The wind has been excellent for two days now and we are making 8-10 knots The South Equatorial Current which is meant to speed us along has been against us, but today finally turned in our favour. If we kept up this pace we'd be in Hiva Oa in 7-10 days or so, but I fear that there are large windless areas ahead.
Mark and i tried to Hotwire the freezer today, thanks to an emailed idea from George Taylor, Although the voltage is better at the compressor it hasn't improved the cooling yet. Frustrating!
Justin reeled in another, much bigger dorado today, which I despatched with a winch handle and filleted on the aft deck. I'm going to revert to anaesthetising fish with a squirt of rum as I've had to wash my shirt and shorts which were covered in blood spatters. However it is a lovely fish to eat and I served it for supper baked with lemon and silk in a bag. Along with paprika potato wedges and canned peas. Our stalk of bananas is suddenly ripening and they are lovely short sweet ones. Perfect for breakfast and pudding. The challenge is to eat fresh stuff fast enough before it goes off and slowly enough to lady as long as possible.
I'm writing this on watch at 9pm roaring along in the pitch black. Out to my left the Milky Way is bright with the Southern Cross prominent. Perhaps the clouds are clearing. Last night Emily called me from my bunk at 01:40 as we were on collision course with a fishing vessel. First boat we've Sen for days! We alters course to port and passed within half a mile. Don't know if they saw us as they powered along at 14knots towards Costa Rica.
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