Brindisi to Syrcusa Italy
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Sat 5 Sep 2015 07:56
In the evening, we once again heard the "clowns" on the VHF. VHF channel 16 is the emergency channel, and is only to be used by vessels on the water, and for specific, serious purposes. Joking around on the air isn't one of the things that you can do, and if I am not mistaken, it is against the law. It was dark, around 10 pm, and I was on watch. Three nights ago, on our way to Brindisi from Montenegro, about the same time, we heard a croaking voice coming out of the VHF saying..."mario...." this was repeated over the next 30-60 minutes on and off, or there was just dead air and groans. Then there was ..." Maaarriooo....I am not your fatherrrrr". We hadn't heard another misuse of the VHF like this, and figured the police were after this guy.
So it did come as a surprise, when we were off the coast, almost at the boot of Italy, hearing 'Mario" again over the VHF in the same croaking voice. Then another voice came over the radio, I am assuming this was his buddy, responding a few times with " I can't see yooouuu, but I can smell yoooouuuu". Vlad's comment was " It is amazing how far that signal is travelling". Maybe these jokesters were high up on a mountain in Albania.
The next am, at about 9 in the morning, as I was snuggling with Pavel and trying to have a nap, after only getting 3 hours of sleep, I heard an excited Vlad shouting " Fish!! Fish....Fish..come up here Sarah, I need help." So up I ran, and there was Vlad, with the rod and reel, hauling in a fish from the depths of the Med. Let me say, this is the first fish Vlad ever caught with a rod and reel. Apparently he jigged a fish through its belly once about 40 years ago, but I figure that really doesn't count as a real catch. After a few minutes of this and me scrambling to get out the gaff (pole with big hook on it), Vlad declares" Its a Tuna!!!!". And it was. So Vlad gaffed the thing, and up came a live Tuna. We got it into the "bathtub", and poured Gin into its gills. Actually I had brought up the rum and gin, but when I asked, should we used rum or gin he looked at me like I was crazy even considering wasting rum on a fish:) It died quickly, we bled it,
rinsed it and Vlad cut off the meat. We had sushi for lunch, a tuna steak for dinner, and tuna again the next day. Yummy! Still have half of it left in the freezer for later.
It was one of my hopes for this trip, that we would catch a tuna and I could make sushi, so I had all of the supplies on board. It was Sept 2, 2015, our 10th anniversary. Thank you Vlad for an excellent present. It was just what I wanted:)