MOB on the equator

The last few days have been quite hectic. After not having had any fish
take our lures, a massive wahoo smashed one of our lures. Taking line at
an alarming rate there were a few lessons to be learned. Our trace was
nylon, and I knew only a matter of time before the wahoo's razor sharp
teeth would cut through the nylon. We were also going at quite some speed
with the gennikar up, and just about no time to drop it and turn the boat
around. After making some noise with the boat's horn, Tristan came up to
see what is going on. Helplessly we stood and watch the wahoo thrashing
and splashing and then our line went slack. We worked on a plan of action
should a big fish take one of our lures again. All hands on deck, drop the
gennikar and turn the boat around, as quick as possible. We replaced the
nylon traces with steel wire traces should a wahoo be lured into striking
again. The night before we had a fishing boat or two in the distance, we
had some dolphins and were expecting tuna, big tuna. Dolphins at night is an
amazing sight. The bioluminescence outlining there torpedo shaped bodies
perfectly.

Led out some line again, and not long before a massive fish, a tuna I
think, got hooked. This time we were ready, and in a flash the gennikar
was down, and we could turn the boat around to chase after this big fish.
Feeling supremely confident that we've got it, it swam in under the boat
and our line got stuck on one of the rudders :( Another fish, another
lure. We raised the gennikar again and carried on sailing, slightly
dismayed. But as conditions were perfect for fishing, I quickly tied
another lure on, led out some line, and before I could place the rod in
the rod holder, I had a fish on again. The guys thought I was just joking.
On a previous occasion, after many days of nothing, I let a rag slide down
the line, and when it reached the lure it got hooked and caused enough
drag to make the reel scream in delight. I passed the rod to Tristan and
he started reeling in. I knowingly looked to Carey and told her, rag fish.
As the rag and lure popped over a wave it jumped out of the water a bit,
which made it look even more legit. We were on the flybridge and below us
Richard and Dan had the gaff out and ready, a knife, and great was he
disappointment when it turned out to be a rag. Tristan said it was one of
the most disappointing moments of his life. The guys though the rag must
have blown off and somehow got snagged by the lure. As I have already told
Carey it was a rag fish, I told the boyz it was just a practise run to see
how quick our reaction time would be. Which is why the guys were thinking
I might be joking when they saw me reeling in a fish, having just let the
line out. I could feel it was not very big and no need to drop the sail
and turn the boat around. I passed the rod to Tristan and he reeled the
fish in. Richard and Dan handled the gaff and knife, and soon we had our
first fish on S/V Second Wind. A medium size bonito, not my favourite fish
by a long shot, but it was filleted and the fillets placed in a container
in one our outside fridges. Tristan had tohave a piece if the bonny's heart,
a law us mariners live by. The next day it was spiced and fried and we
all enjoyed our first taste of fresh fish for the trip.

Yesterday we were closing in on the equator, and at about 10:00 we were
getting ready for the initiation. Three of my crew have never crossed the
equator, and it is a very special occasion in any mariner's life. Normally
we break an egg on the person's head, with some flour and syrup etc etc
etc. A sticky messy situation, but lots of fun nevertheless. A more
thrilling experience I think is to swim or be dragged behind the boat
across this imaginary line, crossing from the southern to the northern
hemisphere. The wind was just strong enough to hold the gennikar up and we
were going at about 4kts with the engines off. 4kts is the maximum you
want to be dragged behind a boat, after that it becomes very hard to pull
yourself back to the boat. Dan and myself tied two log mooring lines
together and attached the ends to the cleats at the back. We often do this
to slow the boat down a bit, forming a big loop in the water. I asked
Carey if she could lift twice her body weight jokingly, as that is what
she might have to do to pull herself in. I also told her to rather wear a
t-shirt as the drag might pull her swimming costume off. I thought that
once the two boyz were in, it would slow us down even more making it easier
for Carey to hold on. Three minutes before we got to the equator, everything
was set in place. GoPro fixed to the flybridge to record the event. I
started the counting from 20, 19, 18......and at 10 seconds to go Dan and
Tristan jumped in first holding onto the mooring line. Carey followed and
all three of them were dragged across the equator. Carey started moving
further back to the loop of the line, and unexpectedly she got dragged
under the water with the line at her back. The only thing she could do was
to let go. I shouted at Dan from the flybridge to let go and stay with
Carey which he did. He had to swim a bit back to get to her, but soon he
was with her. I needed him to give her moral support and two people are also
easier to find than one person. I shouted at Richard to get to the gennikar
and get ready to get it down. At the same time I started both engines and
got ready to turn the boat around. Tristan was still holding on but could
not get back on the boat as we were going just a tad to fast. Richard was
ready to snuff the gennikar, and as I turned the boat around and the sail
back filled, he pulled it down in a flash. By this time we were already half
a mile away from Carey and Dan and Tristan could get on as we slowed to turn
around. The wind was straight from behind when we left Carey and Dan, and it
was thus fairly easy to point in their direction by turning straight back
into the breeze. From the high flybridge it was fairly easy to keep a visual
on them. Now and then though they would disappear in the glare of the sun
and the swell. A moment of panic for me, but trusting my experience and
going straight back on our track I stayed completely calm and focused.
Incredibly relieved and thankful and we were all very happy to have crossed
the equator in such an unforgettable manner. Happy to be alive, happy having
each other on board, great for crew dynamics. Do not try this at home :)))
All and all it took less than six minutes from crossing the equator, shaking
two of our crew, dropping the sail and picking them up again. We all had
full confidence in each other. I also think we were all slightly shaken and
stirred :))) Carey baked some scrumptious loafs of bread and at lunch time
we were all sitting upstairs with big smiles each sharing our own experience
of the event. We should have dropped the sail before we crossed the equator.
Lesson learned. Sometimes we live on the edge of the edge. Totally absorbed
in the moment.

Last night there was some distant lightning on the horizon. I think so.
Richard said on his watch he saw four flashes far off. Could have been
flares too. A few fishing boats operating in the area. At about ten this
morning we had a huge pod of dolphins visiting us, showing us some
boisterous somersaulting and beautiful in sync swimming. The sun was bright
with a bank of clouds slowly moving in on us. There was hardly a breeze and
we were motoring smoothly up and down the long swells maintaining good
speed. So many dolphins....no wind.....turned the motor off and jumped into
the water. You could clearly hear their excited clicking noises and could
see them with goggles on. They circled us a bit but kept a fair distance.
Being in the water with all these wild dolphins in close proximity,
sigh....no words...just blessings. Carey also jumped in, a brave step after
the ordeal the day before. Tough cookie. She is now a true sailor with tales
to tell and like us all, have gained a new respect and appreciation for
life, for the ocean. And then the rain came.....buckets and buckets of rain.
First good rains we've had in 26 days since we left Cape Town. Like tribal
hooligans we ran out and dancing in the rain we also grabbed brooms and rags
and gave Second Wind a good boat wash. Also filled some bottles with fresh
free range organic ocean rain water :)))

A small black sea bird came fluttering around the boat and having seen this
a few times before, informed my crew that the bird is looking for a place to
come and sit on the boat. I also informed them that when you see these birds
there are always tuna in the area. A minute later the bird found a place
just in front of the helming station to land. He must have been exhausted
from the rain all around and needed to rest and dry his wings. Two minutes
later our one reel started sounding and we had a fish on. We also saw
something floating in the water a short distance away and were on our way to
have a closer look when the fish took the lure. The floating object looked
like a whale carcass from afar, but turned out to be a fairly big float with
a fishing net around it. Obviously one of the fishing boats are using this
device to catch fish. We just landed the yellow fin tuna when our hand line
also hooked a fish, a bonito. This time it was Dan's turn to take a bite out
of the tuna's heart. It is a tribal thing. In a weird upside down sort of
way this is our way of giving thanks to the spirit of the fish, heart to
heart. Richard and Tristan filleted the fish, laid it on some ice for half
an hour, and then out come the long awaited wasabi, pickled ginger and soya
sauce. Sushimi, really fresh from the ocean. Add to that some fresh
rainwater to drink, and once again we were grateful and thankful and humbled
by this beautiful experience we call life. Our spirits are soaring.

The northern hemisphere is turning out to be quite a number. Following winds
and seas are over for now as we start facing the headwinds towards Cape
Verde. At the moment we are going through the tropical rain belt, and yes,
it is still raining :))) Not much wind here, but a little higher north we
can expect a bit more wind. The little webbed footed black bird is still
with us. Moved position a bit and now comfortably protected from the wind
and rain under our table on the flybridge. Thanks for sharing a bit of your
time with us. Will post again soon.

Paul