Day 17: Monday 4/1
Finally……we have FISH……for the umpteenth time we hear the reel spool and out went the yells “Fish On”…..Les manned he helm, brought us away from the seas…..John to the reel….oh boy, it’s a jumping Mahi and huge….ok, John-boy, don’t blow this one….but the reel is still spooling….must ease the tension…..do it gently, not too much……ok, it’s stopped running….crap, can’t reel it in even on the 2 speed……must slow down….doing 3-4 kts…..Les, backs off some more….if this was Kathy writing she would tell you how big the seas are and no way we are stopping…..ok, I can reel….slowly, oh so slow, I bring the fish in….takes many runs……seems like an hour but probably 5-10 minutes……I get it close the boat….it sees the filet knife in my teeth….takes fifty plus jumps…ok, maybe 10 but it seemed like a lot and each one the line might come loose…..but not this time….oh, no, here is its mate….please Admiral let me keep this one…..ok, got it to the side…..no way we can net….must gaffe…..Les comes back to do the honors….viola….we have a 46” + 20-lb beautiful Mahi……John-boy is grinning ear to ear…..YES!!!!!!!
A bad April fool’s joke…….last night before going to bed I always do an engine check and switch fuel tanks…..yep you can guess what happens…..you need to turn 4 valves……only did 3…… a few minutes later just as I’m stripping off the shorts to go to bed……the engine dies…..Rose is yelling we need to turn the Yanmar on…..yep, there’s John boy racing up the stairs, one foot in his shorts, the other out….yep, face plant….ouch……get the shorts on……crap, Main is dead……think, think, think…..oh crap, bet I screwed up the fuel valves….race down the stairs without falling……go in the ER and yep, you dummy, wrong valve….get it corrected……back up to the helm……telling everyone “my bad”……try to start the Cummins….of course, it needs to be bled….Les to the ER to work the manual pump….viola, we have Main….several minutes later all is back on course and all our hearts are sort of back to normal…..John-boy very chagrined…..but wait, my pride can be restored……so I yell out…….APRIL FOOLS 🙂 ))))))) (next story is we practice MOB in the dark 🙂 )))))
All in all another good day…..we didn’t do much….eat, sleep, read, fish….then repeat…..eat, sleep, read, fish……oh, we might talk a bit in between 🙂 ))))) Rose made some excellent French toast for breakfast, then K&R made quesadillas for lunch, then a big salad for dinner…..we caught the fish too late in the day and we were all still full from the French toast and quesadillas….so fish on the grill tomorrow!!!!
Repairs: Greg at YSNW emailed some help on Nobeltec…..better but not quite right yet!!! The FBB is still working….have not turned it off/on yet!!
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Position 4/2 @ 1300 UTC:
Position: 8 22S 131 59W
Traveled: 150nm today; 2575nm total; 425nm to go; ETA sometime 4/4-5
Course: 247M HDG, 247M COG
Wind: SE-ESE (100-130M) 12-16 kts all day then calming after midnight; current wind is 8 kts @ 100M deg
Waves: SE-ESE 4-6′ swell; 10-14 sec period; 2-4′ wind chop 3-6 sec ESE; moderate to semi-rough ride; had to use stabilizers; moderate ride now
Speed: current speed is 6.0 SOG; has varied 5.8-6.6 SOG; avg 6.2 SOG today; 6.41 SOG total for passage (we planned for 6.0 but hope/want 6.5).
Weather: 25% cloud cover all day; NO squalls – yea!!!!; sea temp 82 deg F
Boat sightings: 0; 8 since we left.
Fishing: 1 large Mahi; 23 total for the trip; 13 bonitos, 7 skip jack, 3 Mahi. Finally something for the grill 🙂 ))))
Fuel Burn: After 378 hours we are burning 2.31 nmpg, 2.78 gph, 998 gallons total and 37 gallons more than expected. I’m going with Les’ fish stopping theory….now up to 29 stops at a gallon per stop so our fuel burn is right on plan!!!!!
Sail: Still up and helping
Way to go John boy!!!!!!!!!!! One for the guys there you manly food provider of meat for the table. Now when you tell those girls to “go eat fish” when they’re mean to you, you’re gonna have to race them to the table. Sushi style or grilled it sure sounds delicious. By the way……the NCAA gave KU another game to play in the finals since they were cheated the other night by the Michigan players taking advantage of KU’s siesta late in the 4th quarter of the game. Hopefully we will make restitution next weekend when we play again. :o)))))))))))))))))) A F’s
Sounds like it was the hairy legs keeping the fish away! 🙂 Don’t tell Rose I said that! Over 3/4 of the way there. How much total fuel have you burned?
Congrats on the Mahi! Wow, nothing like working for it eh? Great news – but Argggg the engine – can just feel the collective hearts stopping when the engine died….everything clenched… the stomach acid on elevator up and that “Oh SH**” exclamation. Your crew sounds like they handled it calmly, but your motions sound like classic Chevy Chase, and so, as always you leave me laughing – even tho I know it was anything but funny at the time. We haven’t seen a movie since you left – we don’t need to, you are all the entertainment we can handle.