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Success at last on the fishing side and none too soon. Yesterday the crew nearly mutinied as the skipper hooked and then lost a large tuna just at the transom on Eclipse as he was too eager to reel it in. The crew had been nervously eyeing the stores of emergency spam rations and the disappointment was palatable. At 15 days between strikes no further fish were expected for a while, but then Liam showed us how to do it by landing a very nice 16 lb tuna yesterday. What a surprise then when Spike landed a 26 lb tuna this morning at about 0600 and even the skipper managed another 16 pounder by 0900.
We've now exhausted our supply of zip lock bags and Tupperware having filled a near empty freezer with fish! Already planning the Round the Island post race barbie on Saturday the 28th....We dare not put the line out now for fear of hooking another! I've also come to understand why fishing boats seldom eat the stuff off-shore. The boat smells like a fish factory - cornflakes and spag bog for today!
Anyway, our biggest concern now, having reached the day seven point, is that Liam remains as the sole crew member without a nickname. We thought of Quint from the movie Jaws after he landed his fish - but since he's moved down the league table it didn't seem right. So we ask your help - Please send your nominations for the "Liam nickname" contest to eclipse@g-comm.net
P.S. - please send Tuna recipes as well....
We've also managed to see a large number of dolphin, whale's spouting on the horizon and even a close encounter with a group of pilot whales. As Spike put it - looks like bl*&#y sea world out here. He did proudly exclaim his tuna was the first fish he had ever caught. We were very happy for him until he smeared his cheeks with tuna blood - all too Lord of the Flies ish for some of us!
Weather wise, we continue to be lucking in our navigation and have so far skirts the major weather events on this route. While other boats further north and up the track are seeing winds in the mid to high 30's and even on the nose, we've seen nothing so far above high 20's and all of it pretty much on the quarter, so far. Distance traveled over the last 48 hours from the noon to noon positions has yielded about 330 miles. Not completely sure, but this must be close to a record for Eclipse. We're continuing now on the rhumb line for the south side of the English Channel and plan to cross to the North as the weather allows. We're just below a warm front and expect the conditions to be steady for the next 24 hours but potentially variable after that.
- Greg
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