Mahi Mahi
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Sun 21 Feb 2010 23:18
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21st February 0700 Local (We think) 1100
UTC
12:19.20N 072:00.60W
Good Morning.
The good ship Rhiann Marie slipped her moorings
just about 0415 yesterday in Bonaire with the intention of sailing to Aruba
about 110 miles away. However here I am just over 24 hours later just off the
coast of Columbia at Cabo La Vela! We had strong downwind conditions with
upto 30 knots of wind though there were short periods of down to 15 knots
also. We prefer the 30 knots to the 15 knots, but most of the time the wind
was 22 - 26 knots.
Our plan had been to slip in "under the radar" in
Aruba to anchor over night on the South West end of the island. To clear in
through customs and immigration would have been time consuming for such a short
stop so the plan was to be an illegal immigrant for a night. However Aruba
was dead down wind and our long reaches, which in the stronger winds were
really runs, took us round the south side of Curacao and closer to the
Venezuelan coast as we past the south of Aruba. When I had dinner the
previous night, and was talking to one of the other cruisers there, he had
doubts whether I would make Aruba yesterday. Had I stopped there, I would
have been in time for lunch! The idea of having an anchor stop was to
break up the passage to Cartagena which otherwise would be over 600
nautical miles. The route is also renowned for poor weather and large seas, so
the more options in our passage for "bolt holes" the
better.
However, no anchorages and no bolt holes so far and
I now have to decide whether to carry on directly to Cartagena with an ETA of
tomorrow afternoon or whether to stop over at one of several anchorages along
the Columbian coast to sample a little of the village life. My tendency is
always to push on, particularly at the moment as conditions are fine, however
the trade off is perhaps missing a nice anchorage and a day less in Cartagena.
What would you do?
No bad weather so far but the forecast strong winds
are a bit further down the line, so its not over till its over and anyway we are
prepared and expectant. With regards to weather and the compression zone off the
coast, the forecasts on the Grib Files, we know from those who have experience
of the coastal conditions here, have to have 5 - 10 knots wind speed added to
the gradient wind forecasts, but it is generally the large sea states which are
the biggest challenge.
What we have had however was a Mahi Mahi!!!!!
Finally. This fish is also known as Dorado or Dolphin Fish and looks spectacular
with his greeny blue and silver colouring and verl long sail fin all along his
back. I had just been doing about 11 knots before we had the strike.
This in itself seems really odd that a relatively small fish should strike at
these speeds. The fish was about 4 pounds and was caught at about 1730. He
was eaten by 1930 and was absolutely delicious. The whole fish was filleted
and the fillets marinaded in olive oil and lime juice with seasoning and a
special mix of herbs and seasonings that Trish bought somewhere and then fried
off skin side down for 3 minutes and white side down for 2 minutes.Slowing
the boat down was a good exercise, as it is not so easy when the boom has a
preventer fitted, and the sail is hard against the spreaders. However it was
done in a few minutes and the fish was still there this time. He was strong, and
a hell of a fighter and it took several brutal blows of the winch handle before
I could put him down. What a bloody mess.
It was a top day for Trish yesterday as she cooked
that fantastic meal and pulled off a five hour night watch to give me some sleep
through last night. I am as always, being fully supported, if not even a little
spoilt!
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