Tuesday 11th March
AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, OUTSTANDING - LOST FOR WORDS? NEVER!
Good progress today until this afternoon when the wind died and we reluctantly put the engine back on around 18:30. The weather is beautiful and the sea is flattish and we enjoy a splendid lunch of another blue fin tuna, that Barry has caught the day before, with fried potatoes and salad (we seem have about 2 tons of potatoes on board - scrubbed and washed by the down trodden JB!). (Poor little JB. There were actually 3 of us involved in the washing, scrubbing and drying operation. RL)
Things are so great that we open a wine box out of the fridge and then low and behold (and we didn't have that much wine) two 20-foot whales pop up either side of us less than 6 feet away from the boat and swam underneath. JB got a great video and a couple of stills and Lindsey a spectacular close up!
This was quite a special moment in our sailing history. JB was completely gob smacked, but of course not lost for words, which were recorded on the video:
"Oh my gosh...it's coming underneath us...oh sh**!"
"They're gone...that's just um.I've never um..you know.that's just...I have to see if I managed to get that..oh my gosh.oh my gosh... if I didn't get that my heart's going to be broken!"
More excitement as Barry lands a 4-foot fish around dinnertime as I was serving up a previous catch by Lori and Bob! Fishing will have to be suspended for a while, as we have no room in the fridge or freezer!
Barry - I went out at about 1830 to retrieve the hand-line for the night. It was clear that there was something large on the hook and it took about 5 minutes to bring it close to the boat. Given the size of the fish we decided to lower the bathing platform to bring it on-board. It was a quick and painless end for the fish as a glass of gin was poured into its gills, while it was still in the water. With JB and Lindsey's help we were able to get it on board and take a few photos. JB joked later that when I knelt over the fish for a few minutes it looked as if I was trying to decide what to do next. This was true as I was thinking 'My God!' where on earth do I start. It was an interesting exercise to gut, clean and fillet a 4-foot fish on the bathing platform of a yacht in the middle of the Pacific, that's one for the
memory bank!
Stay tuned!
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