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DreamCatcher -Thursday 13th Nov



Hi.
Another good 24hrs. David landed our first fish - mahimahi, apparently. Not so big, but made a great fish starter for Maggie's supper casserole. This feat, plus the expert way he handled the whole gutting, filleting and pan-frying the unfortunate creature, won David a sat phone call home. We've had a couple more 'bites' that got away, today.
The sailing has been sublime, with Pandora up all night again. However, chafe is a real problem.
I noticed the sound of a small bird chirping the first night. This went away to be replaced by an occasional graunching sound which became steadily louder and more frequent over the hours.
As part of our routines, we dropped Pandora this morning to investigate, and discovered it chafed through the outer braid (chirpy, chirpy) and into the solid dyneema core (graunch, graunch). So now we know for sure. Various miscellaneous other spots of chafe also noted and corrective action taken where possible.
We're currently using the second, polyester, spinnaker halyard for the Parasailor, and will splice a new eye in the dyneema one in Mindelo.
Otherwise, it is noticeably warmer, with the sea temp some 1.5c warmer at 28.4 than at Las Palmas. It's also 'tops off' in the sunny cockpit, with generous sun cream being applied.
Over the last few hours, we've started seeing whole shoals (flights?)of flying fish. Amazing.
As before, a really good crew are all helping each other to have a really nice time, whilst learning loads along the way. Our approach to the trip is suitably mellow, as we get used to the boat, the equipment, the parasailor, and each other. In that spirit, we have also started to use the engine in lighter winds, when necessary to ensure we get the time we need ashore in Mindelo to be prepared for the 2100 miles to St Lucia. Our need for electricity generation coincides quite well to dte, but it remains an issue to be resolved, with the duogen output dropping off below about 8knots of boat speed.
So, folks....another lovely day on the dreamboat - sorry - DreamCatcher.
Martin

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