Jocara Newsletter Dec 2, 2004 We're now 330 nautical miles southeast of the northern tip of Madagascar, at 14 deg. 33'S, 54 deg. 12'E, making only 4 knots in 8-10 knots of light breeze from the southeast. We are a little frustrated with our progress. A direct heading would mean having the wind right on the stern and Jocara doesn't sail well at that angle. The foresail is in the wind shadow of the mainsail and flops around, then fills again with a big smack that puts tremendous strain on the rigging. Also, in these light winds, we roll in the swell and that throws the mainsail boom back and forth. John already has had to fix the boom vang 3 times this trip because it keeps breaking, at a rate of once a day! We're heading a little south of our track to improve the wind angle and are headed pretty much due west. Two days ago we caught our biggest fish yet. We suddenly noticed that one of the fishing rods was rather bent (actually, bent over horizontal!) and that all the line had been pulled out. John struggled for more than an hour to reel it all back in, fighting something big at the end. Finally, when it got closer, we could see what it was; a marlin! For a while we weren't sure how to get this huge fish with its dangerous, slashing, long spike on board without anybody getting hurt. It took the whole family, two gaffs, a lot of patience, a little backache and some bruises, but we managed it in the end. Using the main mast winch and a rope around its tail we hauled all 2.6m and perhaps 40 kg of marlin over the rail and onto the deck. Now have a freezer full of big, fat marlin steaks. Even Cannelle is eating it, as long as it has been cooked! Over and out for now, The Jocara crew P.S. Don't forget to check out our website at http://www.jocara.net for updates, pics and short movies, also archived newsletters. Anyone can join the list or unsubscribe by sending an email to mandar@arl.nus.edu.sg with the subject line 'subscribe jocara newsletter' or 'unsubscribe Jocara newsletter' as appropriate.