Magic Mahi 

We have entered an area known as the convergence zone or doldrums. Since we left San Francisco we’ve been looking ahead to see where the best place to cross was going to be hoping a big dead zone would move further east. Unfortunately, it’s been a stubborn low so instead of leaving some westing to do once we cross the equator where the winds will like to carry us that way we’re already about as far west as we will go to avoid the large hole. 

Early in the morning the wind started dwindling down to as little as 6kts and the seas were relatively calm for the ocean. We’d like to make water, charge the batteries, and get a little more southward progress going so we planned to start the motor- but first, this was a perfect opportunity for swimming! Good start to a hot day with not much wind… so we furled up the jib, dropped the main and everyone jumped into the deep blue sea. A looped line trailed behind us so we could grab it, the boat was still moving and though it wasn’t hard to swim faster, it was nice to just hold on and be towed. Greg has always talked about his fear of swimming while at sea. To willingly jump off the only boat around in hundreds of miles that is your sole means of survival can seem like a downright stupid thing to do. He did jump in, but only swam for a few minutes then waited for the rest of us to finish our frolic while marveling at the deep blue beauty of the water we were all in. We took the chance to check out the keel and rudders, mindful to check on the well being of our survival craft. 

We’ve been trolling a few hand lines and switching lures and lengths and messing with it all and finally caught a small Mahi Mahi, hooray! It does seem like magic to actually land a fish after trying all the things. We seared half of it up and made some poke with the other half and ate the whole thing for dinner easily, it wasn’t a big fish. Now we’re ready for more.

The low wind area is staying with us and while yesterday it was nice to have a break, today it was frustrating to not be moving towards our destination. We do our best to just chill, get our rest, and keep the boat rolling.

The next morning just after getting up I was staring at the water passing by and I saw a turtle swimming just a few feet from our boat. The wind is light and coming from where we are going so making headway is tough. We didn’t run the engine to charge the batteries yesterday so we started it earlier today and ran it just to charge for a while (in neutral) but we were just barely sailing so we gave up and put it in gear. 5 hours later we’re still motoring, the sea state makes it easier to lie in bed than brace yourself in another available spot. It’s been raining off and on and while the cloud cover is nice and cool it makes us keep the hatches closed.

The guys decided to take advantage of the rain and took a shower in the run off from the main sail which was streaming down the corner of the dodger like a waterfall. I’m glad for Griffin’s frolicking in the frustrating weather and I bet his goosebumps feel pretty good.

We caught another fish! This time a small tuna, ate it up over a few meals. It wasn’t a good one for raw eating so Leo stated with some pan frying that turned out great. Rice with seared tuna and furikake for lunch was pretty tasty, hope to put some more fish in the freezer before we get to the ciguterra areas where we can’t eat many fish due to the toxin. 

Things I appreciate right now:

• we’re spinning faster now that we’re so close to the equator
• As the clouds thin, I can’t tell if the salt on my glasses is reflecting light or if I’m seeing stars. The southern hemisphere sky is so unfamiliar. 
• Griffin and I chatted about our kayaking trips to Blake Island tonight and he remembers so many more details than I do. He says he’s going to need a bigger kayak when we get home, I’m glad he thinks he wants to do that with me as a teen.