Friday 8 May, 7.36 pm (310 miles SW of New Caledonia)
Today Bob caught a fish! When I say that, he didn’t actually do it in the traditional way – hook, line, lure, bait etc. It was more a case of claiming possession of the poor hapless creature that had its flight cut short by our boat being in the way. Bob came out into the cockpit and in the darkness – there it was, flapping about at his feet. Well a fish is a fish, and so now the score is one all. One to Will and one to Bob. The fact that one was a 7 kg tuna and the other was a 3 ounce minnow don’t enter into it, as I say a fish is a fish. And Bob’s little smelly creature will live to swim and fly another day!!
Suffice to say, nothing more has been caught, despite Will’s persistence and determination.
We saw a few more of Bob’s Storm Birds today and sure enough, we were eventually joined by a storm – well a little storm anyway – with driving rain, dark clouds and powerful winds. Fortunately we took in the main sail and reefed the jib before the worst of it hit. Then within 30 minutes it had passed and we were drenched in evening sunshine as the sun set rather quickly in the West.
Speaking of setting suns – they seem to be happening earlier out here, well at least the further east we go. So it was that 5:00 o’clock was declared 6:00 o’clock about an hour ago. Not quite at 165 degrees east, but pretty close anyway. So we are now operating on Vanuatu Time.
With wind from behind, our speed has been very respectable today, topping 8 knots for a time when we were hit by a squall. We are now about 300 miles SW of New Caledonia and closing.
I’ve just been called for dinner, I’d better wind this up, it’s a mixture of leftovers from the past couple of days. After getting drenched mid afternoon we had a serving of canned soup and toast, complements of Bob, to warm us up – he was truly in his element!! Nothing more important than an industrial strength can opener on board a yacht. In the same category as sails, winches and ropes!! Source: Bob Brenac
Smooth sea, fair wind and a new time zone.
Rob