[Editor: We have been beating on Jeanette for awhile to get her to write for the blog. Not sure why it is so hard, she enjoys writing and has written various creative stories without any prompting. Such as it is. This is her report of our three and a half day sailing on the Atlantic from Morehead on October 7th to Cape Canaveral on the 10th. I don't know why it took me so long to post this. Such as it is...]
The first day
Really tossing and turning, stayed inside all day while everyone prepares for repeated overnighters.
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| Sunset on the Atlantic |
The second day
The gulf stream water was absolutely gorgeous, sky blue intermixed with a purple cobalt color. These waters are reminiscent of the Bahamas though here one could not gaze into crystalline waters and admire fish and coral as the water is about 600 feet in some places and in others so deep that some of the most high tech depth sensors cannot get a reading.
The kitten has spent all day with a fuzzy blanket franticly kneading it to death. Today our lovely jaunt was interrupted by the wonderful melody of the fishing line playing out. Daddy was napping in preparation for the second overnighter out of four, so it was just Mom and I who were up and awake. It fell to us to haul the thrashing fish out. Mom caught a lovely–small-Mahi-Mahi that we ate tonight with a macadamia nut topping which was delicious. After two changes of watch, Dad was back to napping and Mother and I heard the tell-tale zip of a fish on the line. Once again we used teamwork and hauled out a small black-fin tuna which was destined to be eaten tomorrow. The black fin was greeted with unrestrained delight along with the Mahi. It is so great when you catch your dinner. It also helps that the fish that we did catch were both absolutely delicious, well the Mahi was anyway.
The third day
This morning, when the sun had already breached the horizon, the boat was making good time meandering past Georgia. Everywhere you look is sea, air, sky, clouds and the occasional container ship. To the west, low-lying cumulous clouds reflect the indigo water turning the clouds a dark gray blue. Shafts of sunlight cut through them, lighting patches of sea with an awe-inspiring glow. To the east the sun had risen a quarter of the way to its peak. On this side, the dark cumulous clouds were replaced with far away tufts of pearly white cirrus clouds joined by small cotton ball puffs of cumulous; all set alight by the brilliant sun. The east has the best background of all, the sky is such a lovely blue. Cobalt blue at the peak fading to a light blue -so light it is almost white- at the horizon.
It is Friday today. Normally, I would be doing school but there is no internet connection. It doesn’t help that this is the last week of school for the first half of the school year. In the mad dash of the waves I have been excused from school temporarily as it is just to tossy-turny for me to concentrate.
The swells are nice with a low frequency which counteracts their size. The mood of the crew, although tired, is fine. The boat is big enough that we all have no reason to feel confined. After spending the first night on the sofa, preferring it to my dark and lonely cabin, I swore never to make that mistake again. Last night I spent in my parent’s room while they took turns on watch. I slept with everyone on the boat twice maybe including the kitten who has really catted up and has been very courageous. During the fish catching she even went out onto the back deck and sniffed the fish a few times before it was swiftly removed from her extremely hungry sight line.
Not much fast sailing going on. The wind has been mostly behind us for the whole trip and we have been motor-sailing. The wind is supposed to shift east, aiding us in our journey southbound. Said wind shift has yet to make an appearance. Small squalls in the distance, but nothing imminent. I have probably spent a good 30/60 minutes up in the captain’s chair enjoying the new sun and the wind just writing away in my journal.
Funny thing that I watch the west while proclaiming the virtuous beauty of the east. Every direction holds its own beauty I suppose. To the North, purple cirrus clouds skim the horizon along with a lonesome forgotten jet trail. The western view has a solitary container ship marked with the letters M S C. The water is almost the same color as its hull. The east is the same, the water glittering like magma where the sun’s reflection falls. Ahead is a mix of west and east. Up above I see mares tails and a mackerel sky, which means that if the laws of weather conform to the old wive's tale, the next 24 hours won’t be completely dry. Good thing we are traveling. The water has turned sapphire blue now and the world is sunny.
So far no luck with fishing today. We pulled up 2 Bonitas, which, in my view, is one of the most useless fish ever. At least we still have tuna for dinner. An exciting event that happened today is that we saw dolphins. Mom and I went up and watched them for a really long time. They were Atlantic Spotted dolphins which are smaller than bottlenose, but much prettier. They were so fun to watch I could have stayed up there all day. There were 9 or 10 of them. Two of the babies kept launching themselves skyward out of the waves. Often they managed to have all of their body in the air at the same time. All the rested dipped and circled, playfully showing off. The dolphins left for awhile and we came down to see my previously sleeping father awake at the fishing pole. We hadn’t heard the line go out and the spool was almost empty! When the fish finally got to the boat we found it was a stupid Bonita. Dad released it and Mom and I went back up to the front of the boat and some dolphins joined us once again. Still Atlantic Spotted but there were only about 3 or 4, maybe 5. After they left we stayed up at the bow and enjoyed the splashing of the waves.
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| Atlantic spotted dolphins make a visit |
I was thinking a lot today, especially about life, and I came to a conclusion that if everything in your life goes exactly how you plan it to then you really need to change it up. Nothing ever goes the way I plan it to. I am being honest. I have not made one plan that hasn’t gone awry. Yet.
The tuna was delicious my mother is a stellar cook and then all that was left to do was watch the sun set. The sun went out in flames, yellow, orange and a fiery hot pink. When the sun had disappeared from view, all that was left were a few fading colors and purple cirrus clouds scattering across the horizon.
Good night world.
The fourth day
Today was a school day. At 4 o’clock we arrived at Cocoa Village near Melbourne. Not much to say, just really monotonous and slow.
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| Entering the lock at Cape Canaveral |
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| That is a typical Manatee sighting; just the flick of its tail as it goes under |
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