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Aretha - 13 47 South 032 02 West - Back up to racing speed



Aretha is a big yacht and heavy for her size. She thrives on big winds for being able to go fast. In light winds she’s certainly not as quick as some of the lighter race boats. We’re back in 20 knots of wind today and back to surfing down giant waves at 13-14 knots. Magical stuff and we’re racing the clock now to get into Salavador be Bahia by Sunday before it gets dark in the evening.

Team Aretha are very settled into our routines at sea - schooling is bubbling along, the watches are expertly being run by Nichola, Paul and Jani and it’s great to have a smooth running happy ship. Our daily patterns of values prizes and questions such as “What am I committed to doing today” are well established and get great engagement. Right now, the children having done schooling for the day are playing lego and watching the Jungle Book DVD.

Fishing is unfortunately curtailed for this leg. Two days ago we had the line out and experienced a massive take. I took the rod on deck as the rod bent in half and the line was literally smoking off the reel. I had the drag settings dialled up to full (which is so tight that its impossible for me to pull it out by hand). Even with the drag on full the line was flying out. If I’d put a finger on the reel to slow it, I’d have surely taken the skin off my finger. Back in Australia we caught and brought to the boat a sailfish (the fastest fish in the sea) which we estimated at being 2.5 metres long. When we hooked that fish, it was nowhere close to the power of what I was getting this time around. I can’t even begin to imagine what a monster this fish might have been. The fish kept running and after stripping 1,000 metres of 50lb line from the reel broke the line. Deflated I stood there will rod in hand wishful to have at least had a glimpse of the monster. When we hooked it, it dived deep in the sea rather than leaping out of the sea which is more common for marlin. So, fresh fish off the menu until we can replace the line in Brazil.

The poems continue to come in (thank you very much) and are still inspiring the children. The latest creation from Bluebell below:

the good life for me
by bluebell craven


the sea is glistening in the sun
o the good life for me
the sails are flapping and are full of wind
o the good life for me
me lying on the deck with the scorching sun
tanning my back
o the good the life for me
the sun is shining on the sea making the
sea twinkle and shine
o this is the good life for me for me.

So, 380 miles from here to Brazil. Still strange to think we set off from Africa some 3 weeks ago and are close to making landfall in South America. It really does make the world feel a smaller place. Directly North of us is Knud Rasmussen Land in Greenland. Studying the charts I never appreciated just how huge Greenland is - I can see an adventure to go there in the future.

Time to head up on deck and escape from Baloo and Mowgli,

Team Aretha in the Brazilian Basin, Out.



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