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And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
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 See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |