Hello! My name is Mo, the new deckhand to join the crew of Sea Dragon! Last week, I handed the blog writing over to one of our guest crew, so thank you Brad! This week however, and for the next couple of months, it’s all done to me…so prepare for some more detailing of Sea Dragon’s Pacific adventures from me!
This blog overlaps in time a bit with Anna’s writing about meeting up with the Ocean Rowers, so don’t be confused!
Monday
What a start to week 2! The clouds cleared, making way for the stars Sunday night, and every watch got their share of Jupiter to the South and the Big Dipper to the North. Still with the yankee poled out, we were more or less aiming straight for Hawaii throughout the night and for most of the morning. Unfortunately, I got woken up just before midday to help prepare the boat gybe. Despite the early wakeup, I was happy (and surprised) to walk up on deck to blue skies and bright sunshine! It looked like the clouds were finally clearing for good. Everyone was on deck soaking it in. Just as we set the yankee, Tina on the helm shouted “Fish on! Fish on!!”, and all hands headed to their stations – Maggie to the rod, myself to the other hand line. I had the easy job of simply bringing in the empty line to make sure it didn’t tangle with the fish-carrying line. The Bonito put up no struggle, disappointing Maggie (as she puts it, “It’s only a really good fish if it puts up a fight!”). Maggie brought it on board after Rick gaffed it, unhooked it from all and Anna took it to the cockpit to show those interested how to filet it. The fish, despite seeming small, was the perfect size for dinner (which Anna and Maggie are currently hard at work cooking as I write this).
Despite our enjoyment of the balmy weather, the winds were temperamental and died off in the early afternoon, resulting in us switching the engine on to keep us moving. No complaints from the crew, as the engine running led to water being heated for warm showers, to go nicely with our fresh sheets (to celebrate halfway to Hawaii).
Tuesday
Hello! Gabi Palazzo here aboard Sea Dragon.
Yeah yeah, I know – you were expecting Mo to be the trips narrator from tis point forward. Sorry to disappoint, but I thought I’d take the helm (so the speak) for today and keep you updated on our adventures!
Today, Sea Dragon and her crew caught our very first sunrise – the nearly cloudless horizon glowed in soft peach, baby blue, and orange glimmers and was quite spectacular. To celebrate (or maybe because they had the 0400 – 0800 shift) Wade and Tina made a wonderful breakfast composed of eggs, mushrooms and hash browns, much to the delight of the rest of crew.
After a changeover of the watch, leaving Chris and Rick at the helm, Mo and I went below to make a fresh loaf of French bread for dinner (or at least, we put all the ingredients for the loaf in the bread maker and let it do the work for us!). The change in weather has made for a very hot galley during the day, but frequent trips up to the deck for fresh air, as well as our numerous and delicious meals, make the heat bearable.
Sea Dragon is in full stalker mode as we, engine on and sails up, make our way to The Girls Who Dare, 3 women rowing from San Fransisco to Hawaii. The 7m by 2m row boat holds the three women as they take shifts in rowing the Pacific Ocean. Our goal is to reach them before the sun goes down, so that we can see them and cheer them on. Being in a small boat in the Pacific for forty-odd days warrants some moral boosting. Our eyes are on the horizon as we sail forward expectantly!
(Thank you Anna for writing up about coming up close to those 3 incredible woman!)
Wednesday
Hey folks, Mo here.
After staying up well past my watch ended to cheer on the Girls Who Dare, I went to bed. Only an hour and a half later, I was on watch for a very slow 3 hours, but had Wade, Ricco and Rick (as well as the Milky Way) to keep me company. It truly is a spectacular sight not hindered by city lights. On our watch, Wade played a few episodes of “Yours truly, Johnny Dollar”, a 1950’s radio show about an insurance claim investigator. (Thank you Wade for getting my middle addicted to it, and at 2am at that!)
As its now day 10, everyone is beginning to get excited about arriving in Oahu – especially when thinking about the first meal they’re going to have ashore. For some, its a rib-eye steak, or a load of chicken wings or beef tacos. For others, a nice, cold beer to go with the glorious island sunshine and floor that doesn’t move beneath you!
For the past few days, we’ve been patiently waiting for a fish to bite one of our lines. Monday, we had a beautiful but small Bonito which Anna and Maggie cooked up with some pasta. Today, however – when I finally heard the words “Fish on!” – a stunning meter-long blue Mahi Mahi was pulled aboard, so instead of red Thai curry and the last of the fresh veggies, we had fish tacos cooked again by Anna and Sous-chef Gabi.
The Mahi Mahi wasn’t the only sea life we saw today though…
This afternoon, with beautiful blue skies and deep blue water (and Wade’s underpants still on the guard rail) we finally spotted some dolphins!! I want to say about 20-30 made their way down Sea Dragons port side, swimming around one another and playing in the big swell and white caps. What a sight! Those on watch quickly let everyone know about the dolphins, and soon most of the crew was on the foredeck watching the spectacle. We lost sight of the last dolphin about half an hour after Maggie first spotted them.
Naturally, we were all sad to see them disappear into the big blue Pacific, but so glad to have had the pleasure of watching them fly by in the first place.