Fish.....at last

Welcome back to SV Jubilee. This morning at around three some stronger weather started coming through, and we had to drop the gennaker. Thomas always on the ready and myself dropped the sail in good time. About ten minutes later we had winds up to twenty seven knots, great for a genoa, but too much for our kite. We cruised along at a leisurely six knots, and carried the genoa until just after lunch today.

At eleven this morning I saw both our fishing lines tightening, shouted fish, and it was time for action. Thomas got the one fish in quick, sprayed alcohol in his gills to knock him out while Don was busy bringing the other fish in. I was manning the camera and got a nice video of Don landing his first fish on his new boat. We caught two medium sized Dorado, and we were not debating whether we should return them. We've been trying for over three thousand miles, and at last our efforts paid off. We proceeded to fillet the fish, and soon we had fresh Dorado ready to be fried. Jane had some potato chips baking in the oven, and Thomas marinaded a few fillets. From the smaller pieces I cut into coin size portions and squeezed fresh lemon juice over them in a bowl. Took out some Wasabi, pickled ginger and soya sauce, and soon we were having some fresh sushimi for starters. For lunch we had Dorado fillets fried in butter with lemon juice, chips, and a few condiments to go with our m
eal. A
feast we had.

After lunch it looked like the stronger weather was abating, and we rigged the gennaker again. Within half an hour of sailing fast, I made the call to drop the gennaker again. A dark cloud was forming close to us. And again we got the sail down in good time. Don was a bit disappointed, but when the wind picked up to twenty five knots soon after, he was happy that we did the sail change in time. We still have a long way to go and blowing the gennaker now would be a big blow to us. I am very much a conservative sailor, and feel no need to sail as close to the edge as possible. This is not a race, it is an eight thousand miles long journey, and my mindset is different from pushing boats to their limits. Our first priority is always safety, that is what everything we do evolves around.

Last night during my watch, there was a big yellow flash in the sky. I saw it from the corner of my eye, and while I was looking at where I saw the flash, a very bright shooting star shot across the sky leaving a trail of smoke behind it. I was looking in the direction of the Southern Cross, and all I could say was "oh wow, just fn oh wow." Once again I couldn't believe my eyes, or my good fortune to be witness to this event.

We have a few days of good wind coming up, and Brazil is just a few days away. Hope things are going well on your end as well.

Paul


Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.