Sloppy Seas; Annoyed Crew

Sloppy seas don't make for a happy boat or pleasant sailing and that is what "Avventura" finds herself battling. With twenty knot SSE winds and a mix of swells coming from all over the southern quadrant, but most annoyingly from the SE or even ESE, we are bashing along with an unnatural and unpleasant motion that has me a bit queasy. Guess it's time to get used to this, though, for if the low chasing us does what it's supposed to we could be in for a rough stretch coming in a couple days.
But back to yesterday when the arrival of a squall brought abut the return of the fish. The number one rule of fishing is you always catch a fish when you're least prepared to deal with it. Hence our plethora of sunrise or sunset strikes, and yesterdays 1330 strike, which came while I was in the midst of making water and a squall was just starting to roll in. By the time the 10 pound dorado was aboard a steady rain was falling and I did the fillet honors in the chilly onslaught. Not an hour later we had a second fish on, this one a small yellowtail to provide a nice change of pace and taste from the constant Mahi Mahi (poor us, right?). This one at least had the courtesy to wait till I was finished with the watermaker and ready to deal with it. Our dual catch led to a fish lunch and dinner, not to mention today's lunch and soon to be dinner as well. I'm still stunned at our fishing luck this trip and have never experienced anything like it. Even in 69 degree water at the latitude of Big Sur we landed a dorado!
Last night brought a welcome drop in the wind and sea conditions allowing for a pleasant night watch as clouds drifted in and out alternately revealing pockets of shimmering stars. I've been sleeping better at sea than I have in over a year of late, and for the first time in ages I awake in the morning refreshed and eager for the new day. This of course opens up the door to a day full of pleasant relaxation with lots of reading (4 books have been devoured thus far), some writing, and some active visualization of "Avventura" slipping past Point Loma for the first time in over two years. With this leg more than half completed it's hard to keep reminding myself that what remains is still the second longest stretch of sea I've crossed on this voyage, and that the prospect of landfall is still too far away to be planning for. For now the seas seem to be trying to settle in, and hopefully by tonight it will have calmed down once more and we'll be well on our way to a third straight 130 mile day. 1300 nm from home, and it's a glorious sunny day.

PS Saw our first sign of civilization in over a week today with the sighting of an east-bound airplane high overhead. Still only one ship since leaving, nothing for days and days, but the ocean is still littered with trash.

June 28. 1245.
36.44N by 143.04W

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