Catching Fish

Let's face it, sailors and fishermen are two different breeds of people; but we both wish we could be each other. Fishermen get places quickly while catching many fish along the way while the wish they could get further out to sea. Sailors wish they could get places quicker and wish they could catch many fish while far out to sea.

Catching fish is a great way to add fresh meat to your diet while on a long voyage. The problem is, if you are not good at fishing, it is not safe to count on caught fish as food source. We voyaged over a thousand miles, trolling the fishing line for most of the journey before we caught this little fish. I have no idea what kind of fish it was, but it was delicious!  

This did make for a very fresh meal, as it was caught, filleted, and on the grill in under an hour! This fish was rather odd as it looks like a reef fish, but we caught it in water that was 15,000 feet deep (3 miles deep). It had no teeth, and was rather small. 

When we sailed from Bermuda to the Azores, we caught this exact same type of fish again, this time in water that was 16,000 feet deep! This was the only fish we caught in a 2,200 nautical mile voyage while our friends were catching large mahi mahi every other day.  

Your skill as a fisherman will pay off when out in the ocean as you will have plenty of time to troll a line behind your yacht. Fishing will also give you a way to pass the time as you wait and see what is biting from deep down in the sea. 

How To Cross an Ocean

Setting sail for land across the horizon may sound like a dream, literally sailing as far as the ocean is wide! But how does one go about preparing and then actually sailing across an ocean? 

The short answer is, it's easy so don't worry about it. The long answer will be discussed in the next few posts.

To sail across an ocean, you need five things: 

1. Sails and Rigging
2. Steering
3. Navigation
4. Fresh Water
5. Time

Sure, things like food and a dry place to sleep are nice, but you don't need it to cross an ocean! It is very important to set apart two lists, one is everything you think you need, and identify these as "Nice to have" and then another list which is these five items identified as "Need to have". Once you figure out the difference between these two lists, everything will become clear and easy! 

Now, this list doesn't include things like food or sun protection, I know, but the truth is, you don't need these items to sail across an ocean. The longer the list, the more complicated everything becomes and the harder the it will be to cross the ocean. 

The smaller you keep the list, the easier your crossing will be, even though it might not be as comfortable! The truth is, easier is more comfortable! 

The Wonders of Flight

​After we sailed Wisdom across the Atlantic Ocean, we had to hurry home for a family reunion. The sail from the United States to the Azores took about 2 months, and the flight from the United States takes 4 hours and 40 minutes. Amazing!

To add to the spectacularness of the flight, I looked out at the window to observe whitecaps visible from our flying altitude, along with visible wave formations that stretch out as far as the eye can see. I was thinking to myself "man, those waves look nasty!" Even the clouds in the sky are perilous and would have been our signal to reef down as we tried to avoid encountering the storm.

When you are so removed, you can find it hard to mentally bring yourself into a situation. I was trying to imagine what the seas must be actually like on the surface and not from thirty-something-thousand feet away! I was allowed to stop imagining when I saw something familiar on the surface of the ocean. No, it was not a sailboat, they are much too tiny to see from my 5 mile high vantage point. It was a cargo ship, and it was being tossed around. From this high above, it was not possible to see the ship tossing, but it was possible to see the changes in the bubbles of his wake. As he would slam into a wave, white would show up around him and his wake exhibited these large and small white regions from waves since crossed.

If that massive ship is being tossed around, then I know that the seas are violent and nasty on the ocean's surface. Like I said, flying will spoil you!

Atlantic Crossing Part 5 Video

After too many days at sea, we finally make landfall at Bermuda.

Atlantic Crossing Part 4 Video

Stuff breaks, you better know how to fix it!