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| Finally...Fish On! Mahi-Mahi! The hunter becomes the hunted. This male/bull hit a pink-purple squid lure. At about 4' long (51"), he provided a bounty of fillets |
Good Weather Conditions Continue - The Bonne Chance Charms Must Be Working
(Sylvia)
Day #3:
Another gorgeous day. When the wind dropped to the low teens we got to work replacing the wayward nut on the sail slide. We decided to check every single slide on the mainsail so we dropped the entire sail. While the jib kept us sailing along, we tightened every single nut on every single sail slide. Needless to say, this took a while as the boat was in constant movement, going side-to-side in the swells. By the late afternoon, we were pretty tired and decided to play it conservative/easy and keep the mainsail reefed, have dinner and start our watch system early to make sure we got enough R&R (rest and recovery).
Around 16:30 (4:30 p.m.) we both went to the back deck to reel in the fishing lines and relax. Just as Tom was about to reel in his first line - THWACK! A sudden sound - a fish strike! We could see it was a mahi mahi! Tom immediately began hauling in the fish on the hand line while I rummaged around for the gaff. No time for slowing the boat with the sails pulling smartly. As the thrashing fish neared the stern, we could see its shimmering blue, green and yellow mahi colors. It was a 4' long bull/male, but this was no time for gazing. I took control of the line while Tom reached down and with a hefty, well-aimed swing, and gaffed the fish behind the gills. Now almost dispatched, we held the panting fish on the swim step until we could administer the 'permanent sleep' with a merciful dagger to its distinctive, oversized forehead. It was a beautiful fish!! So much for our night of relaxation/recovery. It was "a mission" to process the fish and clean up the mess, but we were rewarded with a freezer full of delicious fillets. Sadly, we lost one of our favorite work buckets while cleaning off the swim step. The sea giveth and the sea taketh away. Maybe Tangaroa needed a new bucket. We paid homage to the Mighty Mahi and slipped the carcass into the sea and, as we transitioned from French Poly to Cook Island waters, I offered our second good-luck coin to Tangaroa. Thanks for the fish; enjoy our bucket.
We thoroughly enjoyed our fresh mahi mahi meal, but were eager to resume addressing our rest deficit condition. My 22:45 (10:45 p.m.) log entry: "Beautiful night. We're tired". Luckily, it would be another magnificent night and with our reduced sail plan, we finally gained our R & R.
That night we crossed our halfway point and I celebrated by enjoying a frozen cream cheese/peanut butter dark chocolate cup that Katie had made for us. Yum!!
The 24 hr stats for day #2:
Distance made good = 140 nm;
Distance sailed = 176. 'Penalty' = 21%. This is trending unfavorably.
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| Even with daily issues, the boat keeps sailing, moving forward, 24 x 7, and making mileage toward the next port. |
Day #4:
The genset is leaking water inside its soundproof case. When we were heeled over the first couple of days Tom noticed that water was dribbling out of the case that holds our little Panda genset (generator that recharges the batteries). Water in genset = NOT good. Our main Yanmar engine (aka Double D) will recharge the batteries, and we have solar panels as well, but with our refrigerator, freezer and now the auto-pilot that works 24/7 we need those batteries to get a good daily recharge. No genset = PITA (and no ice!).
Tom thought he had diagnosed the problem, a leak in the plugged hole that he and Captain Coconut had previously drilled into the exhaust elbow to clean it out (and fix a different PdJ). So he removed the screw/plug, cleaned it, resealed and rescrewed it. Problem solved! Later that day when we turned on the Panda, it still leaked. Dang! So we have yet to properly diagnose the problem. It won't be easy with all the hoses, hose clamps, etc. in that jam-packed jigsaw puzzle of a machine. (Update: tightened all hose clamps on seawater system an no more leak; however, the rotor/coil must still have residual moisture in it because now it sounds like popcorn or arching. Bad. So need to dry out the rotor/coil).
We constantly have to roll our eyes that there is always an unforeseen problem-of-the-day to be attended to. I won't list all the niggling things that we've dealt with on this journey, just believe me.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed another fabulous day on the water with brochure conditions. One of the highlights was a sushi dinner with nori, rice, and of course fresh mahi mahi (hamachi!).
That night (next a.m. actually) at 0200, while enjoying the moon and stars, my AIS (Automatic Information System) alarm went off. WTF? We hadn't seen a boat, ship or plane since leaving Raiatea. About 12 nm ahead of us was a large cargo ship, no doubt one that transits through the Cooks Island bringing cargo and goods to the various locations. Then Tom spied a plane in the sky heading toward Tahiti. The 204' cargo ship Layar Mas passed at a comfortably safe 2 nm, to port/left, going in the opposite direction, and was lit up like a cruise ship. Alarms sounding, boats to the left of us, planes overhead...all of a sudden it felt a little crowded out here!
The 24 hr stats for day #3:
Distance Made Good = 148 nm.
Distance Sailed = 171. Gybing 'Penalty' = 13%. Improvement.
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