Decimalised fish!
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Sat 8 Oct 2011 10:22
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Saturday 8th October 0933 UTC 1033
BST
12:19.97N 020:32.76W
Wind: NNW 6.8 Knots, COG 043 Deg True, SOG 3.8
Knots
Have you ever been to Dakar? I am currently
pointing there and atthis rate I will get there in two and a half
days.....
Oh well. Yestderday the sea became oily smooth. I
got the fishing gear out. Then I caught just what I was hoping for a beautiful
fresh effervescent Mahi Mahi!
I took it down to the galley and layed it out.
These things are spectacular and as the life fades out of them so to does the
incredible colours of green, yellow and blue.
It was bigger than i thought and you are after his
story goingto think it was bigger than it was. I layed it out on the galley
counter top and measured it it was 32". What a perfect fish! Now 32" is more or
less 3 foot isn't it? Three foot is a yard and for those of you who think metric
we can call that a Metre. Those of you who remember decimalisation from the
early 70's or who have fishermen as friends know this phenomenon very
well.
So there you have it, with my "decimalised" 1 Metre
Mahi Mahi I got to work. Now at this job I can tell you that some of the best
surgeons in the world, if they could see my work, would sign up for lessons. The
head, tail and guts still attached to a "1 metre" transluscent frame, were
depatched over the side and back into the
food chain. Then 14 lovely fillets were removed with a precision the butcher who
took my appendix out when I was 14 can only imagine.
Six fillets were frozen - 30 minutes after waltzing
with my hook. Four went into the fridge and the four tail fillets and two
trimmings were cut up and eaten raw! Raw with some lemon juice and a wee bit of
lime as that was lying around quietly begging to be immersed in a gin and tonic,
sesame oil, soy sauce and the best of the lot a dollop of hot chilli oil from
that old woman I met in the north of Fiji who made and gave me a bottle of
her home brew. So at the hinder end of the day, as a very happy fisherman I
sat up in the cockpit and with a few crackers ate the four sushied fillets and
damn it yes, I had a fine glass of Sauvignon too!
As the sunset came I lay on the foredeck to put
some distance between me and the engine who were beginning to tire of each
other. I lay and read and thought I must be one of the most fortunate people
alive. I considered sleeping there and it was very tempting as the gentle swish
of our bow wave was intoxicating - or was it the sauvignon. Whatever.
I decided against it though as I may not hear the
radar alarm from out there. If dozing and a ship was bearing down on me it would
be too late by the time its flared bow blanked out the moonfilled and starry
night sky, which incidentally Orion as expected has been overseeing
us.
At about 0500 this morning however there was a
flutter of breeze with lifted my heavy eyelids. It flittered, flickered and
steadied. At seven knots from the NW initially. I was immediate best friends
with it and introduced it to my big genoa. That carried us along at about 6
knots but too far off course as it is really a downwind sail. The wind then
picked up a knot or two and I got the Jib out and came 5 degrees or so onto
the course though a little slower. It is quite incredible how a big boat
like Rhiann Marie sails so well in light airs. Even with my sails, which anyway
are only cruising sails and well past their best.
Oh! and that fuel problem or faulty guage? Not a
bit of it. I switched over tanks after 66 hours of steaming and still have some
left, and I checked back my log book to the Sri Lankan experience when we had 42
hours and ran out. Now I can say that about 10% of that reduction in consumption
is due to me running at 1900 revs but that still leaves a 50% difference in
consumption. I have my own theiories on this but will be interested to hear from
anybody who has a credible explanation for this.
And there we have it, we are now pointing at Dakar
lopping along at about 3.9 knots just now. Dakar however is not where I want to
go. I think however we are starting to see some gradient wind starting to fill
in and this is a good wee practice for the next 7 days which I will spend
beating into the wind. Refresh myself on how to tease every last morsel of
forward momentum out of this beauty.
There is now of course a lot more traffic around as
expected and the Canary based Spanish fishing fleet are all around the area. Of
course they have no AIS and I am not getting visuals on them - nor am I picking
them up on the radar at the moment but I can hear them non stop talking to each
other on the VHF.
I also will start to meet ships heading south round
the Cape and their deranged night "officers" of the watch. One came on to an
unidentified ship last night and started the "baiting" by playing excerpts from
some wacky music over the VHF. Last night he had no takers but I know over the
next week we are going to get to farmyard noises, possibly simulated sexula
orgasms, and calls and taunts to monkey boy filipino - or has so much changed
since I passed this way two years ago? I doubt it and will report to you over
the next week.
The unfortunate thing about all of this however is
that sleep and I are going to become distant cousins over the next week. Hey
ho!
Now by way of justification for my fatigue induced
inability to poof-read my e-mails before sending them, just have a raed of
tihs:
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was
rdanieg. Deu to the phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are,
the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the first and last ltteer be in the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm.
This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter
by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig
huh?
Quote of the day:- Go as far as you can see; when
you get there you will be able to see farther. - Thomas Carlyle, Essayist &
Historian
e-mail me on : rhiann {DOT} marie {CHANGE TO AT} gaelforce {DOT} net
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