it dragged me all the way to the aft and then my arm got caught in a wire and I let it go. Oh boy did it hurt? YES! But being macho you just say - Yes I felt something ....

So my wife who does not want to fall behind when it comes to accidents, she did fell behind, so to say. As the fish now looked more like the stuff you buy in a store for 300USD/Pound, nice filets etc, Ellinor was standing up to get the fresh water shower on deck to clean off herselfe. Oh boy, did that sidekicking wave wait for that? And of course Ellinor makes always the biggest and the best gymnastics when it comes to accidents, she did a back flip with a flop, landed on her back and hurt herselfe on an open hatch. Don't worry she still alive, she can walk, talk and she could eat fish for dinner.

So NOW you think the excitement was over? No No.

Here comes 200 Dolphins, minimum, 200! From everywhere! We have not seen one soul for 9 days, I mean outside the boat, and here comes 200 dolphins from everywhere! They come from North, West, East and yes, South also.

And they make a show to honour Ellinors back flip. But they can make flips with screw, backflips without screw, forward flips and the show was going on for hours! We had to put life vests on and move to the bow and our jaws where hanging down to the water. We just screamed -WOW! look at that! Did you see that! and so on. We have never ever seen anything like that before!

Well that was all for today folks!

What we had for breakfast?

Who cares?