Report #8 - 2012 - Anecdotes
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Report #8/2012
Uto ni Yalo - off Punta Eugenia, Baja, Mexico - calm seas, light winds, cloudless day, barometer holding steady at 1018 -sailing on a SE tack at 4.6 knots located at N 28 degrees 16 minutes // W 116 degrees 06 minutes - on a heading of 150 degrees.
Daily update: Anecdotes
1. False alarm!!!! The fishing reel went wild. Skipper leaped from the deck house and all anticipated sashimi. We had been sailing through schools of large fish as witnessed by the mixed flocks of sea birds [albatross, terns and gulls have been most common so far] that hovered over the baitfish chased to the surface by the larger predatory species of fish below. Our marine friends all feasted and we felt we were not to be disappointed as skipper's lure hooked a big one! It must have been a yellow fin tuna as we had seen them breaching the surface earlier. Our minds flashed raw fish!!!! in those few seconds the reel sounded. We had been discussing different marinades with Ben and our collective mouths were watering imagining tuna with ginger, vinegar and soy sauce. The crew were one in their voice of encouragement, except for Kim and Kele sitting there with this smirk on their faces not saying a word as skipper worked the reel. Finally they gave in and reported they had seen a raft of sea weed (Kelp) go by a minute earlier! Not surprising as we encounter more marine algae as we near Isla Cedros [Cedros Island]. This is one of the many indicators used by traditional navigators to judge distances and direction from land. Skipper added one of his infamous expletives and went back to work.
2. Want to be a cook on board a drua? Can you slice a variety of meat and vegies as the boat rolls with the seas? Ben can and does it with precision and the meals he creates leave not a single crew hungry. Yesterday breakfast was scrambled eggs, bacon and toast with a variety of spreads for the bread, granola for those seeking an alternative plus Master Mausio's biscuits and the ever-present hot chocolate, brewed coffee and tea.
In between meals the crew has their choice of apples, oranges, bananas or grapefruit thus giving them their vitamins to go along with the proteins and carbohydrates eaten at mealtime. Lunch consisted of boneless chicken sandwiches [on fresh buns] with cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado and lettuce and Ben's special sauce made with mayonnaise and flavoured with roasted red capsicum. Extra salad with dressing was available, along with any hot beverage.
How can the taste sensation of lunch be topped? Well consider Ben's dinner menu before you comment. Served hot and presented in such a way that none could refuse was tender sliced beef steak, roasted pumpkin and potatoes with homemade gravy and coleslaw.
You might ask why such succulent food on a canoe? Where can the crew put the calories consumed? Here's their 24 hour schedule. Three watch groups share deck duties with a rotation of 3 hours on and 6 hours off around the clock. In addition each crew cleans the entire vessel daily, tends and adjusts sails frequently as seas and winds change or when there's a change of course and each has special tasks that are necessary for a smooth running vessel. Wood carving, electrical, maintaining an accurate log, operating the "uli" - the traditional sailing steering paddle, sending blogs, checking lines and learning more about sailing from the more experienced crew are but a few of the variety of "jobs" a sailor on the Uto ni Yalo will have. This requires energy and Ben's bounty does just that.
3. It's not all work! It's amazing how fast we humans can adjust our biorhythms! We can survive nicely on 6-7 hours of sleep each 24 hour period and spend most daylight hours awake giving us time to recreate - a sorely needed variation especially when winds are slight and the sun is high! Kele or Jim strums the guitar when Skipper isn't belting out a Simon and Garfunkel or Johnny Cash tune. Skipper and Master concentrate on their fishing lines while Tuks is carving a turtle on a hatch cover [the symbol of the Uto ni Yalo as it is a creature that religiously returns to the place in which it was hatched even though as an adult it travels the oceans in search of its destiny.] Just as the Uto ni Yalo will return to Fiji! Lee-Anne, camera in hand, was quick to capture the 50+ dolphins that cavorted around our vessel. Moala, straw hat on head, mans the uli while next to him on the stern deck Kim [called the "cream biscuit" by her family - ask her why!!!] jumps rope and Salome, ever the cleaner, is cleaning something. Ben's cooking Fiji curry much to the delight of the crew. Iva just finished reading up on traditonal navigation; Filo is helping to identify our dolphins; Jone electrifies another part of the vessel and Seta is helping Tuks carve the hatches. Seru seems to be dreaming about his "amazing" Hawaii adventures while taking his daily salt water shower! Bob is writing this in between noting all marine creatures big and small that cross our paths! Anyone for roti made at sea off the coast of Mexico?
Tabu Soro...............the journey continues......