This photo is another that I took while I was out for a run. I was in Cuba with my dad, I went for a run along Havana’s ocean front walkway and seawall called El Malecón. The image I saw before taking this photo is one of those that I could completely imagine as a great photo. I initially ran right on by before it clicked in that I had to go back, it was only about 20 yards before I turned back to capture this moment. The fisherman in the forefront in complete shadow with the waves breaking onto him, the bright sun and the Havana skyline behind him, I had to have it.
The link below is a blog post that I published soon after returning from Cuba. The post will tell you all about our trip, why and where we went, it also has a number of other photos that you may enjoy.
Last night’s first watch was far and away my most difficult yet.
To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.
Day 22
Saturday February 19, 2022, 12:50PM
16’12.13N 57’21.39W 3188km made good.
SOG 6.0kts
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The wind and seas are pretty calm, we have been flying the spinnaker with a reefed mainsail. Our speed has been ok.
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Dinner last night was pasta with a tuna tomato sauce that Jens made, it was quite good.
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Just after dinner last night we realized that the fishing line was still out. Dennis reeled it in, noticing as he was pulling the last of the line that there was a fish on the line. It was about 3 ft long with an eel like dark body, a regular fish tail, not an eel tail, huge eyes, and a set of pointy sharp teeth that would make any yippy rat-dog owner proud. None of us knew what it was, so we didn’t want to eat it. Since it was already dead we just left it at the toe-rail until this morning, at which point I took some photos and set it back into the sea from which it came.
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Cocktail hour was a single glass of red wine for me, we are seriously down on alcohol. Only a bottle of Jameson and a bottle of red wine left.
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Last night’s first watch was far and away my most difficult yet, only because of how tired I was. I was totally spent. Weird sleep schedules, V-berth barely habitable and constant movement have made for an exhausted me. Just after dinner, I was already on deck anticipating my upcoming watch, Dennis was on the wheel. My 8PM watch start time, came and went, I slept through it. Dennis passed the watch off to Jens, who was my watch partner. I woke up 30 minutes later just in time to take my (Jens’) turn at the helm.
I stood behind the pedestal, glaze eyed, with my head no further than a foot from the compass, staring at it with drool running down my chin, literally drool running down my chin onto the compass. I was snapping my head up and down, nodding off for seconds at a time. I barely made it through my ½ hour at the helm before Jens, thankfully, took over for me. I then proceeded to sleep in the cockpit through my next shift on the helm, waking with about 5 minutes left in it. At first I thought “cool I woke up just in time” then I realized I screwed up, I slept through most of my watch. Jens said that he tried to wake me a couple of times, but I didn’t budge. I Will try to make up the time to him as we proceed through our last couple of days.
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Once relieved from our shift I brushed my teeth and went straight into the moist nest and crashed. Dennis had to shake me awake, which should never happen, I was so spent. I felt a lot better during our second watch, it was pleasant, sunrise, tea, biscotti followed by some coffee and more biscotti.
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We caught a mother of a Mahi Mahi, the thing was huge, easily 30 lbs.
We were sitting around debating whether we should have the last of the beer then or save it for later, when the fishing reel screamed WzzzzzzzzzzWzzzzWzzzz and the rod bent signifying we either caught another round of seaweed or we got us a fish. Our predetermined positions were taken, Dennis grabbed the rod, John on the helm, Jens with gaff and me helping wherever needed. We rolled in the jib, John steered a slower course, Dennis reeled whenever the fish would allow, it was a back and forth battle that we were going to win. Yesterday, after losing 2 lures to fish that got away I switched the line from an unknown test to a 60lb test. Dennis kept reeling and we were able to get a glimpse of the fish, determining that it was indeed a Mahi Mahi and a big one at that. Dennis got the fish to the stern of the boat, Jens gaffed it through its gut and with my help we lifted it over the lifelines and right into the cockpit, behind the wheel right at John’s feet. John jumped up onto the seat, while the giant Mahi thrashed about, somehow getting through and in front of the wheel where I had the unenviable task of stabbing the fish through the eye with my handy dandy sailing knife. We won this battle.
When the Mahi Mahi was in the water and while it was quickly dying, the fish was an incredible blue color, which faded as the fish died. It was really something to see and something to think about…Food for thought.
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Time to have the last round of beers, warm but celebratory.
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After several buckets of saltwater to give the cockpit a quick rinse of all the blood we took some photos and put the fish up onto the gunwale for me to butcher, which I made quick work of. At least 15lbs fillets, and incredible catch. Too bad we didn’t catch the fish earlier in the adventure, when we had refrigeration and more time to eat it.
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Once the Mahi Mahi was filleted and put away, within an hour of landing the behemoth, I made blackened Mahi Mahi sandwiches with coleslaw on my homemade focaccia.
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For dinner Jens made, you guessed it Mahi Mahi, he served it with Basmati rice.
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We set the spinnaker, which is easy once it’s up and flying however it can be a beast to set up.
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We are all stuffed with Mahi Mahi and a bit worn after a long day.
To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.
Day 12
Wednesday, February 9, 2022, 12:45PM
14’19.546N 32”34.801W 1631nm made good.
SOG 6.0knts
Winds are still quite light, we are and have been since dusk last night motor sailing, which is exactly as it sounds: running the motor while sailing.
Chris Parker, our weather guru, has insisted that we continue to head south-west until we hit the 14 parallel of latitude before changing our course to due west. The goal is to try to avoid some nasty weather to the north of us. The predicted weather the next few days will be a stark contrast to what we have dealt with since Sunday. Winds are expected to pick up tomorrow and Thursday, to the low to mid twenties, while continuing to pick up through Saturday. Thursday and Friday, expected winds are in the mid-twenties with gusts to the high-twenties. The worst of it is expected on Saturday, sustained winds in the high-twenties, with gusts into the mid-thirties. Leveling off a bit on Sunday in the low 20’s and Monday, becoming just right, about perfect, in the high-teens. The winds are predicted to be coming out of the north-east most of the time which means we will be on a starboard tack, taking the wind on our aft-beam which is preferable. None of the predicted seas are to be over 10 feet, which is high, but not scary. Bigger than the kiddie coaster, not the loop-de-loop coaster.
Heading west into the sunset and an ominous forecast.
Well, the head is still jocked. I did what any experienced boater should never do; I overloaded it, not with poop, rather with toilet paper. I know better! I’m embarrassed, not because I did it, but because I shouldn’t have done it. Wipe, flush way more than you think you should, repeat. I didn’t pump enough between wipes, dumb ass. Good thing there is a second head on board, you can guarantee that if the other head gets clogged it won’t be my fault.
Jabsco manual pump toilet, like the one on Avocet.
We got another hit on the fishing line. Our reaction was perfect, we all got into our predetermined places, ready to go. This fish was obviously quite large, the rod was bent to a promising angle, the fish was running, Dennis was reeling at the right time. We never did see this fish before the line snapped. This time it was not an operator error, it was the fish was bigger than the line test called for. We strung a new lure and leader and set it back out again vying that if the line breaks again we will change it out for a higher test. We’ll see…
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We broke into our Villa Azul food stash again last night, Chicken-Coconut Soup with Basmati Rice. It was delicious, not the depth of flavor I get at home with ingredients that were not available on Lanzarote, but like I said, still delicious. We have 3 more meals of soup remaining, not a bad deal.
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Cocktail Hour was Guacamole, Spanish White Anchovies, Manchego Cheese and Crackers. For beverages we tried/drank some Strawberry Gin and Tonic, and yup, it sucked. Round 2 was Bombay, much better.
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This morning we discussed amongst many other things, how much booze we have already consumed, considering we are getting low on gin, we were curious if it was over consumption or under provisioning. Since we drank a total of 6, 750ml bottles of booze (25oz, 150 ounces total) in 11 nights, equals less than 14 ounces per night, which is less than 3.5 ounces each. Obviously, we under provisioned.
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Dennis and I cleaned out the cooler that was full of the Villa Azul food. It was fairly nasty, with the expected upcoming rough weather we wanted to clean it out now before it got even nastier. While we had the cleaning supplies out we also cleaned the cockpit which was dirty mostly from general use and a little bit from fish blood. We’re becoming domesticated, our wives would be proud.
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I am once again clean, showered with clean under garments.
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Amazingly, we are still on our first roll of paper towels, granted they are the industrial, heavy duty Spanish type, but one roll for 11 days is impressive.
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Our plan is to fire up the watermaker again this afternoon, the main tank is just about empty.
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As of this morning we still had 1,700 miles to the harbor entrance in Guadeloupe, which is still more than half the distance. The encouraging thing is now that we have turned west all of the distance we travel will be “made good”, meaning that we are now making a beeline to our destination, no longer heading south so that we can eventually turn west. We have made that turn. 1,700mi/135mi per day = 12.59 days, which is very conservative especially considering the weather forecast. Alternatively 1,700mi/150mi per day = 11.33 days, still a bit conservative, yet doable.
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I will open the letters from the kids tomorrow. I am looking forward to it.
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We just deployed the spinnaker again, it looks like another day of light winds. Yesterday we were able to fly the spinny for about 6 hours before the wind diminished too low to keep it up. We ended up motoring throughout the night. We are hoping for more wind, not too much, just more. Seas are flat, it’s amazing that everything is so calm even though we are hundreds of miles to the closest landfall.
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The big one got away! At twilight last night we hooked another fish. This time when Dennis called “fish” we all came running. This baby was much larger than the one we caught 2 nights ago. Dennis reeled it in close to the boat, but the rod was still tied to the rod holder. We do this to keep it in place in rough weather or if a fish was to pull the rod out of the holder. I reached in between Dennis and the aft-lifeline to which the rod holder was attached and untied the line. Dennis handed off the rod to me so he could position himself a little bit forward where there is more space to maneuver. All the while this large iridescent bright blue Mahi Mahi was splashing away at the surface in a desperate attempt to escape our stomachs. John freed his newly purchased gaff, a big ass hook on a long handle used to bring fish from the water’s surface onto the boat.
Dennis reeling in the big one!
Dennis grabbed the gaff and gaffed our potential dinner at the gills, just where you are supposed to, right below the gills. As he was lifting PD from the surface to the deck, the big fucker thrashed it’s way of the gaff, fuck.
All hope for another Mahi Mahi meal was not lost yet, the hook was still in its mouth. I still held the rod keeping the fish at the surface, ready for another attempt with the gaff. Which Dennis made it look like a Brady to Gronk pass late in the fourth quarter to sure up another win. This time Dennis got our 12lbs of blue food porn on the deck, the fucker was on the deck!! However, it gave one last mighty thrash jettisoning itself free of the gaff and the hook, sending the lure flying. The lure quickly found its way into Dennis’ sock. We all thought it was his leg, stopping us all dead in our tracks. No one wanted to move the wrong way, possibly helping embed one or more of the lure’s nasty hooks further into Dennis’ leg. While we all stood there looking at Dennis’ leg, which was fine, but we were motionless, the big one flopped over the side and took off like a bullet. Another day, another fish tale.
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During our nightly ritual, cocktail hour, we came up with a procedure of what needs to be done next time- Make sure the rod is secured with a one pull release knot- Fish on line, yell fish. Start reeling it in. Put the engine (if running) in idle. Lower the solar panels. Move the rod forward, so there are less obstructions while boarding the fish. Since we don’t have a net we will have a large handled grocery bag available to use as a net if necessary. With this thought out procedure, hopefully the next one doesn’t get away.
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Speaking of fish, well mammals; most days we have had visits from dolphins. They typically swim alongside or in our bow wake, once, so far, they did a few jumps out of the water right on our starboard side. They do look really cool, like they are having fun. I hope they stay away from our fishing lure.
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There is concern that the “house batteries’’ may have been compromised. Most boats have house batteries, used for just about everything except starting the engine. The engine has its own dedicated starting battery that is wired separately to insure that you will always have the juice to start your engine. Unbeknownst to me, if you run your batteries too low, to 55% or lower, they will no longer hold a charge as well as they did before the low discharge. A few days ago the batteries got down to just under that 55% number, so we are keeping a closer eye on them making sure we don’t let that happen again, as well as seeing if the batteries were truly compromised.
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I just took a break from writing to use the head, and…I clogged the toilet! Fuck! We are figuring out the best way to resolve this situation. Currently, I have salt water on to boil to see if a bit of hot water will soften things up.
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Late yesterday afternoon, we decided, in an effort to keep the spinnaker full of air, to drop the mainsail. The thinking was that with the wind behind us, the main was blocking air more than it was capturing it. When we dropped the main we noticed that one of the battens, a semi-rigid membrane used to help a sail keep its shape, was missing the set screw used to hold the batten in place at the luff (front) of the sail. The battens typically go into a cloth sleeve stitched laterally into the sail, though I have also seen vertical battens as well, they just aren’t as common. John was able to find a replacement screw and the fix was in, done in about 10 minutes.
The batten on Avocet’s mainsail is circled.
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Before leaving home, in Arlington, my kids, Shane and Cate slipped notes into my duffle bag for me to read during my trip. On the outside of Shane’s he instructed me to open it “after we were aboard for a while”, “when I was homesick” or “just feeling lonely”. I decided that I would open them at the approximate half way point of our trip, we are not quite there yet; with this light wind it may still be a while. I am very much looking forward to opening those letters and thinking about my kids. I love’em.
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How I was feeling at the time.
Back to the toilet- I made a shitty situation even worse. I tried forcing the pump handle to push the clog through. For a moment I thought I was successful, the handle moved freely, but it wasn’t moving any water; I blew a gasket, on the toilet, not me personally. John has a spare pump on board which is great, however, useless until the clog is cleared. I shut the through-hull fitting, which allows water into and waste out of the toilet before I tried unsuccessfully, to unhook the waste hose to clean it out; nope not happening. Shitty getting even shittier. I also started to remove the old pump, when I took the pump off the base it looked as though the flapper mechanism which separates the water and waste was installed upside down and was stuck at an awkward angle. This may have caused the handle to move freely without discharging water. So, I flipped the flapper and put the pump back on its base. When we clear the clog we will find out if the flapper was part of the problem or if we have to replace the pump itself. It was just mentioned that we have a snake on board. After lunch I may take a crack (intended) at the clog using the snake.
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In the early hours of this morning we saw, on AIS, our first boat in 4 days.
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Last night’s dinner was Bolognese with Penne, Parmigiano-Reggiano, EVOO and more of my boat made Focaccia. The Bolognese is part of the bulk food that Dennis and I cooked and froze at Villa Azul in Puerto Calero. It was quite good and got rave reviews from Jens and John. This morning we ate the last of the Tortilla Espanol and Chorizo. Jens is in the galley putting together some chicken salad wraps for lunch.
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Overall our food supplies are good, we have put a huge dent in them, but the fridge is still full and we still have John’s canned goods from his $200 checked bag to fall back on, if we need to.
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Gin on the other hand is getting low. What will we do? We still have some beer, vodka and rum, we’ll have to see where each cocktail hour takes us.
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The winds are currently very light, we are flying the spinnaker, with winds so light we are only moving about 4 knots. Winds are supposed to remain light through tomorrow night, then should pick up for our tack westward.
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