Further update - fishing
Cat-man-do
Sat 17 May 2008 12:27
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Gentle reader,
As the skipper has already updated you on the
weather situation these last 5 days or so since the laptop died, I won't bother
you with a repetition of the details. However I must say we have been
through the most dramatic sea conditions one can imagine really - thankfully it
stopped short of force 10 but I have to say how well the ship coped with the
conditions - with Brian repeating the mantra "they say she's unsinkable" from
time to time - just for re-assurance!
Anyway on to fishing - I know you're all expecting
a "one that got away" story- I am after all famous for them - as devotees of
Gertha 4's blog pages will already know. Well after 4 days of fishing
nothing but seaweed out of the water every half an hour, I awoke one morning to
find that Skipper had already set the rod and we were fishing once
again.
At precisely 10.00am local time the reel went off
with a loud zizzzzzzzzzzzzzing and I thought "what a large piece of seaweed that
must be". Just managed to get to the rod befoe the reel ran out of line
and literally grabbed it (the line) with my fingers almost severing one or
two. You see, leaving a fishing reel stowed in the bowels of a boat for
months on end ruins it - and clutch/brake mech really doesn't work any
more! Anyway it was soon apparent that we had more than seaweed and I
spent the next 30 minutes fighting with this monster, rod at times bent
literally double and my fingers and arms bulging like popeye's, lactic acid
building dangerously in my hands - could I hold on to it? Brian
was in the meantime being very helpful saying "I caught this one 'cos I put
the line out" - yes Brian! When asked if he'd like a go at landing it he
rather surprisingly declined.
I just had to do something - so managed to get the
line wound around a primary winch (thanks Harken - you guys are great) and
proceeded with little ceremony to wind the monster in using some mechanical
assistance. Easy or what! I now know that fishing rods and reels are
a thing of the past - for this type of fishing, anyway.
Soon the monster was two feet from the rear of the
port transom, we could see him clearly - about 3 feet long and most wonderful
looking irridescent blue with splashes of yellow showing, and even Spud was
getting excited, having been to fetch the rubber mallet which was to act as
priest for this beauty of the deep. I was just regretting rather ruefully
Simon's being unable to locate my gaff pole on Gertha (for this was the first
time I'd actually needed it - this was THE moment i'd been waiting for all of my
short and illustrious career as a ham-fisted fisherman) but decided if I just
kept winching the fish would be dragged out of the water and up the transom
steps - I had a plan.
You can imagine, then, the slight disappointment
when the fish suddenly shimmied about a metre to his starboard (in the wake of
the boat, I think - we were doing 6 knots at this point!) and, yes dear reader,
you have by now uncovered the sad denouement of this sorry tale, the fish
somehow spat the hook and off he went, freed at last from the evil squid who'd
grabbed his mouth.
Well, to say I cried is an understatement - okay I
lied - but I did feel slightly cheated - so close but still so far. At
least the episode had finally convinced Brian that (a) there are fish in
the sea and (b) that I and the equipment were capable of hooking
one!
So I went off fishing for a couple of days,
retired, licking my mental scars, until both the weather allowed, and my
interest was re-kindled.
So, at 15.00 on Tuesday afternoon, I threw the lure
in off the starboard transom, had managed to let out about 5 metres of line,
when "whop" the line flew through my fingers! Long story short, 2 minutes
later, I had on deck a yellowfin tuna weighing 6 1/2 pounds, who was duly
despatched to meet his maker and now resides in the form of steaks in our
freezer. We had Tuna for supper that evening - and despite Brians
reservations (he hadn't told me he doesn't particularly like fish until I
actually caught one!) he enjoyed it.
So dear reader, we no longer need to fish for
survival so I may indulge in a spot of sport-fishing today. It is, after
all, my 44th birthday, AND it's saturday, and the weather is boringly fair and
wind light, so just hoping the skipper will allow me a small libation later
on.
Thanks for reading - if you reached the end you are
indeed a devotee, if not, you missed little of substance.
With love and best wishes to all back
"home".
TTFN,
Andrew & Spud x
ps you CAN email us at boatname (including hyphens)
at mailasaildotcom.
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