May 10

Written by:
5/10/2010 2:22 PM 

Saturday May 8th, 2010 Flying fish break the surface and glide above the waves more like a swarm of insects than a school of fish or flock of birds. They are running from the great black hull below the water that is s/v Jargo. At 2:00 a.m. one landed on the side deck just above my sleeping head. I woke in a small panic as I do every time some new, unexpected noise reveals itself surely as a sign of pending catastrophic failure of some critical piece of gear. Flapping. All I could understand was that something was flapping. With mag light in hand I ran up on deck to find the largest flying fish I’d ever seen struggling to throw itself back over the gunnel.

It never ceases to amaze me how closely my mood can be tied to the presence or absence of that big yellow ball of burning gas in the sky. The simple warmth of the sun on my back does more to raise my spirits than any treat aboard this ship. My motivation tends to rise along with the unobstructed orb and despite my desire to simply lounge in its warmth, I’ll use the boost in morale to clean up the boat, turn my over ripe bananas into a tasty sweet bread, and splice a new painter to the dingy all while waiting for my elusive tuna dinner.

Sailing Note: It feels like I’ve stepped off of a conveyor belt now that I’ve reached 6 South. I’ve easily lost a full knot of speed from the waning West setting current. Mariposa and the rest of the fleet that may pick this up in Galapagos, strongly recommend staying North of 5 S as far as 120 W. The second half of this passage could easily take me several more days than the first leg. Cheers to getting it done.

Sunday May 9th, 2010 Wedged between the main masts backstay and the mizzen shroud I was relieving myself on the leeward side when I saw the shadow racing up from the deep. Not a second after I first noticed the figure was it flying out of the water and into the air with my pink lead head lure dangling from its jaw. Fish on.

I only fish with a hand line aboard Jargo and am slowly improving my skills and gear. The book, Cruisers Guide to Fishing has helped tremendously as I’ve learned to turn my stainless steel seizing wire into leaders replacing the weaker monofilament my readymade lures came with. From now on I’ll only add parts to my fishing gear. No more expensive premade stuff. It just isn’t rugged enough.

Cleaning this mahi mahi I both laugh at and simultaneously chide myself for my sloppy knife work. I am still inexperienced at cleaning large ocean fish and the pitching and rolling of the boat does not help at all. Yet, my knife skills improve with each fish and I leave less meat wasted on the finished carcass. Working over the 30 inch fish I can’t help but wonder what my grandfathers would have thought if they could see me now.

One was a great outdoorsman with a wooden leg and renown in Oklahoma for his fishing and shooting prowess. The other was a cotton and watermelon farmer who butchered livestock on the farm and in the local grocery. The former was gone long before I was born and the later I only knew as a child. I don’t know if either had ever even seen the Pacific ocean let alone a blue, green, and yellow saltwater fish like the one I was now working in my hands.

Monday May 10th, 2010 There are a few questions in life whos very presence immediately confirms the answer. Despite knowing this I struggled with the question, “Is it time to reef” last night. In short, if you are wondering if it is time to reef, then it is time to reef. Winds picked up from 16 – 20 to 20 – 26 shortly after the sun set. I used to be in a habit of reefing the mainsail every night just before dark, but have traded the extra miles I gain running under full fail for the add security I get of reefing early. It is still a hard call to make.

Flying along now around 7S, 120W 20 – 26 may be the norm. The current has slowed, but with the added wind, even under a single reefed main, we are flying along at 6.5 – 7 knots. The wind has been coming more from the East than the Southeast which is causing the jib to luff a bit. In order to keep the sails full I may be turning South soon so that I can reach down to 10 S then turn almost due East and run wing on wing. More than anything else, I hate to hear a sail lose its wind only to fill again violently sending shudders through Jargo’s rigging and my spine.

I’ve had Force 6 winds now for almost 24 hours. The waves are large and looking up to them from the cockpit I can help, but wonder if Jargo will rise to the crest. Always she does, but not always perfectly. Some crests raise Jargo and almost drop her off the back of the wall of water. Other waves charge in, crests breaking, and look like the offensive line of a pro football team. The crash of the water against the hull sends reverberations through my plastic boat. The force of the impact can spit Jargo out no different than a car whos tires spin out on the pavement. Depending on where the linemen impact the hull the transom or bow may get thrown 30 or 40 degrees of course. The greatest fear is an accidental jibe in conditions like these. It is a difficult day to move around at all. Other than making a monster of a fried mahi sandwich I’ll lie in my bunk and read. Jargo’s deck looks like a flyfing fish graveyard. They do get much bigger out here in the Pacific.

From the Sat Phone: (SMS instructions under the Contact Us page on www.sailingforsos.com)

@ArgentProductions.com - Daniel with the Princess, right? Cheers Man and thanks for the SMS. If you do drop by over at Watergate bring a sixer of Shiner. Hope the refit of you Allied is going well. They can sure take it. Frost, that was it. Don't know Neruda. Will have to look for it in the next book store.

Little Hutch! June in the Marquesas Islands. By July 1st will leave for Tahiti, but already have a visitor for 3 weeks from July 12. Will be sailing West to someplace, but who knows where, from Bora Bora mid August. You are welcome just keep me posted.

Dave - 4 Months will be here before you know it. Enjoy it brother. Moto trip is almost definite. 1334 was my old haunt in Waterford. Still have a few friends on that dock if you are over there again, just say hi.

Price! Good to hear from you brother. When are you booking a ticket? Say New Zealand this year for New Years?

Byron - Had one for you. And one too many for me. Other than my b-day and that night it has been a dry passage. Much easier that way.

Mariposa - Cheers guys and safe passage to you. Hope you enjoyed Isabela as much as I did. Say hi to the folks at Pink Iguana/Casa Rosa. Any way to track your progress once I arrive in Marquesas?

Maria - Glad you got the card. Schicksal. Glaube. Bestimmung.

Cole - Thanks man. Wish I was taking more video, but between just moving around, cooking, and tending the boat the camera hasn't mooved much. Try to do better.