Our nighttime short cut across the Nicaraguan Rise took us through the shelf drop off area favored by fishing vessels. It also put us about 50nm closer to the area where infrequent opportunistic Nicaraguan and Honduran fisherman have turned pirate. For good or ill we ran dark, no lights and no AIS.

There were so many boats out there is was a chore weaving through them. Particularly because we knew they could not see us. It was surprising to me that there were so many, the area is 130nm offshore, across a reefy shelf. These boats are thus not pangas, and show up clearly on radar and they are also well lit like most fishing boats. After having to take evasive maneuvers in one situation we decided to veer off course and head for the deep water out off the shelf to get out of the constant stream of vessels.

Once clear of the bank we set our next waypoint for the western tip of Cuba, some 500+ miles away. After sailing at 8-10 knots all day yesterday it was sad to see the wind die off and veer to just past the beam late at night. By 4AM we were down to 4 knots of boat speed. We fired up the port Yanmar (no one is sleeping in that berth) and created a little artificial wind, getting the boat back up over 7 knots of speed over ground.

After an uneventful morning we got in a little sailing at 8 knots before the wind died completely. Back on port diesel, we made good use of the time on the flat calm water. Carl continues to work on his open water diver course work and his Duolingo Spanish, Jeff is logging everything and I'm just looking after the boat.

Carl found a lure called "The Mahi Slayer" while we were in Panama so we decided to give it a try. Wow, this thing is amazing. It has a little squid and then a foot or two later a larger squid, both with hooks. We rigged it up, let the line out and before I could put the pole in the holder it ran (I heard Dave say, "fish on!" in my head). I had let the line way out so it took a while to reel it in. It was a perfect Mahi Mahi. However it was the first time fishing (catching anyway) for this crew and we bungled the landing. It got off. I was distraught.

With little optimism we put the line back out. Nothing. The instant hit magic was gone. Jeff, Carl and I spent the next couple minutes tuning our landing strategy, "Jeff you stop the boat", "Carl you reel", "I'll gaff". Before we could finish the discussion, weeeeeeeeeee, the line ran. Fish on! Again!! We reeled this one in and, another perfect sized Mahi Mahi! I gaffed him at the back of the boat and dropped him into the dinghy until I could get the billy and put him to rest. Moments later we had 6 perfect Mahi Mahi fillets, as fresh as they come.

We lost a bunch of water yesterday, still not sure how, so we're all on the "Joe's signature seawater bucket shower" now. We have 4 days to go and plenty of drinking water, sodas and all, just down to 58 gallons of tank water. Nothing worse than stinky sailors, so we're in rinse only mode with the fresh water.

This has been the first peaceful day we've had since leaving San Andres. It looks like "peaceful" days are what we'll have all the way to the Gulf Stream, meaning there will be a fair amount of motoring, so we're watching the fuel. The last two days were so lurching that we just made sandwiches. Tonight however! Nancy's Tomato salad, saffron rice and herb crusted Mahi Mahi!

All's well aboard. Carl says: "I am thankful for the Mahi Mahi for dinner (nod to Todd), and see you soon, Nelson, Emma and Colleen". Jeff says: "I'm enjoying the serenity of lake Caribbean, can't wait to get to the other side and get home to my loved ones".