Day 6 – Friday 14 February.
By Cathleen Hughes.
In the early hours of the morning the sea had calmed a bit which gave cupid a chance to do his duties. A slab of Brazilian chocolate was placed in the arms of the two slumbering princesses on board. Each slab was creatively decorated with masking tape and a heart drawn on with a red permanent marker. When Lorraine and Cathleen awoke they were surprised at the effort that was made and immediately began trying to figure out who the secret Valentine was. They soon decided to keep the whole thing to themselves because the culprit would eventually start asking questions. Virgil saw the chocolates a short while later and began asking who the secret admirer was. They knew it wasn’t Virgil because he had been sleeping the whole time but they eventually narrowed it down to Chris and Ashwyn’s watch. During a sneaky conversation on the side, Chris was acting very suspicious and began trying to pin the story on Ashwyn. It was only when the girls asked him directly if he gave them the chocolates that he gave a gradual grin and admitted to it. He said he found two chocolates in his bag and decided that this was the best use for them. Later he admitted that if he had had three chocolates he would have had three Valentines. Nobody asked details as to which male crew mate he would have chosen.
Rory, the appointed fisherman for the journey, decided to try one of the new Ropala lures which were brought through to Rio from Cape Town for us. Just an hour after the rods had been set in the water there was a bite which sent the reel off at a tremendous speed. Rory sprang into action and was soon reeling in the catch. The crew didn’t get their hopes up because from previous experience they knew the line was strong enough for a fish that made the reel make that amount of noise. Sure enough, the line snapped and both the fish and the new lure were gone. Snapping lines and loosing lures is all part of fishing so without hesitation Rory set up another lure and let out the line again.
A short while after the fishing saga, Renier caught us a proper fish. It was 3cm long and it flew right into his hands without a single thought. Therefore we crown Renier fisherman of the day because although it was bite size, at least he had something to show for his fishing efforts.
After going through the GRIB files today, we discovered the beginnings of a small hurricane developing very far south of us. Too far south to affect us in any major way but it does mean that the storm we are running into is going to have some strong winds and rough seas. Our routing decisions and weather analysis has been taken over by Chris who, being a pilot and a sailor, knows a thing or two about weather patterns. Before the night shifts started, we had a team discussion about the weather and how we were going to sail for the next twelve hours going into the storm. The plan is to continue our course south east until the wind shifts and we enter the high pressure at about 01h00 where we will change course due south and motor to get through the high. Once through the high at approximately 03h00 the wind will shift again and increase to 20-25 knots and we will alter course to south east. In the morning we will be on the wind and so change course due east and sail with the wind until the storm passes after Monday.