Transatlantic solo
Norman G III
Wed 23 Nov 2011 21:08
our position tonight at 20.37 is
22 27 14N 021 04 19 W
and we are sailing along tonight in an easterly wind F5( about 16kt) and heading on a course of 225 degrees
we have had a really eventful 24 hours
last night was a real milestone for me.My watch was 3 pm to 6 pm and everyone was asleep when I took over from skip and let him go to bed
there was a strong wind of around 25 kt and the sea was rough with breaking waves of over 3 m all around us. at first I was a little apprehensive because everything seems nuch bigger at night but after 30 minutes I rreally started to enjoy myself. i let a little more sail out then a bit more then all of it and i really felt that even in these conditions I was in control of the boat -- not the other was around.. My watch was for three hours and i can honestly say it was the most fun ive ever had on a night shift. The boat really moved as fast as she could and really reacted well to the odd strange wave. I was so happy at one stage i even considered training to do a single handed trans atlantic crossing! it was only when i woke up at 7am this morning and saw jason and gollys faces that i realised they had not enjoyed the night as much as me. the boat was certainly crashing about a bit and i dont think they got and hours sleep between them. Golly recovered well during the day but Jason still doesnt feel so good so hes having an early night and skip is covering his night shift
then at 7.30 skip caught a small dorado and i had my first bite of the journey but the fish got free
for lunch we had raw marinated dorado ( the one we caught two hours before) with fahita style vegetables and roasted peppers ala Maria-- a local italian recipe i know
in the afternoon we rested a little and then we put out the rods again.
incredibly my biggest rod with the biggest line and lure combination ( 80lb rod with 80lb line and a chugger lure) was snapped by the biggest fish ive ever seem. it was a swordfish and was enormous it jumped 3 times out of the water before tiring of my game and snapping the line with ease.- very exciting. then i caught a little dorado but let it go because we dont need any more fish- catch and release!
have i told you about the dinner golly cooked last night. we played animal mineral or vegetable when it arrived at the table and all got it wrong! his piece de resistence was chopped cucumber mixed with sweet chilli sauce as a starter-- need i say more
we have the position reports of some other boats but incredibly it doesnt look as if we are last-- thats amazing because we have stopped 4 times today for fish-- the others must be really bad or catching more fish than us
we officially crossed the line of the tropics today but its still cold at night and im wearing the same night kit i wore to cross biscay back in april- global warming i say global cooling
a special mention to my parents and barry and maria tonight and also to gollys father and jasons parents and james mum and dad-- dont worry im looking after them all!
a little too much fishing tonight but it really was the biggest fish ive ever seen
sleep tight
until tomorrow
MG