Year 8 Day 149 Passage To Tobago/Grenada
20 November 2015 | 1535 nm ESE From Grenada
Dave/ Mostly Sunny
The weather continues to be kind to us so far. We had another beautiful day with lots of sunshine and puffy white cumulus clouds floating overhead. The winds were pretty constant with apparent wind speeds in the 10 to 13 knot range. At times we would get a nice puff and would hit speeds of the mid 6 knot range. However, most of the time, we are making between 5 and 5.5 knots.
We had a couple of exciting events during this last passage day. The big event was that Greg finally got a fish strike. This easily could be a classic story of the really big one that got away. It was in the late afternoon while we were lounging around in the stern cockpit, listening to Paul Williams' classic theme to Star Wars. The music was a bit loud, which is the only way to listen to this piece. Mary Margaret was at the helm. Suddenly, we heard a loud "bang". My first thought was: "Sh*t, another equipment failure." Mary, Greg and I walked around the deck inspecting the equipment and could not see anything wrong... Mary Margaret told us that it sounded like it was behind her. We went to the stern and someone shouted out that the rod and reel that Greg was using no longer had any line on its reel! The "big one" had run with the line and when the line was fully played out, it broke at the reel. That was the "bang" that we heard. Greg was beside himself. Mary said that she had heard some whining noise but thought it was part of the music that was playing. She heard the whining noise three times as apparently the "big one" ran with the line and then changed directions three times as it tried to shake the hook.
Greg is only using 50 pound test, which is what a friend of his who is a trophy fisherman recommended. I had always thought this was a bit light only because my brother, who is also a great fisherman, had given me 100 pound test line to use while cruising. I really do not know what pound test of line one should use but apparently the 50 pound test was too light for this "whopper" of a fish that struck Greg's lure. We have high hopes that the next time one strikes, we will all hear the whining of the line and Greg can get to the rod in time to play the fish out and then reel it in. My mouth is watering, just thinking about the fish Greg is about to catch!
The other exciting event occurred this morning when Greg and Mary spied a 60 foot wooden fishing boat. It was a local, Brazilian boat with lots of poles mounted on it sides. To us, this is an encouraging sign and Greg is licking his lips in anticipation of another strike. I am patting my tummy, telling my stomach to be patient, as dinner is just one strike away.
On the weather front, our daily updates from our friend, Clint, keep on changing. Yesterday, he was encouraged that our new course, which takes us much closer to the coast of South America, would skirt around the predicted squally weather that we are heading toward. However, this morning's report from Clint was a bit more pessimistic. It now looks like we will have two or three squall lines that we will need to sail through starting Sunday. However, given how unstable the doldrums can be, this may change again tomorrow. We hope so.
As of noon today, the end of this Day 13 of passage, our position is 0 58.3'S: 39 08.0'W, our course is 281 degrees and our speed is 5.6 knots. The apparent wind is 12.2 knots from the ESE. The seas are mild with 1 to 2 meter swells running from the ESE. We made 125 nm today. We are now at the halfway point of our passage to Grenada. We are currently about 120 nm from the Brazilian coast. However, the coastline is trending more to the west at this location so we are keeping on this westerly course for another 24 hours before we turn to the NW to cross offshore of the mouth of the Amazon River.