The Triumphant Fisherman and arrival in Tahiti
Gaviota
Sat 31 May 2014 20:12
17:34.537S 149:37.270W
We set sail from Hakatea Bay (a long 3 and a half
miles from the main Town!) at 8.30am, Monday 26th May and headed out into big
seas, made even bigger by the bounce back off the high cliffs, winds were
forecast 15-20 knots. The 2 Genoas went up (good old Turin Shroud + newly mended
one) no mainsail and we were flying. Out went both fishing lines
(optimistic!), dusk came on the first day and we started to pull in the lines,
the pull on the first line said BIG fish and as Syd hauled the line in in the
fading light we could just make out a very large shape which appeared to be
wrapped up in the other line. The hauling continued and at the same time
the wind started picking up, gusting 25 knots so with the boat leaping about Syd
bravely did battle with this monster of the deep, as it got closer we realised
it was bigger than we had thought and well and truly wrapped up in fishing
line. After several attempts Syd hauled the fish onto the deck where it
thrashed around, keeping clear of it's massive jaw he tied it to the boat and
attempted to retrieve lure, hook and 2 lines. The light was fading fast,
the wind was blowing harder and harder and the sea was getting very big. I
was dispatched to get the largest hammer possible and the next part was pretty
gruesome as Syd Dundee wrestled with this 44" long 10kg weght monster. It
was dark when the victor emerged and the prize catch remained tied to the back
of the boat for the night while all attention went to reefing sails to get us
through the night squalls safely. We scoured the bible Saltwater Fishing
Made Easy to identify the catch, bad bad news it was definitely a Giant Baracuda
not recommended for eating as they can carry Ciguatera poisoning and having read
the symptoms we both decided we did not want to take the chance! So it
seemed there were to be no fish suppers for the rest of the voyage and sadly the
whole struggle took on a rather pointless and very tiring waste of
time.
The next day there was no fishing, the 25+ knot
winds continued and the sea was big, weather forecasting does not seem to be
very accurate here! 3rd day The Fisherman (more or less recovered) with
newly constructed home made lure, put out one line. Later in the day I
spotted the line straining and excitement and trepidation started
building. It was another BIG one, the line strained and Syd got prepared
for battle once again. Slowly the catch was hauled in, it looked horribly
like yet another Giant Baracuda, but as it got closer we could see the colour
was different. After about 3 attempts the second monster of the deep was
hauled over the rails and great news it was a very large Wahoo and extremely
edible. The battle continued and thankfully soon, several freezer bags
full of plump meaty fish were deposited in the freezer - food at
last!
Spirits were high despite the continuing horrendous
squalls day and night and we sailed on towards The Tuomotos (a group of not
very well charted coral atols, notorious for ship wrecks), we had decided to try
going into 2 at the most North Eastern end of the group, Ahe and Rangiroa but
were leaving the final decision dependent on wind, sea and time of day we
arrived (all the atols have to be accessed through the reef entrance at slack
water, so only 2 suitable times each day! We neared them late Thursday
night (bad timing) but the mountainous seas and strong winds made the decision
for us so we passed! Thursday midnight we changed course (almost due
South) and with the wind 10 degrees off being close-hauled we were on direct
course to go round the end of the Tuomotos and head for Tahiti in the Society
Islands. The change of direction made for a pretty uncomfortable and very
wet sail. Tahiti came into view with the dawn Saturday morning and we very
thankfully headed in behind the reef to the safety of a lovely sheltered
anchorage off Maeva Beach along with hundreds of other yachts of very varying
sizes including about 6 Superyachts moored in nearby Taina Marina. We have
spent the last week recovering, cleaning salt off absolutely everything and
stocking up in Carrefour (commonly referred to as the Temple!). We are
hoping to head off in the next couple of days to the islands Moorea, Huahine,
Raiatea and Bora Bora but a very nasty front is passing over at the moment with
very heavy rain and strong winds (you would'nt think it possible in
paradise!!!!!).
