06:20.220S 123:01.691W Less then 1000nm to The Marquises
Shaya Moya
Don & Susan Smyth
Tue 28 Jun 2011 20:23
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It's been 6 days since the last blog entry and I've
got quite a bit to share...
We had our half way celebration three days ago and
enjoyed a platter of cheese and biscuits. What a party it was!!
Only 970nm to go. For some that sounds like a lot
considering it will take us another 6 days, but for us it's the last third.
Hopefully we can do it as fast as the first two thirds of the journey. We were
averaging 200nm a day which is really good for a boat of our size and
considering we never used the engine. "Big pat on the back" I sat hopefully
because so far it seems unlikely. We've had to motor now for 22hrs to keep our
speed at 7kt which, compared to the 9kt averages we were used to, seems
painfully slow. Hopefully, the wind will pick up soon and we can turn the engine
off, it make a hell of a noise.
So highlights of the last few days...
We've been visited by some rather large aquatic
dwellers a few times, we know this firstly, because our depth sounder
tells us and secondly because two days ago I saw what I'm sure was a huge
whale. It never breached the surface of the water but it's gloomy shadow
slid off through the swell behind us just as the depth sounder showed
0.5m Three or four times it's happened now and it makes us rather nervous.
We've seen whales way off exhaling great big fountains into the air as
well. The problem with whales and yachts is simple. If you hit one, you
will mostly likely sink your boat. I bet a lot of you reading this never thought
that was possible! It happens though and it makes us very nervous. I'm
still dieing to get a good look at one.
We've also finally seen some dolphins again. They
were swimming around the boat yesterday. I estimate around forty to fifty of the
little blue-grey swimmers. Funny enough the depth sounder took no notice of them
under the boat. We stood up on the bow for a good half hour watching them
surfing alongside and in front of us.
We also changed the watch schedule around so that I
could get some more sun and Dad could enjoy some night sailing. It took two days
to adjust but now we're sleeping well and it works a little better for us
because I'm not fishing on my off hours and can sleep a little more. Dad also
really enjoys the night-sailing.
We've been eating really well throughout the trip,
but I thought it might interest some of you to witness how we prepare meals. As
they say, a picture tells a thousand words:
  The right lure makes all the difference... I call
this setup the curtain of death.
This little red-faced chap is a killer...
  Success... Celebrating this 8kg Tuna with my
fishing haka No. 11. Shortly after celebrations the work begins. (The boat is
healing a lot!!)
  First course...
Second course...(Still healing)
It was great sushi!! Just tuna but absolutely
great!!
Today started off quite slowly. We had very little
wind and were motoring so we decided it was a good time to replace the
tri-colour light bulb. The tri-colour light bulb replacement is my job and will
always be my job because...
  This is the tri-colour light, the cylindrical
plastic jobbie with the red and green glass. The stuff around it is also on
top of the mast. The best time to go up the mast is obviously when the boat
is either in a marina or anchored somewhere very calm. It's a lot of fun if
you're not scared of heights and the view is amazing from up there.
  It doesn't look high from the deck but when you're
at the top of the 25m mast looking down it seems quite high. That's why himself
is not up here but down there watching.
He's also meant to be making sure I'm secured on
the mast winch. It's so high that you can even see the curvature of the earth
along the horizon.
  See it? Try now to spot the whale in the
picture...
For those of you who can't see the
whale...some Dolphins off the bow.
Well that's it from me for now. There will soon be
another entry at latest when we get The Marquises but probably
before.
Thanks again for all the emails and recipes for
tuna... to send any other tuna recipes please use shaya {DOT} moya {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com
Kind Regards
RnD
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