Fish on!
04 March 2018 | Pacific Ocean on route to Hawaii
Helen/Mark
Happy Sunday. 1788 nautical miles to go. The wind continued to be variable speed and direction, forward and aft of the beam on the starboard side. The waves settled overnight with very long swells of 2-4 foot waves with chop in-between. Our speed was anywhere from 3-4-5-6 knots. We most likely averaged 4 knots. Thru the day, the waves got bigger. We ran the water maker for a couple of hours this afternoon. We took advantage of the sun making an appearance to collect the sun shower and shower inside. We also had to add some boiling water to make it hot enough. Then Mark decided it was time to put his fishing line in the ocean and catch us some dinner. The wind seemed to steady from behind and Mark talked about taking in the jib and putting out the spinnaker for some downwind sailing on the Pacific Ocean. The wind direction lasted for a couple of hours. The spinnaker got speeds 5-6-7-8 knots. Made some good tracks. Just got the spinnaker set when I told Mark I thought he had a fish on his line. He thought it was pulling due to the wave and speed of the boat. But, yes indeed, we caught a fish. It was about two feet in length and yellow outer color. Mark thinks it was a Mahi Mahi. I guess I don't know my fish. Mark filleted the fish and I have it baking in the oven. The clean up was a challenge and in the process, Mark lost my pail when the line attached to it broke the handle off. I cooked up some potatoes, peppers and onions to go along with it. We are not huge seafood fans, but we are giving it a try tonight. The wind has now shifted more to the beam, but the spinnaker is still flying well. Mark worked on the main halyard, untwisted the rope that I dislike. We listened to some radio on our helm watches. It did get cold in the cabin for sleeping. It was 66 in the salon but colder in our cabin. I had many layers of blankets on me, but I was still cold. Not sure why there are so many clouds in the sky every day and if this is normal or just the current weather pattern. It does not appear that we are sailing with the Trade Winds as they would be steady from behind and that is not happening yet.