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Free Spirit - Mid-crossing swim (Free Spirit 62)



Hooray! We've just passed through the half-way mark, and as the winds were light and sea calm, we thought it'd be a good opportunity for a swim. We figured two in the water and two on the boat just in case, we had visions of the boat sailing off by itself with the four of us in the water which would be a not be a tidy conclusion to the ARC!! Its fair to say after 10 days of close confines, the two in the water also considered any psychopathic tendencies that might be lurking with the two on the boat, particularly after hearing a story at Las Palmas of an owner and his wife who picked up a crew member for the trans-Atlantic run. They sailed together for 4 months whilst (it turns out) the crew member learnt to sail, then one day they all stopped at a remote island in the Caribbean, the owners went for a walk on the beach and returned to find their yacht disappearing into the distance, stolen by their crewman! They spent a miserable few weeks on the island before being rescued, and a further 2 years tracking down their boat, which they ultimately found, minus the crew member who'd disappeared!!

Swimming with 4km of water beneath is an unusual feeling, particularly knowing the types of creatures that lurk beneath, but the water was amazingly warm and blue, and the swim did us a power of good. Earlier in the day the fish had also been biting, photos with this posting. Another story for the believe it or not category, we (Aaron in fact) had what we're fairly sure was a marlin (certainly he had a long spike on his nose!) on the line for a couple of minutes giving us a very good run for our money. We got him part way to the boat but then he jumped clear of the water, shook his head and threw the lure, making good his escape! I witnessed that, so I'd still understand any sceptacism, but it certainly got our pulses running for a while, heavens knows what we'd have done if we'd got him along-side - certainly not eat him, which intending to do with Marks tonight (crumbed fillets with chipped potatoes!), the challenge would have been giving him back to the ocean without damaging him...


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