A momentous day for all on Maalu IV; we had showers! The
skipper continues to nurture the 18 year old water maker. Such was his
confidence in it's performance that we were all allowed a shower. It should be
noted that he had been unable to use the water maker on days one and two because
our water consumption had been so frugal that our water tanks were still showing
as full. Therefore there was nowhere to store any fresh water. At last on day 3
he disappeared into the forward cabin where he could be heard muttering, or
whispering incantations to the god of water makers, after which 80 L per hr
of beautiful fresh water surged into our tanks, hence the permission to shower.
They do say that pride comes before a fall.......... Day 4 and our water maker
produces brine! Our skipper has no idea why so resorts to the time honoured
solution of switching it on and off repeatedly. After each attempt the chief
cook is offered is offered a sample. The salt content drops dramatically, we
have no idea why, and at last we can refill our tanks with beautiful fresh
water. Thankfully we will not have to ration the crew to 3.5 L of water a
day but we will continue to watch our water consumption carefully.
Day 4 became even more exciting when we had our very
first success with fishing. Allowing the lure to run 150 m behind the boat and
then ignoring it worked a treat. The skipper and fisherman Jono leapt into
action and a mammoth battle began to land the largest (and only) fish that we
had ever caught. We were all in awe of the beauty of the Mahi Mahi. The skin
shimmers in the sun and the colours were so vivid it seemed an appalling thing
to take this beautiful fish from the sea. A quick squirt of alcohol into the
gills kills the fish. It did seem rather appropriate that he had my best gin (I
was so convinced that we wouldn't be successful fishermen that I failed to
provision the boat with cheap alcohol). I am not sure that I am keen for us to
catch more fish if it significantly compromises my gin supply. It was also
amazing to see how quickly the brilliant colour fades from this fish. Our
vegetarian sail tweaker was rather appalled by the whole affair but the rest of
the crew enjoyed Mahi Mahi fillets for supper. We don't really have any idea how
big our fish was but it has made two suppers much more interesting.
Day 4 saw light winds and more motoring/motorsailing.
The ARC fleet is thinning out around us and the familiar names are disappearing
from the chart plotter. We will soon be alone in the wide wide
ocean!
Inspection of the butter shows that it has passed the
skippers test for melting but has not yet passed any of the other
tests.
The entire crew is waiting with anticipation for the
coming winds.
m_P1001589 - JonoFish