Okay, the title is a bit corny, but it is difficult for me to contain my excitement because after nearly 22,000 miles of fishing around the world, we finally caught our first wahoo and it is a beauty. Wahoo looks similar to a Spanish mackerel having a pointed mouth full of sharp teeth, similar fins, a long body and vertical stripes down its sides. However, the wahoo is a much more powerful predator than a Spanish mackerel. It has a much larger mouth and tail, its body is longer and more barrel shaped and it has a deep blue coloring I assume for hunting in deeper waters.

Wahoo is my favorite fish to eat. Making steaks out of a wahoo produces four quadrants of meat, each consisting of almost perfect concentric circles of muscles fibers which hold together on a barbecue but fall a part in your mouth. It tastes similar to Spanish mackerel but also a little bit like swordfish. The meat is perfect barbecued or served raw as carpaccio in thin slices with capers, lemon juice and olive oil. We plan to try it as sushi tomorrow.

Over the course of this trip, we have put a lot of time and effort in trying to catch wahoo, including soliciting advice from local experts. In Marquesas I was told my boat was not fast enough to catch them as it was claimed that you need to troll in excess of 9 knots. In Tonga, a professional sport fisherman said to stay on the 60 meter line as they feed at this depth. In Vanuatu, the owner of a tackle shop advised me to use red, purple or black lures.

We actually think we may have hooked one on the way to Vanuatu but Julie and I fumbled while trying to gaff the fish and we lost it (Deni, you were aboard at the time and may remember this one). In Chagos we went fishing with the local wahoo experts who showed us exactly how catch one which they did but we did not.

When we left Chagos, I was so convinced that we would catch a wahoo, that upon leaving to sail 1400 miles to Madagascar, I made several jibes and tacks close to the reef trying all of our best wahoo lures. Julie was less than pleased and told me that all I would catch were skipjack which we did - three, measley ones and two tangles in our gear but no wahoo. Our yachty friends still tease me about this.

However, today was vindication for our efforts. We barbecued a large portion for dinner which was divine. It was seasoned for 30 minutes in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and ginger. We plan to try several different preparations as we have at least 5 more days worth of this fish.