Frolicsome fish fear fry-up
A year afloat: to the Caribbean and back
Sam and Alex Fortescue
Thu 21 Jul 2011 15:21
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39:32.94N
057:58.47W
Tuna, tuna everywhere, but not a chunk to
eat...
Yesterday was a big tunny day. From dawn til dusk,
great, round fish jumped athletically out of the water and plopped mockingly
back in to the briny. It was as if to say, 'I see your hooks and don't eat
*plastic* squid'. We must have seen dozens of these beasts - some huge - going
after flying fish. At one point, the boat set up a squadron of flying fish,
soaring away over the low waves, and a predatory tuna erupted from the water,
seizing one of the smaller fish in mid air.
Fish not withstanding, we had a good wildlife day.
At one point we passed a gigantic sunfish, basking near the surface and waving
its fins in a lazy way. There were also dolphins, a suspected turtle, fulmar
aplenty and storm petrel. The
'I'm-going-to-end-it-all-by-dashing-myself-onto-the-deck' fish count numbers
only two - one a mini squid. We are hoping for better luck on the fishing front
today as the boat is moving again at a decent trolling speed. We're doing about
six knots through the water, but a whopping eight over the ground, thanks to a
boost from an eddy of the Gulf Stream. This current comes and goes as the flow
loses itself in eddies in the north Atlantic. But when our speed jumps for no
obvious reason and the water temperature leaps by five degrees, you can be sure
it's thanks to the Gulf Stream.
Yesterday, the sailing was limp at best. We let the
fearsome spinnakoo out of its cage again in the afternoon, but it spent much of
its time lolling disappointedly in the water. We managed a bare three knots for
most of the afternoon - too slow to tempt a fish. We donked into the night in
calm seas until the wind rose enough to unfurl the jib at about
midnight.
It's one of the purest joys of an ocean crossing
that the conditions vary so much from one day to the next. Yesterday was all
about swimming and suntans, the day before about holding on with whitened
knuckles. And today looks like a perfect balance. There is little sign of the
heavy seas at the start of the week, but we're moving almost as fast. The sails
are well set on a broad reach, so we're barely heeling, and the hydrovane has no
difficulty keeping us on course. In a good watch, you can reel off 20 to 22
miles likes this. Tropical Storm Brent crosses our bows today - about 400 miles
east of us with winds of about 35 knots. We're not expecting to see much fall
out, though.
There's plenty of ground left to cover. It's about
1,250 miles to the Azores from here and we've covered perhaps 600 miles so far.
By a curious coincidence, it looks as if our Danish friends from north Spain,
Sten and Rosemarie, will be there at the same time as us. They have promised to
have cold beers at the ready if we give them a few hours
notice...
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