The First Three Fish . . . Finally!

After being skunked for over a year, Carina finally caught fish on this trip. The first one, Sloane's, got tossed back . . . but it was a real, live fish! Finally!


Next, Mike caught a dolphin! Bill showed us a few tricks with our new gaff while Sloane demonstrated one of her old tricks (pouring vodka--in this case, over the gills).



Excited by the fishing frenzy, this little guy just went ahead and jumped on board by himself.


Even that one was better than we'd done in the previous year. More news from the trip soon!

Boat Preparations

First, the night before flying down to Marsh Harbour, Bill demonstrated his ability to be a part of the trip home with Carina by successfully completing his hazing--standing in the shower holding a life preserver while other crew threw salt in his eyes & canned vegetables at him. (The photographer [Sloane] missed the last two parts due to having hands full of canned vegetables and salt.)


Question: How many people does it take to change a lightbulb on a sailboat?


Answer: Fifty-eight. One (Mike) to go up the mast, one (Bill) to crank him up there (and then hide from falling objects), one to tail Bill (Sloane), and fifty-five to stand around on the dock drinking beer, telling tall-tales, making jokes, and being glad it's not them.


After last year's forever-long journey home, we wanted to be sure to have plenty of fuel.


Water . . . well, let's just say those two green water jugs stored 6 gallons of air each all of the way home in the v berth. And we still got home on less than 1/2 of a 25-gallon tank with about 70 extra gallons in reserve. We probably shouldn't discuss body odor at the end of the trip.


We missed the opportunity of winning some money from Bill when we managed to fit the dingy into its nifty little storage bag. (Too late, he told us he would have bet there was no way.)


But we didn't miss the opportunity of final drinks the night before departure from Marsh Harbour. Nor the night after that, which we again called the final night before departure from Marsh Harbour. Wait for a weather window--drink beer--wait for a weather window--drink beer. Like hand and glove.

Home Safely

We are home safely! We fared much better than this mid-trip stowaway that we found one morning on deck. More details to follow . . .

Getting ready to come home

OK, it's time to bring Carina back to Wrightsville Beach. While we are in NC trying to tie up loose ends and crew, Carina is having her bottom cleaned. She loves it when we do this because she knows it's time to look and do her best. As much as she likes the day sails, they never really test her ability, and she loves to show us her capability.

Well, I know Carina is ready to go. Now with any luck, the weather will co-operate and we will be underway around the 15th of May. We'll be at sea for 4-7 days, maybe longer if we don't catch any fish! We have searched for crew and have decided to go with 3 for this trip. Our good friend Weston is busy with family and is preparing for a year or so sailing with a final destination of New Zealand. He will be traveling on Mike Compton's and his friend Gary's new boat, s/v Indigo.

We called on another great friend, Bill Whaley. Bill is a seasoned and accomplished sailor, which is always good to have, but what was more important to us is his guarantee that we would catch fish! I'm sorry Weston, but over a year without a fish has left us searching. Yes, this is a fishing trip with a destination!


Well, after we asked Bill to join us, he was more excited than we thought. He got so excited that he even got a haircut by his mom for the trip. By the time she was done, Bill had lost all of his hair. The way I see it is he will use less water underway, and that's a good thing. As far as I know, Bill doesn't sleep on watch (Mike!).


As for me, I'm so excited I ran out of things to buy so I decided to press all my T-shirts. You have to look good out there!


And Sloane, don't worry, she knows what she's doing . . .


Check back--we'll have a full rundown of the passage.

Closure

I know it's been awhile, but we've been dreading this post.

Echo Ficalora
July 24, 1995-April 14, 2008

Today's Adventure

Very unfair to have to go to the dentist on one's half-birthday. And since when did they start using chocolate-flavored polishing gel? You leave feeling like you've brushed your teeth with a Hershey bar.

Home in April

We came home to find the dogwoods in full bloom . . .

What a nice sight to wake up to!