Sept 18, 2022 Sailing from the Seychelles to Djibouti

Approximately 5:00 p.m. Seychelles time (UTC +4).

Vegan friends, you might want to skip this post (at least the first three paragraphs). And perhaps ignore the pictures.

We caught a fish! I was sitting at the helm two days ago and heard the fishing line move on the reel. I yelled, “fish!” and Jason grabbed the rod. After reeling in the fish for about five minutes (?) we had a yellowfin tuna on the boat. That was our main course that night and will be again tonight.

We couldn’t find a gaff with a handle in the Seychelles, so we duck-taped a hook to our boat hook. Looks kind of silly but it does the trick.

We caught another fish today, but we accidentally released it. It looked like a bluefin tuna.

The line is back in the water.

Other than fish tales, we have a short bird tale. One lone bird was flying around and around and around the boat and it eventually landed a couple of different places on the boat, presumably to rest. It was having a difficult time balancing though (we rock a lot), so it flew off pretty quickly.

Back to a fish tale that even a vegan can read: we have seen schools of flying fish . . . flying. It looks very odd.

The trip continues to be enjoyable, with a bit of boredom thrown in. The generator didn’t start last night, which was not at all cool, but we made it through the night on the existing battery power by turning off everything except the navigation instruments and auto pilot. There is clearly something wonky, but it started this morning and again this afternoon (but only after running the starboard engine for many minutes the second time).

The lazy jacks on our port side became extremely loose. We hadn’t planned to hoist the mainsail so it wasn’t an issue. It was finally calm enough to check it out today. We discovered that the cleat to which the line had been affixed was broken. We tied the line elsewhere on the mast and now we can raise and lower the mainsail when needed.

We succumed to motoring about two hours ago. The wind dropped and we need to move in a northeasterly (actually an *easterly* direction, but we want to make some progress toward our goal as well, so NE) direction to avoid a current that is flowing the “wrong” way right at us. We want to get out of its way. Hope to be sailing again sometime this evening. Sadly, we are going way out of our way to do this.

That is probably enough for today. For our non-sailor friends, you might have a few terms to look up. Enjoy!
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Before there was a fish on the line. Waiting . . .
The one that did not get away. Provided four big meals.
Trying to balance, but not working.
Gave up quickly and flew away.

By the way, when we were in the Seychelles, we asked the base manager of Sunsail/Moorings for jerry cans for diesel (which are typically yellow and have a spout. This is what we received, which works fine. Believe it or not, they originally contained hydrogen peroxide. Not sure what one would do with that quantity (there are eight of them) of hydrogen peroxide.

4 thoughts on “Sept 18, 2022 Sailing from the Seychelles to Djibouti

  1. Linda

    Glad to hear the generator is working. Will you be able to have these issues looked at once you get to Djibouti? I hope you brought books, cards or some games to help pass time.
    I am happy for you to be able to live out your dream!

    Reply
    1. Michael Post author

      Our problem with the generator is the battery but we have developed a work around.

      We have a few books, our Kindles, playing cards, and a small variety of games.

      Reply

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