I came on for my night watch at 02.00 this Saturday morning to a nice cuppa from Dugald and a bit of a dilemma. Bearing down on us on our starboard side was the 748 ft cargo ship Aeneas. Doing 12 knots she was nearly twice as fast as us. It wasn’t clear from the plotter if she would pass ahead of us or not but it would happen in 30 mins. We discussed our options. Being on starboard tack should have given us right of way but we had more changes available than she did. We could have headed up, but as we were doing 6 to 7 knots in 14 knots of wind we decided to slow down. Rolling in the genoa reduced our speed to 4 to 5 knots and we watch this giant slip by, nearly 1 mile in front. (We saw an even bigger boat pass yesterday that was 0.8 nautical miles long). Even before I had finished my tea we had the sail back out and were up to speed again. Dugald stayed up an extra 40 mins to help and we also reattached the gybe preventer. This long rope joins the end of the boom to the bows and helps us all sleep much easier.
We also missed catching a magnificent Mahi Mahi yesterday afternoon. It would have been our fourth and largest catch but it got away. Capt (Ahab) Jon tells us he is watching North Water on his iPad. It’s a series about whaling in the 18th century. We hope he is not planning on catching anything that big.
We also had a full day without engine which was really great but now of course we have nothing to heat the water.
This morning brought some deck activity as Alistair Jon and Dugald decided to pole out the genoa as the wind was moving aft.
We also got an early strike with the rod and landed a small but magnificent squid eater variant 3 see photo. A welcome addition to our diet. I’m sure Fiz the Wiz in the galley will be able to conjure up something special. Last nights treat was her own Stornaway favourite, braised ground beef with root vegetables garlic and herbs, served with sweet and normal potatoe mash and lightly boiled fresh cabbage. Absolute comfort food for the hungry gang.
Alan
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