For a couple of days now, we've seen a boat hanging around on the horizon. Something like that might seem rather insignificant, but out here where there are no other signs of human life, it's a pretty noticeable event. Last night, everyone heard that the ship was a Costa Rican fishing vessel that had radioed Atlantis asking for some help. After sorting through the rumors that were circulating on the ship (stories going around the ship seem to change shape quickly, somewhat like the game telephone), I discovered that the boat had gotten caught in the storm, Kenna, that we had avoided. It turns out that they have been at sea for 55 days and are tired of eating fish and have run out of toilet paper. The reason they radioed Atlantis was to see if we would be so kind as to provide them with a roll of paper for every man on board (7) and a couple of cans of beans to relieve the monotony of eating fish every night.

Before I had gotten the scoop on what had come to be known as the "pirate ship," it was pretty entertaining listening to what people were saying on board. "Maybe they want to go down in the sub." "They want food and water and then some of their friends are going to come out and bring them more supplies." "Maybe when the Avon gets over there, it will turn out that they really are pirates and they'll take the Avon and then come and try to take Atlantis." You may laugh at the seeming ridiculousness of this last comment, but pirates really do still exist. Of course, as the 2nd Mate, PJ, assured us, the ship does get reports of pirate activity, and there is none in this area.

So the first question everyone was asking this morning after the sub launch was "when is the toilet paper parade with the pirate ship?" Well, it just happened. It was pretty funny. Lots of folks on Atlantis stopped in the middle of their work to go out on deck and watch Kevin "Special K" and Ken head over with the toilet paper and beans and return with a surprise gift in return. The Avon pulled back up next to Atlantis carrying Special K, Ken, and two gigantic, enormous tunas! Actually, it was one enormous tuna and one dolphin fish, also known as mahi mahi. These things were as big as me. Granted, I'm pretty short, so that's not usually saying a whole lot, but in fish size, I'm pretty darn big. So, the story ended maybe a little less exciting than it could have been — they weren't pirates. But it was pretty exciting to see two fish that big. I have sent some pictures of the "toilet paper parade with the pirate ship" for your viewing pleasure. Guess what we're eating for dinner tonight?