23°42.9’S 108°19.5’W // course 212° // speed 5,7kn
Three minutes after Michael goes to have a nap, rrrrrrrrrrrrrr, the fishing line goes off. Quickly, someone is sent downstairs to warn him, and out he comes — big smile and wavy hair. It’s not a false alarm; there really is something on the line, so I pull back on the throttle as Michael reels the lure in. Only a few hours ago, he brought the line in just to find the lure wrapped around itself, the whole fishing line entangled because of it… so this is a happy moment. The lure works!
A beautiful blue and green shimmer appears as the line gets shorter and the angle gets steeper. A mahi-mahi again, this time a slightly bigger one. “I think it may be hooked a little strangely,” Michael says. And as he reels it all the way in, the fish just out of the water, it thrashes one last time… and disappears into the deep, deep blue ocean. Not to be seen again.
So, okay, maybe this wasn’t the fish for us. But at least we know the lure works — and that the ocean is not empty, because we were starting to wonder a little. Picture of the day was won by Jasmijn catching the moment of reeling in the line.
We have been under engine all day. The humming — or buzzing, or grinding — of the engine has become a steady background noise that cancels out many other sounds. We have to speak up to make ourselves heard. But really, we only notice how loud the engine is when we turn it down…! The silence that follows is intense.
During the day, the wind played hide and seek with us. We tried to sail the evening before, setting all sails, only to take them down again a few hours later as the wind shifts were unpredictable and the pressure on the rigging too great when it came from the wrong direction. We made north, we made east, we even made northeast at some point just to keep the sails on one side. Then we got ready to take everything down, and since 04:00 all sails — except the forestaysail — have been down.
During the morning watch, the wind picked up again. We said we would wait until after lunch, and as the dishes were being done, I told the team we would set sail again afterwards. But by the time the dishes were finished, the wind had decreased by three knots, so we decided it would be wiser not to play this game with the wind again and risk frustration as it dropped while setting sail.
It was a good decision, because just 45 minutes later the wind was back to 8 knots… Hopefully this beautiful Wednesday will bring some wind by the end of the day.
We are closing in on Rapa Nui. As I write this, we have 214 miles left. It feels a little strange to think we are getting so close after nearly 2000 miles at sea — days of nothing but deep blue water, starry night skies, and stunning moonrises and sunsets. And sunrises and moonsets. Jupiter following Venus, following the sun, and shooting stars all around to grant us all our wishes.
All is well on board,
Jet
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