boat lights seen in distance & belated birthday cake
15 July 2023
Clark
My day started at 0000 for the midnight to 0300 watch. I didnât have to
touch the steering wheel or âGingerâ the Monitor wind-steering vane
controls for the entire watch due to the relatively steady trade-wind.
Overcast weather during the night and all day today. A bit before 0200
the AIS automatic ship identification system identified two vessels
12-13 nautical miles away at compass bearing 218 degrees, about 30
degrees off our port bow. One boat or ship was AIS identified as a
fishing vessel named Shin Jyi Wang #6, and the other which varied from ½
mile to 1/10 mile apart from the other then disappeared from our chart
plotter/AIS data screen. Speculation is that maybe the Wang #6 is a
superseiner net fishing, possibly tuna, and the other boat only
identified by SJWO13 may have been the seine skiff which handles the far
end of a net, then after fish are pulled aboard, the skiff is pulled
aboard the mother-ship. Who knows what kind of fishing occurs on the
high seas of the South Pacific, but a large tuna fleet is based out of
American Samoa not too far away in oceanic terms. (In the past I worked
for many years on a salmon purse-seiner in SE Alaska and also commercial
fished on my fatherâs salmon and tuna troller). Earlier today s/v Rover
was never closer than 8 NM from the Shin Jyi Wang #6 and the
accompanying boat per AIS.
In the late afternoon we reduced sail area to a 3^rd reef in the
mainsail along with the staysail, without jib, due to increasing wind up
to 23-24 knots true. Seen again today were several albatross gracefully
gliding above the wave tops in a near effortless manner. Also seen, but
less often, were the tern-like smaller beautiful white birds, mentioned
in a prior blog which flap their wings often, unlike the albatross.Most
of these white tern-like birds have a very long ribbon-like tail but
some do not. After referring to a sea bird reference book, these white
birds appear to be Tropic-birds and the long tails indicate adult birds
and short or no tail apparently are juveniles. Another day in the
seemingly endless expanse of the South Pacific Ocean.
Ashlee managed to make a chocolate cake on the starboard tack. It had a
slight lean, but was approved by all. Happy belated birthday Captain Eric!
Morale remains high.
Clark
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