Disa - Dorado for Dinner!

In the last two days we have dodged five squalls and had one blow right over us today. It was our first experience of heavy rain. For a few minutes there was lots of noise and lots of wind. The wind and waves are unsettled, with the squalls bringing big shifts in wind direction. But our trusty SV Disa has held a steady (if rather slow) course and kept us safe. During the course of this passage we have become much more aware of how the constant movement and rolling of the boat causes even the tightest-fitting things to work loose. Screws and fittings always choose the worst possible moment to escape from their fixtures. Today, as we furled the sails and turned on the engine, with the squall fast approaching on our tail, a strategic hose sprang loose. We were immediately alerted by an unusual smell. It turned out to be the coolant from the engine going to the hot water tank, which had now leaked out in the engine room. Yikes! Fortunately it was noticed straight away. Darrol was able to re-attach the hose (with extra hose clamps just in case) and replace the coolant. Once more we were good to go.

Tomorrow is Darrol’s birthday. While in Mindelo he was able to buy his own birthday present - a really good second-hand fishing rod from one of the sport-fishing boats. This has been put to good use. Yesterday he caught a gorgeous Dorado. Half of the fish was expertly filleted by Swiss chef, Andy, and frozen, ready for making sushi. The other half was cut into steaks to make Darrol’s favourite meal - Cape Malay pickled fish. If you are from Cape Town, South Africa, you will probably know that it is a local tradition to eat pickled snoek with hot cross buns on Good Friday. Our family tradition is to eat it on Darrol’s birthday too. We had all the ingredients on board - coriander, cumin, turmeric, bay leaves, pepper corns, cloves, ginger, onions, vinegar... - to make a large dish of pickled Dorado ready for Darrol’s birthday dinner tomorrow.