Long Beach to Cost Rica

Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 15)

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

by Mike

We went faster today. First, the wind was finally not directly opposing us. This was a big improvement. Also, the waves were negligible, except for a large swell from the storm, now hundreds of miles away but still making its existence known. Choppy waves slow the boat down. Large swells don’t. Finally, we were not going against a two-knot head current. In fact, for much of the day, we had a current moving us along slightly faster!

The result was SOG (speed over ground) of 8-9 knots for most of the day. That compares with 3-4 knots for most of the three previous days on the water. The ride is also much more relaxing. One more thing … nothing broke.

Fishing report:

It started out as a good fishing day. I put the first line out and within 10 seconds had a bite. The reel screamed and took out about 50 feet of line in seconds. Then it quit. An hour later, when I was bike riding, the other pole started screaming. Then quit. Might need sharper hooks?

Late in the day we noticed that one of the poles had no line left on it. Probably lost a big one. Anyway, no fish boated today, but more action than we’ve had in several days.

Spending time outside by the poles would probably help our success rate, but it’s a lot nicer inside with the shade and air conditioning.

Fine Dining:

I finally broke out some chicken and fried it today for lunch. It really hit the spot. I don’t know I was needing (wanting), meat (protein) or grease (fat), but it was sure good.

The evening meal consisted of a huge baked potato loaded with butter, sour cream, salt, pepper, cheese and ketchup.