Neptune's big balls
29 August 2009 | North Pacific Gyre
Ken
I am not normally known as one who seeks opportunities for delayed gratification. But boy is it good when it happens! We have now been blessed again with a gift from Neptune: a beautiful pair of glass fishing-net floats. And the timing really makes you wonder. I had not thought about our search for those, 30 years ago, at all until I mentioned it yesterday in the blog. A few hours later, David and I were enjoying cocktails in the late afternoon, while Sandra napped. I mentioned casually that if he saw such a float, he should let me know and we should go get it. Not more than a half hour later, he spots the balls. Amazing. Thanks, Neptune! Good eye, David! There were two of them, tied together, each green and about a foot and a half in diameter. Big. They clearly had been afloat for a long time, since there was a whole little ecosystem on board. At least a couple dozen crabs at the apex, with the biggest being maybe 3 inches across. Plus lots of barnacles, mussels, and the like growing on the netting. I think these will raise the value if we should sell them on eBay. After the smell goes down. But we'll probably keep them, anyway, for decoration. I think one should decorate the deck on David and Dora's lovely condo at the Lake of the Woods - it would probably be the only one for a thousand miles.
We're also being blessed with a run of exceptionally good fishing luck. Yesterday we caught our 4th mahi mahi, including the one we caught sailing around Kauai. It has never taken more than a couple of hours to hook one up after letting the line out. I am starting to believe in a way I never have before that the color of the lure really matters. Someone in New Zealand said that brighter colors, especially reds and pinks, produce better in the middle of the day. The charter boats out of Nawiliwili seemed to predominantly use pink/blue/white or pink/purple/white lures, often sparkly. I had been using a yellow/green scheme, and on leaving Nawiliwili went over to pink/blue/white. The blue is fading fast on the lure we're using, but it doesn't seem to slow it down. Long live pink, it works like a champ! We never tire of the fresh mahi mahi, it's *such* a great-eating fish. Tonight I think we will have it as sashimi and sushi again. Yum.