4PM Friday, July 13th - a great Friday the 13th it is, too!

We left our slip at about 10:30 yesterday and went up the creek to
fuel. I'd
estimated we'd take 50 gallons, but it was only 48, instead. We
executed a
close-quarters turnaround, and headed out on the rest of our lives -
again! - at a little after 11AM.

The wind was right on our nose heading south, so we motored our way
under
the Skyway Bridge, perhaps for the last time. A few squalls caused
multiple
openings and closings of our hatches and ports, in blistering St.
Pete
summer with 95 degree heat.

Once under the bridge, we set sail on a perfect close reach, and once
past
the shallows at the end of the Southwest Channel, headed direct to Key
West
on a lovely beam reach. We set all the sails (well, the genny, the
staysail
and the main - we'd been told that there would be more wind than would
make
the spinnaker prudent) and pulled confidently forward in all of 5
knots of
wind, making about 5 knots.

Unfortunately for us, the wind was light, then died altogether, so we
pulled
in the furling genny and motored slowly at about 4 knots with the
staysail
and main pulled blade tight to minimize rolling. In truth, though,
the
entire night and most of the next day was nearly flat water. We slowed
the
boat down in order to not arrive in Key West before daylight, and as
I
write, we're again at 4 knots, which will put us at a fishing spot
right at
dawn.

We set up our watch schedules as 8 on/ 8 off, with a pair splitting
each 8
hour shift. So far, that has worked very well, indeed. We were all up
and at
'em in the beginning, of course, so we didn't start our shifts for the
first
few hours. Lydia went immediately for a nap, having stayed up until
3:30,
again, so, needed the rest. Phil and she took the first watch at 4,
and
Erkki and I puttered around with electronics and took naps, coming
back on
duty at midnight in relief. After a wonderful breakfast of French
toast and
eggs, he and I were entertained by not only the Milky Way, but also
light
shows of lightning off in the distance, and even a few meteorites
blazing
across the sky.

As I write, I'm waiting for the third of the satellite passes which
are
giving us real-time pictures of the weather around us - for thousands
of
miles. The most recent showed us the Gulf of Mexico and west of
Central
America as well as down to about Guatemala and north about to
Arkansas. The
next one showed us the Atlantic at about the same latitudes as the
first,
nearly out to the western coast of Africa. When the satellite goes
directly
over us, in about another half-hour, we get a view of an area from
well into
South America and up to Hudson Bay. Overall, we have real-time
information
on weather.

Last night, we got our first real test of the SSB - Single Side Band
High
Frequency radio. I participated in the Mobile Maritime Net - the only
boat
to check in, with the others being mobile (auto or truck mounted) or
fixed,
land-based stations. We had been very concerned over our apparent
inability
to communicate over our radio, but it turned out to be a hazard of
marina
life - metal buildings, metal roofs, and a forest of masts. While we
could
not hear the control (the guy who directs traffic, so to speak), I
was
getting through loud and clear.

Today we started fishing in earnest. We put out our trolls, and
quickly
caught a Bonita (sort of like a tuna, but extremely bloody - we cut
him up
for bait for when we're in the Gulf Stream), two barracuda (which we
tossed
back), and then a mackerel. A lovely fish, we filleted him
immediately,
hoping to catch another for dinner.

In between, we believe we must have attracted a shark, as not only was
the
lure gone, but the leader was much abraded quite a bit up the line
from the
lure. Ever optimistic, we set again (all this while doodling along at
about
4 knots). Interrupting the electronics project we had, as well as just
as we
were going to stop the boat and take a swim, a very large fish hit our
port
side line. After long time of reeling, as she'd pulled off a lot of
line
before we got to the rod, we successfully boated a 48" king mackerel.
I said
she because there was also a huge egg sac. We decided we'd better put
away
the rods for a while, as we have something on the order of 20 pounds
of fish
from that single catch. We've just finished a huge meal, immediately
roasted
on the grill, which was more than awesome, not to mention filling.
There's
still a gargantuan amount of fish left from the first half, which is
all we
had room to cook. The second half is being saved for other delicacies
-
sushi, sashimi, ceviche, a salad, and sandwiches, among others.

In 77 feet of water currently, the color is stunning, and while we
can't see
(or, at least, know what we're seeing) the bottom, crystal clear. Our
delayed swim was tempered by the reality of sharks, so we waited until
we'd
moved well away from the area over which we cleaned the King Mackerel.
No
sharks showed up for the remains we were throwing over, but there was
a
small crab which stood by and then latched on to one of the smaller
bits,
immediately heading into deeper water. It was amusing to see him swim
sideways to keep up with the drifting boat until we tossed over his
treat.
Once clear of the area, we put the boat into a hard turn, so that its
motion
would be minimized, and jumped in, hanging on to mooring lines we'd
put in
the water to wash. While the water was very warm, it was still
refreshing,
and we took advantage of our stop to do a "Joy Shower" - Joy dish
detergent
makes a great salt-water wash. So, we stood on the platform one at a
time -
it's not that large! - and jumped in to rinse off. After getting off
the
soap, we climbed out for our fresh water rinse with the shower on the
stern.

That platform got a lot of work today, cleaning three fish, and
washing down
with the pressure-fed salt-water washdown on the stern (with Joy, of
course!), so it looks great. We have taken to doing our entire
exterior teak
with the lightest grade of olive oil available, so we thought we'd do
the
platform as well. However, if this pattern continues, there won't be
any way
we'll have any olive oil left on it! Our exterior teak looks marvelous
doing
this - and there's no sanding, either!

Well, I'm now on watch, so I'll stop here. More to follow.







L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
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