May 28, 2015

I was really stretching the fibers of my creative extrapolation on what I would write in today's blog, as up until the events of mid-afternoon there was merely the usual 360 degree view of the ocean and little excitement unless you count turning on the engine due to little winds. The strange and intersting afternoon began. As the sun piled high above us, Denis spotted a rather large curved semi-floating debris on the horizon, seeming to resemble a hull of some sort. From afar the reflecting mass rose and vanished with the swell, glinting in the heat of the day. Altering our course to get a closer look, we saw that it was an abandoned catamaran- with a torn off deck and no mast or sails in sight. Calm, disturbing. We notified the coast guard of the discovery and it's location. The eery loneliness of the boat and the untold story of how it came to this tattered state cast a strange and quiet mood, a surreal sight to take in. Passing the wreck seemed ever so slow and elongated, all eyes were fixed upon the anomaly and the waters ahead in case of scattered debris.

Onward and North we continued. The wreck was no more than a glinting speck behind us when, wham! The crinkled coca cola can hit the deck. [The Coke Can-No Pole method was taught to Victor on their last trip from the Canaries to St. Lucia by Rui. The can is rigged so when there is pressure on the line, it hits the deck to let everybody know there is a fish, and also scare the bananas out of us since we had just passed a wreck.] Nonetheless, all crew went into action. The ziplocs! The water jug! Where is the knife! Get the gloves! Lightning indigo, lemon yellow and crisped cobalt muscle and fin whistled through the water, sending up spray and churned water as the pull in begins. A massive four foot long Mahi Mahi is lifted from the sea. A gorgeous creature, beautiful beast. Moments of respect and appreciation for the fish as the brilliant color fades. The fish is cut apart, filleted, guts thrown to the bird freinds and celebrated.

A strange and interesting afternoon, to say the least.

MEP