Day 28 – Ships in the night

During the night we were passed by two large bulk carriers. The AIS smartplotter is proving very useful in early alert and identification of vessels. It is quite surreal to see a ship pass by silently in the dark. There is an inner desire to make contact with the crew, to reach out and touch the rest of the world.

Another phenomenon that intrigues Jane is the phosphorescence that jumps and sparkles in the heads when the salt water is pumped into the bowl to flush it. On most nights, with the lights off, there is a swirling dance of the bright blue light-emitting organisms that brings gazing into a toilet bowel to a whole new level of fascination. She has yet to convince her fellow crew members to enjoy the view.

The day dawned with cumulus clouds and still no wind. We continued to motor. The guys gathered in the cockpit and the conversation soon turned to their impressive beard growth, which had apparently progressed beyond itching but was now bulking up under their chins. A smooth shave was high on the arrival priority list.

Bullybeef threatened again for supper as we passed a large drum adrift in the ocean. We circumnavigated it and, as we passed it on our starboard side, we saw a fish take our lure that we had set earlier in the day. This time it was Jane’s chance to race to the stern and take the rod and within minutes she had landed an 8kg yellowtail, which she soon filleted into 2 good sized portions. Ash marinaded the fish in a peach sauce before braaing to perfection.

Sunset was beautiful, but as we were all watching this event, we witnessed a large shark inspecting our other lure which we had neglected to reel in for the evening. At that point we hurriedly declared fishing closed for the day and retrieved our tackle.