Lat: 09:32.0 S: Long: 113:45 W - Fishing in the Pacific
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Lat: 09:32.0 S: Long: 113:45
W 25th March 2013
Fishing
has been a small let down so far. No whales or dolphins have been seen at all
since we left the vicinity of the Galapagos. Just as we passed by Santa Maria
(Floreana) we had had the most spectacular visit by a large pod of what appeared
to be mixed Bottlenose (and maybe Pantropical Spotted (?) Dolphins. They came
right up under our bows, from a long ways off and then spent a good 20 minutes
or so giving us the most fantastic display of aerial acrobatics around and just
under our bow wave. The photos of one of them jumping right out of the water
alongside us were taken from so close to the animal that yours truly got his
shorts soaked when it – quite deliberately – splashed full-length back into the
sea! So we finally started fishing, once well clear of the Galapagos National Park zone of restricted areas, and, for ages, saw nothing and caught not even a piece of seaweed. Finally, Will managed to get a couple of bites from two very small Mahi-Mahi, both of which we unhooked and threw back. They were far too small to consider keeping. Then the line went zinging out at great speed and something good was on the line! The decent sized Skipjack Tuna we finally landed, however, did not weigh as much as we had hoped, when we finally got it on board. There was only half a fish on the hook something else had beaten us to it and taken a hefty bite! Something really vicious had taken an amazing bite out of it and had completely severed, and removed with a scalpel’s precision and neatness, the whole tail half of the fish….. We have to assume, from the lack of struggle and our failure to actually notice it happening, or to see anything like a shark’s fin on the surface at the time, this must have been done by a large Wahoo? Surely a shark would have worried and hit it hard, then ripped and torn
the flesh and skin off, more than make so neat a cut? Maybe
not…. An interesting question never to be answered, we guess, unless someone out there more knowledgeable than us knows?? The day before yesterday, however, March 23rd, after several poor and disappointing attempts at fishing, we finally hooked into a huge Blue Marlin for the first time. Photographic evidence will show why both Jack and Will had to take it in turns with the rod, for over 45 minutes, whist we sailed downwind at about 4 knots, under minimal sail, to try to bring this monstrous fish alongside, so we could tag its leader line and then release it. It must have been abvout 6-7 feet in length and at least 100-150 kgs in weight! We were all primed to get it tagged by touching the leader line before we releasd and set it free again, as it was obviously far too large to contemplate landing it and bringing it aboard! Not to mention the fact that Marlin flesh is not noted as being the tastiest fish in the world, the available free space in our freezer would not have coped with it either. So, we were all just starting to wonder exactly how we were going to safely free it, whehn the fish itself answered the problem for us, with a neat final flick of its great, broad bill, it neatly severed the line near to the leader, just as Will had finally got it back up to the surface and to within twenty feet of our transom. The joyous leap of freedom the Marlin made as it leapt clear of our wake, just a few feet astern of our Rib in the davits, and shook its great head at us in derision was a joy to behold! Darkness fell on us then and we all talked animatedly about the fight the fish had put up. Hemingway's "The Old Man And The Sea" it wasn't, but it certainly was a real treat to have seen and a great spectacle to have been a participant in. Since then, we started fishing again only yesterday after lunch and by 5:00 pm the line went out again, this time with a much easier fight, however, after slowing Sulana right down to less than 3 knots once again. Will pulled in and Jack neatly gaffed a 10kg Wahoo. This was swiftly skinned and filleted by Will, with the first 4 steaks being fried and served up for a superb fresh fish dinner within 55 minutes by Sue and Will together! The rest will still provide us with at least 3 or 4 more meals in due course. So fishing is now well under way, but we have had to stop today until we are able to eat our way through more provisions and leave more space in the freezer. We are currently still heading South of West, after a day or so of being forced to run due West, with a target to get down to a Latittude of about 10 degrees South, in order to avoid a patch of lighter winds ahead and get into a more favourable, stronger, ESE-Easterly airstream, that is forecast to arrive in the next three days, so we can return to either twin headsails or spinnaker flying, for our final approach to the Marquesas. Meanwhile it is all good and easy sailing, with a constant 8 knot SOG expected, as we broad reach our way along for the next 12 hours or so! We have got both our headsails up still, of course, as it really is too much of a mission to try to drop and then re-hoist the twin headsail rig whilst at sea in a breeze. However, the two sails seem to be quite happy lying alongside each other, with the twin sheeting system spreading the loads. We are, of course, very careful to check the rig and the halyards and sheets for wear and tear every day. We are sending one of the two young guys aloft every other day, as a minimum, to check on chafe aloft, too. So, all in all, it is all good out here. The SSB radio roll call arranged for the Rally, through Ian, on our sistership "Yantina", is working well and the Oyster Fleet is happily following along in pretty good order, although it does appear as if we have been lucky to date not to have had any of the rain squalls some others have been reporting. No doubt our turn will come soon enough!
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