Frisco - Log Day 22 Close encounter with container

Another calm and warm day saw various mats of Sargasso weed float by. Set up the fishing rod at 6:00 as he was coming off watch. Shortly after removing some weeds from the lure George hooked a Mahi Mahiand brought him to the side of the boat.I managed to grab the line bring the fish on board, but before I could secure him the hook came out of his mouth and he jumped and slithered his way back into the sea. I felt kind of bad loosing this fish as it was Georges first Mahi Mahi.Determined to replace the lost fish I spent much time clearing weeds from the hook and looking at passing mats of weed. Someone, perhaps Andy said, what is that triangle approaching us. Various opinions were offered from, shark fin, whale etc. As it grew closer to pass us on the Starboard side we realized it was not. read more...

Frisco - Log Day 21 Smooth Sargasso Sea

Yet another calm day requiring the use of "Diesel Wind". The moon comes up after midnight local time which provides a period of darkness which gives an amazing display of stars. When you are on land there is always some light source which affects the view of the sky. At sea there is only the stars and you can see them right down to the horizon all around you. Steering on a clear night is much easier because you can set your compass course then pick a group of stars to aim for. It is much more pleasant to look at the heavens than a compass needle.The area of the Atlantic that we are now in is part of the SargassoSea. On the surface of the water are giant mats of floating seaweed called Sargasso Weed. At night when you approach a mat of SargassoWeed it appears white as if glowing. read more...

Frisco - Log Day 20 Relaxing day.

Today we have had light winds from the SE. Just enough to pull us along with the Parasailor. Our speed has now dropped below 3 knots and we are planning to motor overnight. Diesel fuel consumption is an issue so we keep the engine RPM down to an efficient burn rate. The advantage of the light winds has been to see more of the sea creatures around us. The flying fish are constantly jumping out of the water and flying sometimes 100 feet before splashing back in. They sometimes land on the deck of Frisco by mistake. A picture shows a small one which landed on our deck this morning, you can see the long pectoral fins which serve as wings. This lucky fellow was returned to the water unharmed.. read more...

Frisco - Log day 17 Mahi Mahi

This morning Bill Currie was rudely awakened by yells from Fred, Bill come and gaff this fish !! An early morning Mahi Mahi will make a pleasant change from the recent canned meat for dinner. Bill our resident Anatomy Professor and tuna fishing buddy knows just how to fillet the fish to exclude all bones and waste a minimum of fish. Twenty minutes later, fillets in the fridge Bill was snoring again !!The crew is starting to miss the comforts of home and guessing when we will make port. There has been more than one discussion on the space now available for beverages in the refrigerator. Today the clouds have cleared and we are sailing West insunshine and 18knot winds behind us, another day in Paradise !From the good ship Frisco, weight loss spa and alcohol and tobacco detox. read more...

Frisco - Log Day 15 A squall or two

Last evening we experienced a couple of squalls somewhat more intense than others. The first event was at the end of the day when we were still flying the Parasailor. We had in past evenings left the Parasailor up and managed to handle small squalls of 30 knots. As this somewhat larger and darker mass approached we discussed using it as gauge to determine the limits of our new spinnaker. As it approached we stood around in the cockpit telling stories of how we were caught with too much sail up in squalls in years gone by. A few seconds later the wind hit in full force pulling Frisco upwind and knocking her over so that we were standing on the cockpit coaming. As we cast off the sheet allowing the spinnaker to thrash around three menscrambled forward to douse the spinnaker with a snuffer.. read more...