Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
We set sail early on the morning of the twentieth of February, after a hot breakfast. The
wind had picked up quite a lot during the night. Fortunately, it was blowing in our direction,
and according to the weather report on the SSB weather station, there were no warnings in
the immediate area.
I decided not to start the engine this morning. We were at anchor; there was plenty of sea
room, and we had quite a breeze to break out the hook, should we require it. As it happened,
it was a perfect departure: the sails went up smoothly, and the boat sailed up to the anchor
with Gavin hauling in as fast as he could, belaying the rode at the crunch time. The anchor
broke out on cue and came up smartly over the deck, clean from a sandy bottom. We liter-
ally flew along with a dramatic wake of foam and bubbles.
Gavin paid out the fishing line after replacing the old lure with a bright, new, yellow skirt,
dolly, and a sharp, bronze hook. Always in rough weather would we catch a fish or three.
That which we couldn't eat we would salt and hang up in the rigging, away from the wet
salty spray. It would dry out well in a week or so, and we would then store it in brown
paper sacks down below. It was a wonderful treat when on watch in the wee hours of the
morning.
To the line was attached a long, rubber bungee cord which in turn was attached to the aft
balustrade. This would act as a spring when a large fish struck the lure. We had lost several
fish by not knowing about this until a fellow sailor had tipped us off. The strong hundred
pound test line would snap like cotton without this “shock absorber.”
Once in a while we caught large, wicked looking barracuda, but because they were so bony
and reportedly unsafe to eat because of ciguatera, we would release them. They had the
largest, black, evil looking eyes I had ever seen on a fish, not to mention the rows of long,
needle teeth. The tuna came aboard a beautiful, silvery blue color, and after we had put it
out of its misery, usually by stabbing it in the brain for a quick, painless death, it would
turn a dull lifeless grey. It tasted delicious and seldom went to waste.
Sometimes only a fish head would appear out from the purple depths, sharks having at-
tacked the fish giving off distress signals. We always had a healthy respect for these ocean
scavengers. We could never just dive off the boat in calm without looking carefully about
for these predators. It was usually a better idea to post a lookout man while the other was
swimming.
One of the safety measures I took always when sailing and particularly when solo sailing
was to throw out a long line aft, in the event of a man over board. Many sailors would still
be alive today if they had that one last chance of a long rope to grab onto. The slight drag
on the boat's performance because of this was well worth the extra safety angle.
