After a long battle of “Mama Vs Mahi,” I managed to pull this beauty in on a hand line while we were zooming up the Gulf Stream. Any hit on a line while trolling is exciting, but when you see that bright yellow flash leap out of the water, oh man. Debbie grabbed the helm to slow us down as much as possible while the rest of the crew gathered in the cockpit yelling, “Fish on! Fish on!” The problem with me catching the fish is that that’s about all I can do. Logan wrestled the hook out while I grabbed the cooler. After the most awkward fish snapshot (lots of panicked squealing as he used all his muscle to try and flop back into the ocean), we enjoyed the freshest sashimi lunch possible. Tucker even sampled a bite! Lucy got close, but returned her bite to the plate and Charlie just laughed at the thought. The passage to Hilton Head, South Carolina was shaping up to be an eventful one.
We motor sailed with light winds from all directions throughout the day Friday as we made our way to the underwater superhighway known as the Gulf Stream. Crossing the stream with a north component wind can be extremely unpleasant. But sailing with the northerly flow of the current and favorable winds is bad ass. Our speed through the water averaged about 7 knots, but the current pushed us along and our speed over ground was always at least 10kts – we even saw 13.4 over night. The sea turtles in Finding Nemo say it best, “Ride the wave, man.”
Speaking of sea turtles. We saw more sea life out at sea than ever before! We ended up bringing three fish aboard, the mahi, a black fin tuna and a jack that we caught while circling an old Navy platform. I also saw a sea turtle with a head the size of a coconut – mondo turtle. We had dolphins jumping and diving under our boat and slid through a colony of jellyfish. When you spend hours and hours with your eyes fixed on the horizon or a fishing line, it’s a nice surprise to catch a glimpse of the world below the surface.
Then the MOST exciting thing happened. We happened to be right offshore of Cape Canaveral for a Space X rocket launch! After a an hour delay, we all gathered up in the lounge to have our jaws drop. The rocket lit up the entire sky as it took off and shot into space passing behind our mast with a trail of rainbow sparks. Definitely an unforgettable sight.
The speed boost of the gulf stream was faster than anticipated and we made seriously good time…giving us an overnight arrival as opposed to dawn. Another first. We considered slowing down and motoring around until first light, but Logan decided the charts looked straightforward enough. So after a call to double check that the marina was well lit and had an easy slip for the night, we slowly and blindly made our way thought the inlet and up a creek to our new home base. Kind of fun to wake up to a sunrise somewhere that you are seeing for the first time in the morning.
And that was our last passage for the 2023/2024 cruising season. We are tucked in and making plans for the summer as we attempt to make sense of what we just did. Just shy of a year aboard S/V Tideye, riding that wave baby.
