Next stop Mauritius

Out here on the big blue today, the wind has finally decided to take a bit
of a breather. Having blown for days on end from the north-east, the best
we could do to get to Mauritius was close hauling north. We now find
ourselves due west of Reunion and Mauritius, and 200 nautical miles to go.
Just yesterday I was wondering when we will see dolphins again, lo and
behold, this morning they came around for a little bit of fun in the sun.
Last night I had to choose a movie to watch with Scott. Having 2T's of
movies and documentaries to choose from, my eyes fell on Ace Ventura - Pet
Detective. Asked Scott if he has seen it, and nope, at 9 he has not seen
this classic. A classic in my books that is. Jim Carey is certainly one of
my favourite actors for pure mad genius type of acting, and we enjoyed the
movie thoroughly. Which also features a dolphin named Snow White who was
stolen and thus entered Pet Detective Ace Ventura to the rescue. Scott's
brother Phil(15) is the more reserved of the two. They do home schooling
and mommy Marina sees to it that they stick to their schedule. My daughter
Maryna calls it boat schooling, which is probably a more apt description

A lot of ships around the last few days. If you haven't seen a ship for
weeks, two or three ships a day counts for a lot. Nice to have AIS on
board. AIS is a system whereby all ships are required to transmit their AIS
signal. AIS stands for Automatic Identification System. This relays via a
VHF signal the ships vital navigational data. The ship's name, approximate
position, destination, type of ship, speed, direction that the ship is
moving in etc. Radar has been used for many years, and AIS is also assists
to prevents collisions at sea. Radar can only detect a ship in relative
close proximity, whereas AIS detects ships at a much greater distance.
Radar is excellent in many regards, and adding AIS to the equation, makes
travelling the oceans much safer. We have both AIS and radar on board
Island Home.

Our trip is not over yet, and it is prudent to take extra care as one gets
close to your destination. There is a tendency to relax a bit and let your
guard down, when exactly the opposite is required. There are many tales of
people who have sailed around the world, or very nearly before they ran
their boats aground. Car accidents also often happen close to home, focus
focus focus. It is never over until it is over. But thus far it has been an
excellent trip.

While I was writing the above, the alarm was raised by Marina that there are
dolphins around the boat. In a flash we were out on the trampoline and
watching the dolphins doing their antics around the bows of our boat.
Jumping, diving, this way that way we were thoroughly entertained for a
while. Soon the dolphins were gone, they are always such a delightful sight
to behold in their natural environment. Seeing that there were dolphins I
knew there had to be fish in the area as well. Usually tuna. On Marina's
intuition the lures were out early this morning. I went out to see if
everything was in order when I noticed that one of the fishing lines were
taught. I pulled on it and felt that it was a rather big fish fighting the
line. I have taken fish on many times in this manner, and for many years now
leave the battle to someone else so they can also experience this one on one
battle. Jasmijn was nearby and I asked her if she would like to have a go.
She agreed and lots of fun watching the tug of war. As the fish came closer
we once again saw the familiar deep blue body and golden tail carving big zig
zags through the water. Geoff just had a shower and joined in the capture of
the fish. I handed him the gaff, and also got out the T-shaped spiked, or
icky-jimmy as it is also known. We use this to push into the fish's brain and
kill him instantly. I know it sounds cruel, but it is also kind in a way.
Soon Jasmijn had the fish right next to the boat, Geoff gaffed the fish and
lifted the dorado cow onto the sugar scoop. The sugar scoops are the back
part of the hulls on a catamaran. While trying to hold him the fish fought
back and gave Geoff a few slaps on the head with it's tail. I also prepared a
noose line which we tie around the fish's tail, the other end tied to the
boat. There is then no escape. Geoff slit the throat to drain most of the
blood and we then dragged the fish backwards through the water on the noose
line. Geoff have been filleting the last few dorados we landed and this time
I volunteered. Scott also joined in and learned how to remove the scaly skin
with a sharp knife and a cutting board. For a biology lesson I carefulle
sliced the fish belly open exposing the heart, lungs, liver and stomach. I
remove the stomach and asked Scott to squeeze the tummy a bit and feel the
remains of bait fish inside. He was not to keen on squeezing it out, just
slightly squeamish. It is a rather squirmy type of job, but soon I had the
tummy inside out and we found an interesting array of small fish, half
dissolved already. Marina mentioned that the floppy tummy turned inside out
looks a bit like a male part, which it does if you look at it in a way. Soon
the fish was filleted and we also cut some strips for fish biltong. We washed
the deck thoroughly and then proceeded stringing on the biltong strips we
prepared from our dorado catch yesterday. Real easy, just place it in a bowl
and add liberal amounts of soya sauce. Leave it overnight to soak in and hang
it up the next day. In two days it will ready for nibbling on during night
watches. Except that we should be in Mauritius in the next two days.
Nonetheless I am sure it will be thoroughly enjoyed by one and all.

Since I was busy anyway I volunteered to make lunch as well. Spaghetti
bolognaise is Scott's favourite and he assisted me wherever he could. Phil
also joined in and grated some parmesan cheese, and at about 2pm, we were
ready to start our meal. I came back to my cabin to finish the blog when I
heard a bit of activity outside wth Scott calling me. Geoff had the diving
ladder down and the boys had there feet in the water. I recommended we throw
a line out and attach a floating fender to the end of the line. Soon Jasmijn
was in the water while we were motoring slowly and having a ball. Geoff jumed
in soon after, then Phil, and finally Scott, who had a self-inflatable life
jacked on. What a laugh it was as he was just halfway in the water when the
life jacked imploded. The shocked, amazed and confused expression on his
face makes me laugh even now while writing this. Anyways, we had a fantastic
day, a beautiful sunset. In the distance we can maybe make out Reunion, or
maybe not. We will be right next to it when it gets light tomorrow morning. A
beautiful volcanic island with high peaks, the highest over 3000 mtrs.
Anyways, hope you are having a great weekend too. From Island Home, salute.