Tunisian Catch

Our 1st sail of the year was in fact a motoring journey to Gozo (180 nautical miles of iron topsail). Having waited for calm and ideal condition we ended up with 5 knot of wind. The journey was uneventful until 20 miles West of Lampadusa, at 4.30 am when during Chris’ watch, Scorch came to a sharp stop and I was awaken by the skipper’s cry for help. We soon realised that we were caught on fishing nets laid on the surface. They went on for miles and were totally unlit. We tied the ropes to the stern and were anchored in pitch darkness giving us time to take stock of the situation. We could not motor anymore until we had assessed the prop situation. We flashed a light to attending boat. Waiting for them to come we hoped they would be Italian, but as they drew near, by their language, we realised with trepidation they were Tunisian. Fishing Boat 593 from Monastir came along side and with great laughter at our expense told us to cut the ropes. We tried to sail away be soon realised we were in a maze of nets. By first light, in his underpants, the Captain dived under the boat to cut ropes wrapped around the prop and assess the damage (sorry did not have time for photo shoot). Luckily no damage! We went on our merry way, 4 hours later, after cutting ourselves out of few fishing nets. We were appalled at the fishing method and the total disregard of the marine code. Perhaps this is the reason why the fish is cheap in Tunisian markets.
The rest of the journey was uneventful apart from many turtles going West. Hopefully they will eat many jellyfish on their way; the curse of the Med. in the past few years. But we hope they did not come across the nets………….. Turtle soup was not on the menu in Tunisia but it is a Japanese delicacy.