Pacific Cup '08 - Hi from the High

Hi you guys!
Well, we are in the high and motoring straight to SF. We should be motoring for another day, then the wind should pick up.
Yesterday was an adventure! I was on watch at dawn. Beautiful sunrise. Then Mike caught a Dorado/Mahi Mahi! Catching, cleaning, and deciding how to prepare it took a good chunk of time. O, then we had to retrieve the bucket that fell into the H2O while Mike was cleaning the fish. Then we found and retrieved a glass fishing ball. I made the ultimate catch using my straw hat! At this point, a HUGE brown albatross type bird joined us, trying to figure out what we were doing. (Wing span about 7 feet. Looked like a big goose size.) The bird obviously thought we might be a source of food. Off we go, closely monitored by the big brown bird,(BBB) and then his BBB buddy.
Then we ran over a piece of fish net that fouled the propeller. You have never seen Jim levitate so fast from down below to the back of the boat to kill the engine. We start floating around again, so we are joined by BBB # 3. BBB 1 decides to swim into our fishing line, so we have to cut the line and let it slip backwards through it's feathers, or he would have impaled himself with the hook! Mike was not pleased to lose his lure. We attached an under H2O camera to the boat hook, and took a video of the propeller. Yep...propeller fouled with net.
Jim briefly puts boat in reverse and a 2 x 2 piece of net floats to the surface. Just to make sure, Mike jumps into the H2O with mask and snorkel to make sure the propeller is clear. Did I mention we are in the MIDDLE of the Pacific Ocean, a thousand miles from land, and the water is 3 miles deep. You can easily see down 100 feet.
BBB # 4 comes to investigate. Mike start splashing birds to keep them at least a foot away... Um.. Mike? These are sea birds. They don't care if they get wet.... BBB 1 - 4 decide to give Mike 2 feet of space. Mike checks propeller. All is clear. Mike gets classic self portrait shot of himself, bird, Morpheus, Jim and me from the middle of the Pacific High. Mike climbs back in the boat, and we are off again.
Rest of the night went well.
Trying to get home by Chris' Bday, but we may miss by a day or 2. Will have a big party when we get home. OK?
Love to all. Keep me posted on the Olympics! Denise, say hello!
Deb
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