Puerto Rico

I just can’t seem to shake this “thing” I have.  I spent most of the morning in bed while Larry sailed us eastward.  During my down-time, Larry saw a whale!  He said it was awesome.  He’d first spotted it out quite a ways from the boat.  Then, the whale actually came over and checked us out.  Larry got some pictures.  Hope they turned out.  Bummer I missed that experience.

When I finally crawled out of bed, it was a beautiful morning.  The seas were forecasted to be 4-6 foot to begin the day and then building to 5-7 foot by evening.  Most of our experience has been, if they say 4-6, you will be coasting up and down 6-8 foot seas.  You just pray that there is a long period between swells or it is VERY choppy!  Today however, it was quite the opposite.  It seemed rather calm.  There was a slight chop but it did not seem like 4-6 foot seas by any means.  What a pleasant surprise!

By the time I climbed from bed, Larry had the fishing rod over the side and was trolling for dinner.  He’d seen a bunch of tuna jumping awhile back and now he wanted to catch something.  It wasn’t too long before he hooked himself a Mahi Mahi.  It fought hard.  After about 10 minutes of constant fight, Larry had him alongside the boat.  We stunned him with rubbing alcohol so Larry could lift him onto the boat.  Just as he went to gaff him, the fish flipped, freed the hook and took off.  Talk about pissed!  Larry was completely drained from the struggle and he didn’t even have a fish to show for his efforts.

Determined, Larry quickly got the hook back in the water.  We waited and waited but no fish.  Then, we heard that joyous sound as the reel played out continual line.  Larry quickly got out on deck and the battle began.  This was a real fighter and made the previous battle seem like child play but Larry was determined to tire him out until he could get him onboard.  There was no way he was going to loose another one!  After what seemed like a lifetime (and if I felt that way, I can only imagine what Larry was thinking because he was the one doing all the work), I got to experience that precious grin that only comes when Larry has landed himself a Mahi!  It was adorable.  Larry was dripping in sweat, quivering from all the exertion he’d put forth and barely able to catch his breath but then came that “I won” smile of his.  Lying on the deck of our boat, and making it all bloody BTW, was a 44” 15 lb beautiful Mahi.  It was a good day.

Larry cleaned the fish while I sailed.  He got about 7 lbs of meat from that fellow.  Not bad considering he only kept the very best pieces.  We packed it up and put it in the freezer as quickly as we could.  We figure it will be about 7 really nice size meals.  YUM!!!

About 4pm, the weather changed.  The seas grew.  The winds strengthened.  Oh no … were we in for a storm?  We still had over 8 hours before landfall and we didn’t need this right now.  Suddenly, we tossed violently from side to side.  A gigantic wave crashed over the boat.  It put the entire starboard side of our boat underwater and the wave crashed completely over the bimini.  There was a horrendous THUD!!!  What the hell was that???  I went below to check.  Damn, our microwave was suddenly on its side on the floor.  How the hell did that happen?  It sits back on a counter that has a fiddle on it (that’s a piece of wood that extends upward along the edge of the counter so things CAN’T slide off).  Our microwave had a mind of it’s own and jumped to it’s death!  Actually, the glass turntable inside smashed but the microwave’s interior light still worked.  We will have to see if it is still functional or if it will need to be replaced.

So … what started out as a beautiful day has turned into some pretty rough seas.  We passed Isla Dececheco about 8pm and should be in Mayaquez, Puerto Rico by midnight-ish.  We are both tired but hanging in there.  We will clear customs in the morning (hopefully after a really good night’s sleep).  I will try to get something out tomorrow so all know we arrived safely.

Wish us luck in anchoring in the dark, in a strange harbor that they actually list as “poor holding”.  URGH … here we go again.  Damn, I so much wanted a good night’s sleep too.