Of swimming with the tuna and flying a woeful spinnakoo
A year afloat: to the Caribbean and back
Sam and Alex Fortescue
Wed 20 Jul 2011 14:38
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39:33.36N
060:54.45W
Much has changed in the past 24 hours - at least
from the weather perspective. The waves have fallen dramatically, leaving a
nearly smooth Atlantic behind them. It's much easier to sleep as a result and
the crew had a good night. Sadly, the wind has fallen as well, so we've been
obliged to donk up and make progress under our own steam.
We flew the fearsome spinakoo for a few hours this
morning. I had thought it would be good to unchain the beast for a spell now
that the seas had subsided. But in only 5 knots of wind, the sail fluttered and
drooped - nothing much left of its former self.
In the meantime, we've had our first swim (and
shower) since we left Newport five days ago. Taking advantage of the calmer
conditions we dived in off the boat. The water has that deep cerulean blue to it
that we've only seen mid-ocean and a few remnants of the heat of the Caribbean
have been ferried north by the Gulf Stream. It is a pretty magical experience,
particularly in contrast to the heavy seas of the past few days.
There is also plenty of the sargasso weed we came
to know in Cuba and the Bahamas floating around. It makes fishing difficult, as
it keeps getting stuck on the hooks. But we're obviously into rich fishing
waters, as I saw a number of large tuna leaping clear out of the water this
morning. We finished our mahi last night and are on the hunt for a tunny. Chris
lived up to the billing and produced an excellent baked mahi with oven roast
garlic, spinach rice and carrots. It really doesn't feel as if we're eating
'boat food' and there are some thoughts that we should open a resto back in
blighty with a marine theme, serving some of our Atlantic classics. We'll give
the business model some more thought...
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