Folie a Deux - A Young Man's First Billfish Landed

You should have seen the gleam in Brian's eyes.The rod and reel where whining as a fish jumped high in the air 50 yards behind the boat.We were sailing at 5 knots from Brazil to the Caribbean, day two of this 11-14 day leg.He has hooked a number of bill fish on the WORLD ARC, landed none.Brian has learned on how to keep them from jumping free.This fish he worked for two hours.As a family, we talked and talked about how we might land it.We called Brian's Fishing mentor and uncle Bradin Pennsylvania for advise.Not having a gun, Brian tried a noose for the tail..... not enough cowboy skills for that to work.He then chose the barbed flying gaff.pulled the fish as high as we could keeping the bill away.It was a perfect swing, catching the fish behind the head. Brian covered the fishes eyes. read more...

Folie a Deux - "Off the Beaten Path" - Ascension Island

Folie a Deux, Lluiton , and Sweet Pearl were among three World ARC boats that had detoured to Ascension Island, arriving on February first and second.We were the only visiting yachts.There was a marvelous Mediterranean meal lunch aboard Lluiton.It was a happy celebration for the three crews which would sail different paths to complete their circumnavigations.St Helena is a 'working island' of less than one thousand people.You may not live here unless you have a job related to the island.The island is mostly barren and volcanic. The RAF and USAF utilize the airstrip.NASA has closed the tracking and emergency shuttle landing operations.The BBC/Cable and Wireless have antennas/cable relays. It was never populated until Napoleon was exiled to St Helena Island in 1815.The larger swells at the. read more...

Folie a Deux - Do you believe in Green Flashes? Then how about Blue Flashes?

Blue FlashesGreen flashes are rather rare phenomena that occur just as the sun sets [or rises] turning just the upper part of the sun green, but an even rarer occurrence is a blue flash, which is basically the same thing as a green flash, but it’s blue.To understand how a blue flash works you need to know how a green flash works:first off the flash is created because the sun’s actual position on the horizon is lower than it appears as a result of light bending when it enters the atmosphere.Violet and blue light rays having short wave lengths are bent more than the longer wave-length yellow, orange and red light rays.Green rays are intermediate in length and are bent at an intermediate angle.Therefore you see the green sunrays between red and blue, though in reality, these colors overlap,. read more...

Folie a Deux - What do large spotted dolphins, Napolean, Whale Sharks have in common?

The Answer:All are a part of our experiences at St Helena Island in middle of the South Atlantic! 1700 nm from South Africa, 1900nm from Salvador, BrazilWe arrived at St Helena on late Thursday Afternoon, Jan 22.We had been escorted on our approach to the island by two of the largest dolphins we have ever seen, 15 feet long with spots.On Friday Morning, we cleared into customs, immigration, and port control.Then went to the bank for St Helena Pounds [only good here and Ascension island] The rest of the day was spent touring the island, visiting the Briars, where Napoleon stayed for a couple of months while his prison home in Longwood was being built.We saw that as well as the room that he had died.Then it was off to his tomb where he has interned until the French dug him up 19 years. read more...

Folie a Deux - The 'Unsung Hero'

The ‘Unsung Hero’Every boat on the WORLD ARC has an unsung hero in its crew.After a year with the 2014-2015 WORLD ARC one can usually pick out the ‘unsung heroes’ amongst the other crews.Perhaps they should have a contest......anywaysThere is no ‘one size fits all’ definition of the unsung hero.The ‘unsung hero’ is not telling us about all they fish they have caught, or how they’ve skippered the boat along the course with the most fairest breezes, or miraculously fixed the autopilot.The unsung hero makes these long passages bearable.Somehow their thoughtfulness helps everyone aboard.Noticing a block that is twisted in a not quite right direction.Anticipating what needs to be done ahead of others.Even just sailing fast [without boasting].Having peeled cold fruit to refresh the crew, or. read more...