We are 1208 miles from our destination, the nearest land is the Amazon Basin 1006 miles away. Our real and only world is the little moving circle which is as far as we can see around Raylah. I think we avoid thinking about being in a little plastic boat in the middle of a large ocean .In our little world things change as the seas get bigger and confused or the wind goes down to a quiet zephyr or clouds cover the moon. Occasionally we have flying fish and tiny squids on the deck in the morning or sea birds endlessly circling, their wings skimming the water completely at home out in the ocean. Life goes on the same day after day in our little world and then suddenly in the middle of this vast ocean we have two visitors that find us.
Nic spots it first on the AIS (Automatic Identification System ) a triangle on the electronic chart. We have had no ships near us for days. We call up the information on the Target. No name as yet but it is 8 miles away doing an incredible 28 Knots (cargo ships do approx. 12 Knots) and will pass very close to us in 24 minutes. Then its name appears on the Screen and we call it up on the VHF Radio. "This is Sailing Yacht Raylah calling Sobego 4, we are 8 miles away and on a collision course, what are your intentions” No answer, this is getting worrying, Then we see it is classified as a High Speed Craft and I can only think of a Fast Cat cross channel ferry but what would that be doing out here. Then we see it, an impossibly high mast ,three times the height of ours . then the hull, a huge trimaran over a 110 feet long and 87 feet wide skimming at 28 knots over a big sea surrounded by a ’nest’ of spray. It has carbon fibre sails perfectly set with ’SOBEGO’ written down the mainsail. What a sight ,we all stare in amazement . The radio crackles and Sobego calls us up. They will pass under our stern. They are on passage from Bolivia to their home port in Brittany returning from a race and ask us our destination and we wish each other good passage. It races on and soon it is over the horizon,our visitor gone.
Our other visitor was also spotted or caught by Nic. Our fishing line has been trailing behind the boat for 4 hours when suddenly the ratchet on the real went berserk and and the line ran out at high speed. Nic snatches the rod from its holder and it is nearly wrenched out of his hand. The tip of this sturdy short rod is bending dramatically and either the line or rod must surely break. This is a whopper by any standards and Nic is struggling to hold on. We furl in the Genoa to slow the boat down and we then catch a glimpse of a bright yellow fin swimming vigorously from one side of the boat to the other . Finally the fish starts to tire and he is slowly brought alongside and the boat hook brings him on board. He is a massive Dorado with spectacular Day-Glo colouring that will fade away when he dies. There is a murmuring among us all ,a consensus that to kill this fish which is an integral part of the ocean that has been our alma mata for so long would be wrong and in any case it was too much to eat and would be partly wasted. So we took our photographs and slipped this magnificent creature back into the water.
The little world of Raylah
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