Fishing, rowers and a Minke whale

10 February 2016

The day started great, just after breakfast we caught a dolfinfish (Coryphaena hippurus, mahi-mahi, dorado). We know they are very tasty as we had two of them for dinner yesterday. We saw a small tear in the course, so we took it down and started repairing it. We did it with a few so we where done quickly and we could set it again.
In the meantime we saw a small boat on the AIS at a 6 mile distance with a speed of only 2 knots. On the radar we couldn’t spot it and with the binoculars we didn’t have any success either. When we were at a 3 mile distance we tried to reach them with the VHF but no luck either. So we adjusted our course because now we were curious. Finally at a two-mile distance we could contact them. It was a rowing boat! Two men, eight weeks underway from La Gomera to Antigua with a wooden rowing boat of 24 feet, the ‘Déjà Blue’. They were in a great mood because they only had 500 nautical miles to go! But they were looking forward to the flight home and we can imagine that.
Not much later we saw a shadow in the water close to the ship. So we stared over the railing to find out what it was. It took a while but there it was: a Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). It kept swimming next to the ship just as curious as we were. Now we are enjoying the starry sky. Because the moon is gone, we have a great view on the stars and we tell stories/myths behind the constellations. It’s an exciting trip so we are curious to find out what tomorrow brings.