Diamond lands

Yesterday ended with 2 shallow water trawls that produced not much other than some horrible little crustaceans that I like to call cockroaches. The first of the two catches did not have a single fish in it and the second catch had about a basket of fish. It was an easy end to the day for us because there was minimal sorting and measuring. 

The catch being sprayed off the deck - no one wanted to touch it!


We were also really close to land off the Northern Cape and it was amusing to see all the South Africans out on the deck phoning home - myself included. You would think that we have been away from civilization forever but it was great to hear that everything was ok at home. Everyone was also joking about hoping to spot a diamond in the catch since we are in the area were diamonds are mined off the sea floor.

Somewhere off the Northern Cape diamond area.

During the night the sea picked up and we have been rocking a lot. The wind is howling and it is still freezing cold. The rocking has been particularly bad up in the Acoustic Lab where I now have my netbook set up with an external monitor and keyboard. I actually have to hang onto the desk to stop myself from sliding across the floor. Being in the Acoustic Lab is, however, a much better option for me because it means that I return to my cabin very seldom thus relieving the stress I have had building due to the incompatibility I am experiencing with my cabin mate.

Today we finally had an easy day with the trawl stations spread out a bit and therefore only five trawls were possible. The first catch of the day though was really not a good start, it was 1.7 tons of sponges and 48 kg of fish - a real mess. Nothing that couldn't be handled though. The rest of the day's catches were easy enough particularly after the first one.

We actually finished up early today and I had enough time for a shower before meeting on deck with two of the ladies on  board to watch the sunset with an illicit sundowner in hand. So here is yet another sunset photo!

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