160 NM off Washington coast
15 May 2007 | 30NM of Cape Flattery
Morgan MacKay
First Full Day at Sea
Awoke this morning to the smell of coffee brewing and bacon frying. We must really be roughing it. Ate breakfast in the cockpit while reaching southwest in a low swell and enjoying the sun. It will be nice once the air warms up though. The wind is definitely cold.
Isolation
We passed a few fishing vessels early in the morning but have seen no other visitors since, with the one exception of a gull that decided to follow us for half an hour or so.
Fish ON!
Once we were of the US fishing boundaries we put out the fishing rod. A few hours later, while I was having a nap, I hear Morgan calling for assistance with the gaff. "Whatever it is, it is heavy." says Morgan. We reel in the catch to the leeward (low) side of the vessel and prepare to haul in our dinner. As it came into view we were very puzzled. What is it? A squid? Jellyfish? No... a big plastic bag! Grrr... I was really looking forward to sashimi.
Night Watch
It wound up getting very cold last night. So much so, that most of our night watches were spent below, periodically poking our head up on deck to take a look around. We would hit small patches of effervescence every now and then and the ships wake would light up and twinkle. Spent a while stargazing as well. It has been years since I've seen the stars clearly like this.
Overnight the winds shifted a little so our current course is pretty much due south. Right now we're running the genset and water maker while the batteries charge. The v-berth is dry again. I'll have to put that back together again today.