Barbeque Dorado

Friday, June 12th:

Swimming in an 18,000 feet deep pool. That about says it all.

This morning we spotted a black bottle in the water, it was sealed, and seemed like it might have a message in it. So, we tacked around to get it. In the midst of that, the fishing line that runs from the stern got caught around the keel. So, we stopped the boat, and soon everyone was diving and splashing in the water. Not to mention the middle of nowhere swim photo-op. We were tethered, of course, and the boat kept sailing ever so slightly at ~1 knot.

As if the gods know it's Friday, an unsuspecting dorado took our bait. This was No Ka Oi's great fishing accomplishment. So far, the fish were only making away with the bait stealthily, leaving everyone puzzled. They are still winning with 3 baits to them and one fish to us. And, now it's on to cooking dorado: barbecue (ya, barbecue!), ceviche, lemon and capers, and a good ole bottle of Chardonnay. Who said this was some kind of challenging adventure and not just a moving party in the middle of the pacific.

We have now covered about 500 nautical miles and have about 1800 to go. Reminds me of that James Taylor song, a few miles behind and many more to go.


Yesterday: Thursday, June 11th:
Yesterday was terribly hot and humid. In fact, there was no way you could coax me into coming down here and writing. I was thinking to myself: 'ok, five days in the middle of this circle, now what'. Little did I know what today would bring.

Since it is about 2400 nautical miles and 24 hours in a day, I came up with a simple calculation where you divide 100 by the average speed to get the number of days this trip will take. With two days of roughly 7-8 knot speed, that was looking pretty awesome, ie. 12-14 days. I think given our late start and our penchant to chase bottles and what not, the current ETA of Tuesday the 23rd is still pretty awesome.


And, Wednesday: June 10th:
On Wednesday after I left off, the evening was uneventful. Just keeping watch as we went forward at 8 knots and still were pretty much in the middle of the circle. The change in scenery comes from the clouds. About 10 pm, the moon arose from the east, and even at a quarter moon, lit up the entire ocean.

-Gautam