Day 6 – 30.01.26

« Dorado day »

The day started in calm 10-15 kts winds, so around midday we decided to fly the Oxley. Just at that same moment we heard the reel of the fishing rod set off, so JB jumped to go and see if we had caught a fish…and we did ! It was a small dorado, or mahi mahi, just the right size for three. So we know what we’ll be eating for supper ;) Such a bright coloured fish, very pretty. JB cleaned it and cut it the right size for the oven.

A few hours later the Oxley backwinded, maybe from lack of wind, and one the suspenders holding the wing got caught and ripped a little hole. We quickly took it down and I started to repair it, luckily nothing too bad. It will be flown up again later today, for the time being we opted for the more rolly option of goosewinging.

It looks like we are half way and this is day 6, so we might get to St Helena already next week around Thursday, after 11 days. We are looking forward to discover the island, the famous tortoise, Napoelons house and talk to some locals called Saints. Hopefully we will find fresh produce and be able to rent a little car to go around the island.

For the moment we are focused on avoiding the shallow waters of Valdivia bank, this is a shallow plateau as high as 115m underwater, now don’t forget that the rest of the ocean around the bank is 4000 - 5000m deep, so imagine the turbulent waves it makes. Luckily there’s a deeper area where you can sail over, we will reach that point later tonight.