day 13

"The Minnow" ARC 2005 Atlantic Crossing

Mike's Exciting Day 13 Update!

Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to
myth, and even myth is long forgotten when enough ages pass.

Trade winds. Are they memory, legend, or myth?

They aren't forgotten, that's for sure, because everyone says we should be
in them. Even the ARC literature talks about these alleged trade winds.

Today we floated southish in a very, very light breeze. Heck with trade
winds, we'd settle for any kind of wind today. Bob went swimming again. It
wasn't pure swimming this time since he had flippers and a snorkel on. This
time he removed the fishing line from the right prop. He also removed other
fishing line from other locations under the boat. Funny how that stuff gets
everywhere. Reminds me of flour when I make bread.

Back to the ARC literature, I remember that this race is also called a
rally. It's easy to see why. When we are floating around helplessly like
this it sure helps morale to call this thing a rally rather than a race. So
today we are officially rallying, not racing. But we still haven't motored!

Even with no wind today, this boat is in good spirits. Our generator is
still working. We topped the water tanks again. It was warm outside so we
ran the air conditioning for most of the day. Sitting outside in the shade
was nice, too. Reading on the trampoline under the shade of the solent was
especially pleasant.

One thing nice about floating versus sailing is that we didn't tear up a
sail. This is our second day in a row to not ruin a sail. This was also our
second day in a row to fix more than we broke. We didn't break anything, and
we fixed one thing.

Fishing Report:

We caught another fish that we couldn't identify. This one was had a big
mouth shaped like a barracuda's. It was long and skinny like a snake or an
eel, but stiff-spined, scaly, and with a standard fish tail. It was 3-4 feet
long and scary looking.

Jim brought in a 13-pounder (dolphin) and cleaned it, too. Serge cooked it
for supper. The rest of us ate fish for supper.

Today's Nautical Term:

Today's nautical term is "trade wind." According to Webster's:
- trade wind n : a wind blowing constantly in one direction

While looking in Webster's, I also found:
- memory n : an image or impression that is remembered
- legend n : a story regarded as historical although not verifiable
- myth n : an unfounded or false notion

(personally, I think trade winds are a myth)

Arts and Entertainment:

Baritone and piano duets were the highlight of today's entertainment.
Baritone and organ duets ran a close second (the piano has an organ mode
which I particularly like). There was a lot of book-reading that took place,
too.