Heroes for one day

Hello everybody!!! How are things on dry land? Sun shining in Vigo maybe?We got rid of the fog and have been in calm seas all day, but on the other hand it has been mercilessly cold – we are freezing here.

We have probably felt the cold more because the day has been easy. Six perfect hauls but even though we have sampled our way from 1300 m to 300 m depth, catches have been very, very low – just about 700 kg – but very diverse: redfish, bit of Greenland halibut, bit of grenadier, bit of black dogfish and all the beautiful deepsea fish with their monstrous faces and big teeth. As my friend Lucas says, a bit of everything and lots of nothing, fished here:

L61:	43º 06.74 -	49º 04.73
L62:	43º 11.02 -	49º 05.96
L63:	43º 18.70 -	49º 10.18
L64:	42º 20.11 -	49º 11.79
L65:	43º 20.42 -	49º 14.67
L66:	43º 22.59 -	49º 19.96

And I really have tried hard not to do this, but at risk of loosing the little food allowance I have left or having aliens kidnapping Antonio, Manuel, Jesús and Bouzas, I must tell you about our menu today. I don't know if we were celebrating something but when we arrived to the dining room it was unavoidable to look around for the nearest calendar to see if it was Sunday because the diversity of tapas was award-winning. I hope you have already had breakfast or whatever you should be eating at this time of the day. If not, go read this by your fridge because you will feel ravenous.

At lunch we got: the famous Spanish potatoes omelett in two varieties, traditional and with a Spanish sausage called chorizo (for those learning Spanish this word is also slang to describe a corrupt person or a pickpocket); Galician pastry filled with tuna and veggies, croquetas,which are deepfried balls made of finely smashed fish or meat with bechamel, they came also in two varieties, normal and crab. Then there were toasts with pineapple and melted sliced cheese, toasts with salat and tiny eels, salat and as main course a Galician dish called lacón con grelos, which is a casserole of boiled ham with potatoes and turnip tops. The desert was a Galician creamy cheese called de tetilla because it is shaped as a breast, with sliced quince jelly. No need to say five minutes into the meal we weren't cold any more.

The cooks must have thougth nevertheless that this wasn't enough, because for dinner there were thin toasts with a delicious avocado, cream cheese and olive oil paste, the soup from the lunch casserole, that freezing as I was I wondered if I should eat it or pour it over myself. Luckily I chose option A, because it was very good. The grilled witch flounder: no comments. It sounds very simple but I never get it like they do. You don't like fish? No problem, there were as well turkey kebaps, and French fries with roasted peppers. For those with a guilty conscience or trying to eat light, spinachs with smoked and roasted peppers -and bechamel sauce. Finally for those that decided to surrender a Spanish desert called arroz con leche, rice boiled in milk with a bit of lemon and canel.

You will understand then if the blog is a bit shorter than usual, but I must leave to go up and down all six decks 20 times to go to bed without feeling guilty. I fear going back home and cook for myself. I cannot picture preparing six or seven appetizers per meal...

Shame that in the last haul the gear got ripped again. Not as badly as the other day, but it had to be repaired after dinner. The task went from annoying into nightmare in minutes, because besides the cold, it started to pour horizontally. Nevertheless, when I went downstairs to take a few pictures, there were David, Juan, Paco and Luis, not giving it a second thought and rather smily. The heroes for the day. And an example for those that work in a more comfortable position and do nothing but complain.

David, Juan, Paco and Luis fixing the gear during the storm.