Exocoetidae

I will not start with a fish story, but a quick update.

• We crossed the 127.5 meridian yesterday about supper time putting us into UTC-9 which is 5 hours earlier than Toronto (UTC-4). Needless to say, and as expected, we then reopened Pandora’s Box and discussed “when we are”. In the end we all decided we have it correct.
• We are are currently at 129 degrees west and will be continuing west but mostly southerly – Hiva Oa is 139 degrees west. We will move to UTC -9.5 when we enter their waters, then UTC-10 when we move on towards Tahiti.
• All the PredictWind models forecast wind speeds peaking early on the 17th and then steadily declining for the next few days. I think (hope) they called that one right as last night was a raucous, wild ride.
• For some period last night we moved along at a sedate 7kts and apparent wind speed (AWS) of 14kts, now I am at 22 kts and the boat was at 11 kts. Once or twice on every shift the winds seemed to move up to 25 to 28kts AWS and the boat was doing 13+kts. Often those of us in the racks stick our heads up when this happens, as you can feel and hear the difference in the boat.
• We are still double reefed on the main. At one stage during Bill’s watch we pulled in more of the genoa so we are down to a handkerchief (well maybe 100 square feet). I’m glad we did as around 4:30am the AWS was 30kts + and we were 15kts boat speed. It blew through otherwise I would have rousted Bill to put in the last reef.
• The wave action is significant. Cooking dinner was a ballet of standing, holding the pot, chopping. Bill did an amazing job. My aspiration and daily request to be elevated from KP duty to be allowed to chopping an onion or holding a pot remains unfulfilled. I am allowed to boil water periodocally.

Now back to the fish story. I did dig out the GoPro yesterday to try to record the almost continuous schools of flying fish that pop out of the water as we pass. I tried the iPhone but it was almost impossible to aim at the right part of the sea and hit record. Instead I put the GoPro on my head and starting recording and sat there. I just had to look in the direction of the action. It took a few hours to review and edit the clips down.

National Geographic have no need to worry, but it was a fun exercise. At the very start you will see a splash in the water up near the daggerboard/shroud, then like popcorn, a series of little splashes all about as they pop out of the water. Many papers refer to them being threatened as a boat passes, but in this case we think it may have been a Dorado/Mahi Mahi looking for its lunch that spooked them.

The second part of the clip shows a series of cascading waves of them popping out of the water. According to the National Wildlife Federation they ” propel themselves out of the water at speeds of more than 35 miles (56 kilometers) an hour. Once in the air, their rigid “wings” allow them to glide for up to 650 feet (200 meters).”

Some sites refer to them being attracted to boat lights at night (we end up with none flying onboard during daylight). Maybe they just cannot see us at night and collide, as we run with navigation lights and a few reading lights only. I am unclear if there is a linguistic connection between “Exocoetidae” and France’s Exocet Missile, but there are similarities, albeit less damage, when one strikes the ship.

Squid can be attracted to lights and research shows they fly similar to a flying fish only use jet propulsion to launch. They don’t just glide, research “demonstrated that flight of squid is not simple gliding after incidental exit from the water, but involves jet propulsion, generation of lift force and control of different body postures in different flight phases, which have evolved to enhance escape from predators.” Again, they don’t land aboard during the days, only at night.

Last night it was our turn to fly – hopefully today it will be a little more sedate!