Journal of the fiftysixth day on board

27th June, 1999

The way we were optimistic didn't help us very much. Will we always be able to go on chumming for 24 hours on end?

5:30a.m. A sirocco wind hit again, right when a skate was swimming with interest near the boat along the bank offshore Lampedusa.

In Malta we stocked up on chum: a tonne of fish. On board we have two freezers but when a good opportunity comes to stock up, we do so liberally utilising every space at our disposal. Nevertheless, even if it remains packed in ice the chum's resistance is limited and after three days …the fish does smell!
Also, if the weather is bad in those three days we are obliged to throw away the fish from the freezer with difficulty, annoyance and…the accompanying smell.
That's what already happened in Calabria.

It is not so easy stocking up on chum during an expedition lasting months. Considering that the space at disposal in the wholesalers' cold stores is rather like finding a parking space in a big city (i.e. few, not perfect and rare), it's also always the case that if you do decide to get hold of some chum, there will always be some left over due to the bad weather; while if you don't decide to buy it, there won't be enough at the very moment you need it most. Besides, it must be said that it's not so easy to find a lot of cheap fish in a short time. So, whatever you do you are always bound to be wrong.

7:35 a.m. Huge amounts of fish are thrown away astern and the seagulls are happily following us. We are not so happy. The waves are very high due to the strong wind. In the meanwhile we have to throw away six quintals of unused blue fish.