Day 58: Big News
Big news.
My lovely wife Judy is coming to Brazil! How lekker is this? With the help of friends and family, they got her a ticket. Ah, I can’t wait to see her on the dockside. I hope she is strong enough to hold me up when I step ashore 🤞
A ship called Supra Oniki was bearing down on my position, and with the nagging red error light still intermittently lighting up on the AIS, I called them up on the VHF. I asked if they could see Osiyesa on their screen, to which he confirmed. He then asked if I wanted him to go behind me. I said no, please hold his course and not to worry if we are getting close as I wanted to take a picture. He just laughed and signed off.
The crossing was about 0.3nm which some may feel is close, but for Osiyeza, it’s still miles away. Close is when you have some of their paint colours down the side of your boat!😜
Wet, Wet, Wet. Nothing to do with music but rather with my epidermis. My feet are wet most of the time, and every now and then, like a lizard 🦎 it sheds what it no longer needs.
Late afternoon, I was again playing hide and seek with the long-line fishing buoys. It was going fine as each mark has an AIS transponder, so even in the dark it’s relatively easy to miss.
Well, this sting of buoys had two more unmarked buoys in between the AIS buoys. Faak!
The fishing boat always pulls the line in one direction, so the buoys move at random speeds between 0.2 and 2 knots.
I passed one on the port side at about 80m. I guess not much would happen if I were to make acquaintance with it. The rudder would simply push up and not catch on anything. The keel could possibly hook the buoy and line, but Osiyeza would either spin around releasing the line, or the buoy would be pulled under. Osiyeza would probably flop over onto her side, and the buoy would pop out on the other side.
Anyway, it looks like those were the last between here and Brazil. Just two shipping routes to slip through before I can get my eyes on the prize.
I opened the next food bag and found a little surprise. A can of Bully Beef/ corned beef. My mind is a wonderful thing. I had forgotten that I had put it in one of the bags, so it WAS a surprise. I ate about half of it during the day but gave the rest to the fish. I don’t remember it being so salty. Mentioning salt, I have not added any salt or spices to my meals. I guess that’s why it tasted too salty. Only popcorn 🍿gets either cheese or perri-perri spice. Haven’t had any for a while. Maybe on Thursday when it’s calm again.
Thank you to each and every person, corporate and foundation that has donated to Operation Smile. Please don’s stop digging deep and helping those in need.
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