Pacific Puddle Jump Day 4
06 April 2016 | The Pacific Ocean
Vandy
Tuesday was another mellow day on the ocean. The wind blew 8-12 knots, the waves were dainty, and the sunny blue sky was dotted with lots of little cotton ball cumulus clouds. It was a nice day to be on the water. We rode with the spinnaker up again today.
The morning Deck Check turned up only one squid. No flying fish lost their lives on board SCOOTS last night.
Our wildlife entertainment for the day could be titled"Death from Above, Death from Below" or "Today is Not a Good Day to Be a Flying Fish." At midday a couple of brown boobies appeared and circled loosely around SCOOTS, scanning the water below for prey. They repeatedly swooped down, skimming just above the surface of the water, each time causing a school of flying fish to explode from the water in all directions. Then the boobies wheeled sharply on their long, narrow wings and made their trademark shallow dives into the water to nab the scattering fish. I didn't see them catch any fish in the air, but they're fast enough that they might be able to. That was the Death from Above portion of the drama.
The Death from Below was provided by some tunas that were also prowling in the area, probably hunting those same flying fish. For awhile, one tuna swam right along with the boat, just over the side from where I was seated on deck. Tunas are handsome, purposeful-looking fish - blue and white and silver, with spiky yellow appendages. They taste good, too. I toyed with the idea of dropping a lure off the back of the boat, to see if we might collect some sashimi for dinner, but I was feeling lazy and wasn't thrilled at the prospect of cleaning and fileting a big fish just then. And so I left the tunas alone.
Eric won 4 out of 5 games during our afternoon Spite & Malice tournament again today.
The wind and waves picked up after dark, and continued through the night and into the morning. SCOOTS raced along at 7-8.5 knots, sending up white, glowing spray as she had her way with the confused seas, and keeping Leela, our windvane autopilot, busy as she tried to steer a consistent course in the craziness. SCOOTS likes to go fast; in fact, she sings when she's going fast, a low hum that rises above the sound of the wind and waves. I know the sound originates from the resonance of some of her rigging or other equipment, but I like to think of it as her singing.
Our position as of 7 am Wednesday morning was 16 37' N, 113 26'W, which means that we sailed about 150 miles in the last 24 hours, with an average speed of 6.25 knots.