It started as normal relaxed morning. All crawled one by one out of their comfortable and warm beds. It was fresh outside. The wind from ENE was not a warm one and was blowing into MaRe’s sails and cockpit with around medium 6 Bft. Maybe even on this very morning someone questioned again if we really sail along the barefoot route.

Various topics based on observations during last night gave – as usual – lots of stuff to talk. G and R talked about the fish which got lost last night after getting it in to about 30 m; we had trolled the lure with more than 100 m. From a jumping we could see that it was not a colorful dolphinfish. A tuna? Nobody really could make a clear statement. Their interesting discussion was on how to prevent a fish gets off the hook. At the end we decided to troll again. Lure again more than 100 m behind. We all went back to normal morning routine with breakfast preparations, log book writing, etc.

This morning routine lasted just about 15 min until G said “fish” and ran into the cockpit to the fishing rod. N and R rushed to starboard genoa and furler winch to reef the genoa to slow MaRe down; she was most likely running around 7 kn. G was slowly getting the catch in. At about 50 m we saw it is a dolphinfish with his bright colors. In the meantime MaRe got so slow that waves hit her stem and R got a full body shower. A and N brought MaRe again at speed and into course. G, well secured, went down on MaRe’s port stem and got the fish with his gaff. He killed the fish with a few quickly done strokes on its head. Some might now think how gruel it is too kill fish. Normally we don’t kill any animal because we buy our meat, from which animal so ever, in the supermarket… But the mid-Atlantic supermarkets are closed on Thursdays.

Fish was secured on deck.

Wet clothes changed for dry ones and we had breakfast.

Sailing at 6, 7, and even occasionally more than 8 kn, at 6 But winds, our breakfast in the cockpit is a luxury one. First we tight down the cockpit enclosure for stern, starboard door, and starboard rear part to reduce the wind. Then place mats get out on the cockpit table and, and, and. At the end, we have muesli with fruits, milk or soy milk, bread, butter, marmelade, cheese, Spanish chorizo, coffee, tea, and organs juice. What a luxury life we have on board of MaRe. On a rolling monohull it appears impossible. I also need to think about a famous French sailor, one of thr real great sailors, the late Bernard Moitessier, and what he had as breakfast when he sailed across the Atlantic with his wife on board of his ketch JOSHUA. (There is a nice Wikipedia article about him and his JOSHUA.)

But this was not the end of today’s action morning!

There was the dolphinfish we want to eat for dinner!

Normally G eviscerates the catch at the stern. Today this was not possible due to too high speed of MaRe, wind and sea conditions. A had the idea needed. Immediately in front of the salon door there is a wooden grating and beneath 4 big holes to get any amount of water back into the sea. A great place to eviscerate the fish and not difficult to clean up thereafter. G was on his knees in the salon and did his job. After all was out, he showed us what is heart, stomach, liver, the ovaries etc. He even found a little fish, the lady dolphinfish swallowed not long before on its way to our lure and hook.

Finally we had fish for a good dinner. A and B worked on cleaning the boat inside and out side.

Then the relaxed routine returned back to MaRe, until A called for immediate attention. Our log showed we had sailed 1000 NM since we left Las Palmas. It was at 14:14 and the position was 21deg 05.204min N, 029deg, 13.333min W.

With grey clouds above us, the sea lost today its dark blue color for a grey one, with millions of small sunlight reflexions on the tiny little wind waves on top of the bigger ones, reflecting weak the sunrays, which made it through the clouds.

MaRe makes nicely her way with often more than 8 kn towards Sint Maarten.