IM v Wild
08 June 2014 | 04 34.534'S:175 20.080'E, North of Nanumea
Andy
Hi folks, can't believe it is Sunday afternoon and we have been out here for nearly 8 days now. We are still 318nm from Funafuti but have finally passed the half way mark. Today we are on an easting tack, which means we are not making any discernable difference to our 'miles to go' marker but it will hopefully set us up for the next couple of days. The easterly current, coupled with a SE wind, strong eddies around the various sea mounts, and confused choppy seas make easterly headway a bit of a challenge. We were told by some yachties that they just couldn't make it to Tuvalu with the winds they had on their recent trip, so hope that doesn't happen to us.
I meant to get the blog typed up yesterday but we spent most of Saturday edging our way past two large sea mounts in very choppy and unpleasant conditions in a fresh breeze that had IM bashing into the swell. But yes, we have got wind. After 18 hours of drifting and another day of very light airs it was great to hear our audible wind alert (aka the wind generator) start turning early Friday morning. I was on watch and quickly hauled out the head sail and coaxed IM into forward movement, hoping the 4kt wind would pick up into something more sailable. Thanks to the day of calms, the seas were relatively flat so we were able to creep along for the rest of the night until mid-morning when the winds filled out to a steady 8-10 kts.
Now that we are bouncing, rocking and rolling along in 17-21 kts the frustrations of being becalmed fade. Its actually not that calm on a drifting boat - IM rocked from side to side in the swell, and the crew sweated and suffered in the windless heat. As we heard on the radio sched from another becalmed yacht, there's only so much fishing (still no luck for us), eating and reading you can do! We did catch up on some sleep though, and got a swim in. I had barely got down the ladder, bracing myself for the psychological plunge into 4 kilometre deep water when out of the crystal clear depths emerged two large creatures. A startled yelp and I was back up the ladder in a flash - looking over my shoulder to see two huge fish watching me curiously. Tone, alerted by my involuntary sqwark, put down his book, to take up more seriously his watcher duties. Of course the fish had gone. I ventured back in even though it was barely refreshing (water temp 30.5) but it was cooler th an the cockpit. Tone, the land crab, was convinced to have a swim, while I stood watch for him. He'd been in the water a few minutes when I spotted the fish returning, and judging by the speed he got up that ladder, he now believed me. "They're small sharks I reckon" says Tone. "Do sharks have yellow near their tail and mouth?" "Dunno" says Tone, and that was the end of swimming for the day. We really must get a decent fish identification book. Later on the evening radio sched a friend said they were probably mahi mahi. Whateer they were, they were at least a metre long , so even if they had been sharks , probably wouldn't have eaten much.
Just on sunset we fended off two boobys who were eyeing up our masthead and pulpit for a free ride for the night. Coming up from the Solomons in 2012 a blundering booby had taken out our wind indicator and we didn't want that happening to the new one. One successfully flapped onto the mast before Tone remembered the air horn. Two blasts of that and no more booby on the mast head (and almost no more hearing for us either!) Momentarily deterred, the attack of the boobies continued for another half hour, before the repeated horn blowing, and arm waving yelling antics of the crazy IM crew finally seemed to bore them, as they circled us one more time before skimming gracefully into the sunset.
The next day, or was it the next, days roll into each other out here - a large flock of birds alerted Tone to a swarming seething baitball, fish leaping out of the water, birds diving, the sea broiling with all the activity. We watched fascinated for many minutes, before our brains activated and we turned IM towards the birds, hoping to participate in a bit of fish dinner ourselves. Within an instant the moving mass had taken flight, reappearing several hundred yards away, our fishing line still sadly ignored. It was just like on the telly, our own private David Attenborough moment.
So, it's all a bit slow out here in terms of ' getting there' but all's well on board. Off to scoff pancakes, made by Skip Tone despite the galley gyrating madly. Hope your Sunday's been restful and fun. PS Belated happy birthday Michele C and Angela McC, we were thinking of you.