At 9:30 am on 03/02/2013 we were at 20’22.634’N 29’38.448’W.
According to the GPS we have 1824 nm to go before we see land.
Well yesterday was an eventful day.
We were visited by whales and dolphins, nearly side swiped by a cargo ship and caught lots of fish.
The visit from the whales in the morning was inspiring and really lifted our spirits.
The cargo ship just seemed to appear out of the mist around late afternoon. I think we scared the captain as much as he scared us. We hailed him on the radio. ‘We are the sailing ship on your port side. Just want to make sure your intentions are NOT TO HIT US!’
The fishing was mad. We got into a school of Mahi Mahi (dorado). The male human was at first the most successful. He got two small and one large, 6 pound, fish. One of our biggest fish yet. They were striking fish. As you battled them in, their backs radiated electric blue that seemed to shine through the water.
Then the male human made a fatal error.
He made the mistake of boasting, despite the fact the female had caught the most fish to date, he had caught the largest one yet. He did not understand that there is a long maternal heritage in the female’s family that have an honor to uphold. His jest was fighting talk to my female’s ancestors who decided to pay him back in spades.
After a half hour battle she proceeded to bring in a 13 pound blue fin tuna.
That was enough fish to clean for one day and they settled into their Mahi Mahi dinner when they were visited by a large pod of Atlantic Spotted dolphins: Stenella frontalis. Young and old dolphin frolliced for an hour or so in the bow wave of the boat. Do not worry video of both the whales and dolphins to come….in maybe two or three weeks.
The temperature is definitely warmer now and humid. You do not need a coat on night watch any more, except last night when we got our first spits of rain. The morning is also overcast and misty rainy. Hope it clears and we get to see the sun again.
- SOA Day 7 Click for bigger picture.
