Day 147 - Caribbean Passage - Day 21
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Midnight we had made it
as far as 16:06.13N 48:22.37W – Tuesday 16th of December, 2008. Engine Time – 4.25
Hours You would not read about
it, I woke once again this morning very early only to once again need to
retrieve the tow gen and start the engine just to get us moving once again. I
am sort of over the fact that I thought I could sail 2000 miles without running
the engine. Well I am sure I could but then it would be Easter on the water
also. It really is a little upsetting, I have spent so much time and money
getting Silky being relatively self sufficient for such a journey and yet I am
repetitively turning to the engine. I take off my hat to the many sailors that
do this journey with out an engine at all. However I have also heard many
stories of people going completely mad from all the rocking and rolling.
The slower you are going and the less wind you have the worse it become’s.
I can not handle more than an few minute’s and Fiona is good for a bout
half that. Pulling in the tow gen
each morning is becoming part of my routine and it is now my signal to put out
the line. Today as always it did not take long and I was selectively releasing
fish back in the water. I did however hang onto a couple. A Dorado and a small
tuna (Atlantic Tuna I think). These fish, the poor little things already had
their fate decided for them. The Dorado is amazing to eat and makes lovely
fillets for the pan or BBQ and because Fi love’s fish done like this that
was him taken care of. The tuna on the other hand was bound for our bellys raw
as the day it was born. The trick with eating raw fish is filleting it
correctly and then wrapping the fillets in glad wrap and sticking them in the
fridge for a few hours. I do not know why but it seems to get rid of any fishy
smell and taste. Fiona is in charge of making the Wasabi and Soy sauce mix for
the occasion, which is always just hot enough to earn your respect pretty
quickly other wise it singes the hairs right out of your nostril’s. As
for the left overs and any other bits of fish that are not the prize
cut’s I put into lemon juice or a vinegar/water mix and pickle for
another day. I also salted a little bit of the tuna and Dorado as I am
experimenting for when I catch a 20kg tuna or a 50 kg sail fish. There will be
no catch and release on this boat every thing is fair game and I say if it gets
to go down into my belly it has done a good service. The whole fishing
exercise take about 5hours, by the time the rod goes in to the last scrap of
fish is cleaned up not to mention me having to scrub the rear cockpit I am
pretty satisfied. Something needs to keep me occupied. We also had a visit from
a couple of lovely sea birds, no idea what they are but they came and said hi
to us both as we sat out on deck for a couple of sun downer’s. Special
comments by Fiona: Ben took his obsession with fishing
to the next level today. He spent hours filleting, frying, bbq-ing,
drying and pickling the poor things. Honestly, it keeps him busy and
quiet for hours. He does an amazing job of filleting so I don’t
come across any bones, bless him. But the smell in the cockpit and now in
the kitchen is doing my head in. All I can smell is fish!
I’ve banned him from preparing fish inside now. I quietly hope that
Ben doesn’t catch his 20kg tuna he so desperately wants. Can you
imagine all that fish, all over the boat? Day 147 Traveling Direction
– West Wind Direction –
South East East – moderate Swell – Moderate Average Speed
– 4.2 Top Speed – 6.8
Knots Through the water Distance Covered –
103 Nautical Miles |