Gitana - Can fish really keep up at 7.2kts?

What happens when you stop using your teachers planner, your wall calendar
and your 'working week' Monday to Friday as a reference point? You end up
having to ask other people what day is it! We know we're on day 11
(nearly wrote 10... it's worse than I thought!) - I did realise it was
the 5th today though, as it's the next door on the 'Where's Wally?' advent
calendar! (We had to find the white wizard on it today).

So, we've got 1225nm miles to go and sailing well at 7kts still. it feels
like we're flying along and St.Lucia is getting closer and closer by the
minute!

> - Quick maths
With a quick bit of maths - If we keep going at 7kt average we've got 7
days left, if we go at 6.5kts it's 8 days... So Wednesday/ Thursday next
week it looks like! (1225miles÷24hrs÷boat speed=days left)

> - Sail play
It's a hot one today, so we're all on a little go slow... ish! Up around
7.30am and all the boys were up, drinking tea and coffee. Short
discussion about sail setting, before having a play. We'd put the
headsail away overnight as the winds were a bit light and which meant the
sail kept banging. After headsail out, on a reach (both sails one side),
then tried goosewinging (one sail each side), we then went back to the
reach and our speed increased a little.

> - Fish escape plans
The main feature today... fishing attempts have begun in earnest – here's
what happened next:
The boys decided to set up the fishing line this morning. Dave is so
funny, imagine an excited labrador puppy who just wants to play and his
instant gratification monkey* is having a field day with him; he doesn't
do patience and just constantly wants to know 'when's the fish going to
bite', he needs it by 4pm so he can prep for dinner.
I was snoozing in my bunk earlier when there was this almighty scream,
like a kid who'd just seen his biggest christmas present EVER - he screams
'We've got one, we've got one' shouts to James who's in his bunk, If Dave
could've had a running track to run round screaming on, he would've done.
James comes up, starts frantically trying to reel whatever it is in, it's
big.

James is reeling, Dave is squealing, I arrive on deck, camera in hand to
find Mike sitting there cool as a cucumber holding his cup of tea and
Dave's coffee that was nearly thrown in the earlier excitement... James's
still reeling, they think it's a sailfish, a good few feet long... Dave
continues to squeal with excitement as he's putting the headsail away to
slow the boat down... James starts to get annoyed with Dave's overexcited
squealing and tells him to 'calm the **** down' and then bang... fish is
free and the line goes slack...

The excitement in the cockpit is still going, Dave's still buzzing, James
is reeling the empty line in, Mike, Des and me are just laughing... and
then the descriptions begin, biggest fish ever, basically a shark, 'it was
at least 6foot' proclaims Dave and tells James to do better next time!
(That doesn't go down very well either).

The boys calmly re-rig the lure on the end of the line and bright blue and
white sparkly squid-like thing and throw the line out... that was 2hours
ago! Dave's cooking dinner and says, 'come on James - where's my fish, I
need it to prep dinner'. James declares 5.30pm is the time it will happen!
(Boat time is currently 5.20pm as I type this... I wonder!)

Now 5.30pm - no fish yet! I wonder if they can manage at 7.2kts chasing
the boat down?

Dave's resorting to tins of fish from the cupboards to make fishcakes...
he's on his knees in the galley, oh the sadness of the fresh fish-less
fish cakes ha ha ha.
And the adventure continues – there's nothing quick about fishing. Bit
like crossing the Atlantic!

Have a good evening all!
Kirsty :)


*Instant Gratification Monkey – see TED talk 'Master Procrastinator' about
the rational decision maker, Instant Gratification Monkey and the Panic
monster!!