Day 6 - Bound for the Cape Verde Islands
Mariposa Blog
Robert Newman
Sat 27 Nov 2010 18:56
|
N18 19.0 W024 04.5
Saturday has been a fairly quiet day on board apart
from the noise of the engine interspersed with the sounds (various crashes,
bangs and curses) of Frosty dropping or spilling something
else.
We switched the 'iron sail' off for lunch
(mahi mahi fish caught yesterday by Rob marinated in lime juice and
ginger with a box of white wine/sherry) and attempted to sail with the
Gennaker. However we were only making 3 knots of boat speed, the
TTG - time to go (indicator) went up and then the flapping started
(sails and Spiller). So we are once more motor sailing and making
good speed towards the Cape Verde Islands (eta breakfast tomorrow morning). We
are also well on our way into the 'Motorsailing' category - yachts that use
their engine for a 1/3rd of the time get put into this remedial sailing
class! However judging by the 'chat' on the VHF
radio we may not be the only candidate as other yachts in the area have the same
plan. We only hope that there will be essential supplies (diesel, cafe
crémes, white wine and cleaning products) left in the CVI when we
get there!
In the meantime Rob has put out the mother of all
fishing lures - they say that the larger the lure the larger the fish - we
are all a little apprehensive about what exactly we may be attaching
ourselves to as the lure in question is about 36 inches long with a hook the
size of my hand!
Spiller and Frosty landed another good sized Mahi Mahi
(following Rob's monster of yesterday) early this am but decided to put it back
on the basis that: a) we had enough fish in the fridge and b) they didn't
want to get the transom (yachtie jargon for the back of the boat) dirty
again. We have seen flying fish and more Atlantic Spotted Dolphins
(thanks to Rainman here for his aquatic mammal spotting book) but no more whales
and Rob is becoming a bit of a celebrity with his early morning banter on
the VHF with other vessels.
Mariposa out.
PS If anyone out there has seen any trade winds would you mind pointing
them in our direction.
|