“The Moon is like a smile on the South Western horizon.”
captain john
May 7 — We’re back to sailing this morning and clipping along at 7 knots. According to the navigation computer, we’re 26 hours from St. Helena. But that is totally wind dependent, of course.
You can tell everyone is up for a much anticipated landing. We’ve been making plans on what to buy — we’ve been out of bread and pitas for days but we have 6 different types of damn jam — and how to communicate with people.
May 6 — I’ve never played so many backgammon and chess games but one has to pass the time somehow. To switch things up a little, today I went for a drag. I held on to a rope and jumped in the ocean behind the boat and let the boat drag me, then pulled myself out. It was a gas! OK truth be told, Cracker went in first and it looked like a lot of fun! The water is so clear that you can see forever downward. The water temp is at 24.5!
Axel is turning out to be quite the fisherman! He caught the biggest fish of the trip so far. A 4.5-feet mahi-mahi!!!! A beauty! And to prove it, here’s the video!
Last night Cracker left the hatch in his berth open to get some air. He started to hear a thup-thup sound on the side of the boat. When he went to close his hatch, a flying fish flew through his hatch and started jumping around in his bed! It took him 3 minutes to catch it! His room smells like socks. Maybe that’s why the fish smell so bad!
We’ve been having a slow slog into St. Helena with the wind at only 8 knots. In sailing terms, that means NO wind so we finally decided to start up the motors. We’re now looking at getting there quite late on Tuesday.
May 2 — This morning I put up the Code 0 (big sail) with the captain and let the first mate sleep. I’m learning quite a bit. Axel is absorbing much more of the technicalities.
The water temperature continues to rise. It was 11 degrees when we left Cape Town and it is now 21 degrees!
Mystery On The Nomadic Rose
Two days ago, we lost the stopper to the kitchen sink. We usually have two of everything on this boat but, unfortunately, we had only one stopper for the sink making dish washing very difficult. Everyone was set to task looking for it. Under cupboards, in drawers, out on deck. We looked everywhere. There were subtle accusations. “Well you did the dishes last. Where did you put it?” Cracker even made a new stopper with electrical tape and a milk cup.
Twenty-four hour later, after intense searching, accusations and recriminations, the stopper just mysteriously reappeared! In the kitchen sink!! No member of our crew has claimed responsibility or offered a credible explanation for this macabre event! Personally, I believe it bears the trademarks of Doerwald psychological experimentation although he vehemently denies it. This remains yet another Maritime mystery. Kind of like the “something Celeste” case but no one has disappeared yet. 🙂
May 1 — I really lucked out on avoiding the sea sickness thing. It’s a workout just walking around the boat. Picked up a few great moves for the dance floor though. Gonna be a hell of a dancer!
I’m used to the rockiness now and even find it relaxing.
It is massively empty out here. We didn’t encounter another boat all day, only a few birds. No sign of humanity other than us.
April 30 — Great fishing happening! Cracker, our first mate, caught a tuna yesterday morning and I caught a yellowfin today. We’ve got tuna coming out of our ears and it’s delicious! Not to brag or anything… but Captain John and Axel threw together a nice paella for us. Life is good!
We’ve been avoiding rough seas so it’s going to take us longer to get there, maybe another 6 to 7 days. We’ve gone a 1/3 of the way.
quote of the day
“The bullshit gets pretty thick when you don’t have the Internet to invalidate suspect statements.”
April 28 — It’s overcast today but at least it’s not foggy. The albatrosses are so thrillingly graceful over the water. They hide as they fly in between the swells!
Axel and I both landed fish today! A pair of dorrados. What a thrill! Probably about 5 pounds each. Guess what’s for dinner tonight?
