Part 2 - Day 9 gone and on the donk continuing towards Flores, Azores 38:349N

Ticketeeboo
Sue & Alan
Sun 25 May 2014 17:07
Safety first, please. If we did not have the fuel I would have to rig-up additional supports and sail even more conservately with minimum load on our port shrouds. We have the fuel and the donk is good so I don't need to do more. I have emailed DYL and will wait their response, with the expectation we can get the job done properly when we visit Horta. I am annoyed because we selected the Discovery 55 because it is a very strong sailing yacht and to our immense liking. Maybe it takes an ocean passage to show up the weakest links ..........
but the Discovery 55 is promoted and sold as a World Class ocean sailing yacht? Sue says "We'll be sticking to the Med from now on!" Guess what happened next? First squiddy nearly got gobbled up. Squiddy's attacker got away. Dam .... another nearly has-been! Minutes later squiddy's at it again and this time we landed a nice lookin' tuna. Yippee fresh tuna will be on the menu soon. Not taking any chances on the bathing steps I firstly shot it with my pre-Bermuda temporary confiscated spear gun. That put a big hole in it, just behind it's gills but when I tried to lift it out the water the spear came out! Dam & blast for the second time. Fortunately the hook was in good and propper so I still had it attached. I asked Mike & Annie to reload the spear gun but time was of the essence so I took the gaff-hook, which I'd positioned in reach in case needed, and landed the two-holed tuna on our aft deck. Next came the big lump hammer & cutting board. Remembering how difficult it was to kill t
he barracuda (we couldn't eat for fear of poisoning in BVI) down came the lump hammer on the tuna's head and splurt went it's brains and blood EVERYWHERE. It was one of those "Bit too much dynamite there Butch" moments! Mike and Annie were well & truly blooded, so was the aft deck, the white gelcoat, the teak, the fenders and stanchions. Mike says "Next time we kill the fish with alcohol!" My way is very decisive, although I must remember not to go so hard on likes of tuna. It was de-scaled, gutted, be-headed and de-tailed, then cut-up into slices within minutes. one third in the fridge for todays lunch (afternoon dinner) Thai curry rice & fresh tuna. Two x one third's in freezer for future use. The day was certainly getting better! Then there's the unexpected sting in the tail. Our sliding washboard (remember when it jammed shut on the westward passage a day or so before landfall at Barbados?) Well it jammed again when I was wanting it up (not sure that sounds polite but I know wha
t I mean!). Fortunately, since last repairing washboard in February I can replace a broken counter-balance spring more easily. Two hours or so (as well an interlude to enjoy scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for evening meal) later, broken spring out/new spring in and washboard working perfectly well again. That's enough for one day. Now past 21:00, we're into Mikes watch and it's gone time for me to hit the sack and make some ZZZZZZZZ's.
An uneventful night. Email off to DYL & Sue, weather forecasts updated. Annie takes over at 03:00 and I'm making ZZZZZ's again. Just another day in the office and we're on the sodden donk in good sailing winds. We can start looking forward to seeing Flores late Wednesday/early Thursday and we're on the sodden donk in good sailing winds.
And finally for today........... just had (and having) the most amazing display of dolphins, one particular show-off flew vertically out the water, just couple of metres in front of our bow and back-flipped before re-entering the sea!
That's us up to date for now. Have a good Bank Holiday Sue and R,M,S & T and J,P,F & S xxxxxxxxxxx
Ticketeeboo MMSI 235071989 Callsign 2CED3, Ham callsign = m0hng
At 25/05/2014 15:00 UT our position was 38°49'N 041°23'W
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Ticketeeboo MMSI 235071989 Callsign 2CED3, Ham callsign = m0hng
At 25/05/2014 15:47 UT our position was 38°49.14'N 041°16.82'W
http://blog.mailasail.com/ticketeeboo
www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/positionreportsDetail.aspx?callsign=m0hng