One step beyond

Hello there everybody! How's the weekend going? Unforgettable, like ours, or rather averagish? We have had a differente day here in Platuxa. First that wonderful and unexpected full moon over a calm Atlantic Ocean. The calendar actually showed it but I think we had given hope up to see it with all these foggy days behind. Santi, the First Mate has been luckier than me, as his watch starts at 4 he had two hours more than me to enjoy the moon. The sun started to shine on the East shortly after, so we also had that show while shooting two kilometers of warp.

Our first two tows went very well, bit on the scarce side but technically perfect. Grenadier made up most of the catch, and there was some Greenland grenadier as well. And then, when we were in a less complicated depth to work on, we entangled and ripped the gear -again!- There is a depth range with a rather complicated bottom topography, and even when trawling on well known spots you never know how it's going to be from one year to the next. As you are already experts in this business, you know what comes next: swap gears and start mending, with all deck hands hard at work, one team fishing and the other fixing the gear. Luckily the weather was way better than the other day, and everything went very well and the problem solved swiftly. The biologist pack has had enough time to finish sampling the previous tow and could rest in the mean time, as most of them are looking to a further 2.5 months on board. 

We have resumed work at a good pace until the sixth haul became very complicated too (as the third tow, it also involved redfish!!!) and once again all hands had to do their bit on deck, and the officers work in pairs when not the three of them. What a day! The crew definitely deserves a bonus. The biologists have rounded off the day with the working deck overflowed with fish, so everybody went there to give Adriana, Bernardo, Iván and Juan a hand. There has been enough for everybody, believe me. The crew came as well, and fish boxes where sliding up and down all over the deck, from the conveyor belts to the scales and working tables... it looked like the Tsukiji market in Tokio, with the difference that part of our fish is given to charity on arrival to Spain. I don't know what the most valuable present is, if the fish itself or the work carried out by the crew, which is a lot. Beheaded, gutted fish, clean and perfectly packed in boxes that are a sight to behold when opened.

Our friend, redfish.

Anyway, as one of the most translated books ever said (not talking about Harry Potter), we have cast our nets several times but we did not find the catch we expected every time. But this is the way this job is, and we are not going to surrender because of a few void hauls. We got five perfect hauls and we are doing very well. If the weather continues on our side, we will finish the survey with all goals achieved. Everybody are doing their utmost to that purpose. The main issue is to avoid accidents, and as of today, the main collateral damage is one and one extra kilo, or ton, depending of the problem discussed. Try as hard as you may, redfish, you are no match for us...