LATE NEWS: BIG BERTHA CLEAR LEADER IN FISHING CONTEST.

 

Big bertha is the name the crew of Sonar like to give the cruising chute,

a giant sail which they use in light and following winds.Big Bertha

because she is big and blousy and when she fills up with wind, she

charges off leaving Sonar hanging onto her skirt tails.She is hard to get

started and when the wind picks up, and she has to be brought down to

'earth', she is more than a handful for two strong men, let alone two of

Sonar's old f*rts. The thing that gives her most trouble is gusts of wind

or windy gussets as the chief engineer puts  it. Recovery is done with a

snuffer, a kind of sleeve which is pulled down from on high until the

sail is completely smothered. The resulting sausage is then lowered from

the mast-head and wrestled onto the side deck before being lashed to the

rail.
Yesterday morning, while Captain Ray was taking a stroll on the promenade

deck, he spotted a flying fish nestling in the folds of Big Bertha's

embrace. He brought it back to the cockpit to show it off to the crew,

and placed it carefully on the side deck. There followed a discussion as

to whether the flying fish should become a frying fish, or whether First

Mate Ted should use it as bait to procure a more substantial

specimen.This discussion proving inconclusive, Captain Ray declared that

he would like to be photographed holding the prize. The crew were not

happy about this, fearing it might be the first step in a bid to claim

the fish for himself. However, First Mate Ted was despatched to fetch a

camera, but when he returned, the fish had disappeared. The knowledgeable

old salts agreed that the yacht had rolled her gunwhale under and scooped

up water which washed the fish out of the scuppers.

I prefer to think that this cunning little chap was not a 'dead Atlantic

blue flyin fish', not 'deceased', and 'gone to meet is maker', but he was

'only sleepin'. He saw his chance and made a great escape, and is even

now skimming the wave-tops doing aerobatic stunts such as loops, barrel

rolls, and Immelman turns to celebrate his new won freedom.

 

FISHING RESULTS TO DATE

1 Big Bertha: attempts 1. bait: womanly wiles. results: 1 flying fish

2 First Mate Ted: attempts 3. 1. bait: spinner.        results NIL
                              2. bait: frozen sardine. results NIL
                              3. bait: white pvc tape. results NIL
                                                       total   NIL

3 Captain Ray: attempts 0. excuse: keeping his powder dry.

4 Chief Engineer John: attempts 0 excuse: waiting for the big one to come

  along. (real reason: couldn't be *rsed).