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places. I had one cockroach hotel left and opened it up and set it in a locker that I could see
all the time. I washed the sprouts and ate them anyway.
I had been trailing a fishing line unsuccessfully due to the slow speed. Now, as we sped up
somewhat, I kept a close eye on the rod. I set the clutch drag pretty weakly and said a little
fisherman's prayer. There must be a God because later in the day, after my noon latitude
fix, I heard the rod screaming out from its ratchet. I clawed my way up on deck from my
navigation table and retrieved the rod from its holder. I tightened up the clutch and began
slowly to wind it in. Whatever I had caught was either pretty big, or it was a fighter. With
my foot, I over rode the self-steering vane, and we sailed upwind, slowing Déjà vu down
enough for me to wind in. Unfortunately, I over corrected the helm, and I went about and
continued going about right across the line. All I needed now was to foul the line around
my propeller or servo blade. The fish continued to put up a struggle. It was now under the
keel somewhere. I cursed at it. “Come on, you fuckin' idiot; come around the back so I can
haul you in, damn it!”
The boat went through a jibe motion, and I straightened up on the helm. We started sailing
off again slowly, but I noticed the line had wrapped around something underwater. I figured
I would lose the line and the fish anyway, so I reeled slowly in. It was hard going, as I was
fighting the fish and the wrap around the servo blade I figured. Would you believe it, the
line held, and when I did eventually get the fish up to the water surface, I was shocked to
see that a shark had beaten me to it! All that was left was a large black-eyed Barracuda; I
cursed long and hard.
I threw the line in again and returned to my cabin in a foul and sulky mood. Little things
were magnified into big serious issues.
27
th
October: Twenty-five to thirty knots of wind just off the nose. All yesterday afternoon
and this morning! Rough sailing to say the least. Looks like it's with me for a while. I am
pointing as high as I can, forced to take down the staysail and reef the main to a third reef.
I have replaced the big Genoa with the working Genoa. We are scooting along, and there
is a lot of water coming over the deck. The fishing line is in, and we are back to serious
sailing for a while. My bad mood has passed. Barometer was low and now is on the rise.
My mood swings with the pressure; I think it is the same with other people. I got deluged
with seawater last night as I had the fore hatch open. I should have known better; it was
just so hot down below and too wet and rough up above. The wind eases off somewhat after
the sun has set.
On a hunch, I went up forward to check on the sail I had replaced. I was shocked to see it
was almost over the side! I just managed to salvage it. I am getting sloppy and must reign
myself in! If I had lost that sail overboard, it would have seriously hampered my passage to
