Tabuaeran II: Bigger and Better

July 27, 2009 In a last minute morning decision we gave up the safety of our perfect mooring to sail to up the north end of the island to a place called Whaler's Anchorage. We had heard a lot of good things about this spot both for surfing and for diving, and were eager to explore a new part of the island. According to our neighbor and friend Jerry on board his boat Charisma, Whaler's Anchorage was just four miles away and was marked by a Norfolk pine, also known as "the conspicuous tree" on the map. This would be the first time Rosinante would be out at sea since the day we arrived to Fanning and the first time any of us had been to the north end. After tying our anchor lines to a buoy and casting them off, we made our way out the pass to open ocean. As Rosinante battled the current to exit the lagoon, Riley quickly set up the fishing lines in hopes that we would have a fish feast for lunch.come on ahi. As we turned north to head up the coast we ran into the melon head porpoises from the other day. There weren't as many in the pod as before but there were still enough to give Kenny some clarity on the experience we had with them; we'll have to do that again soon. At about the three-mile mark our prayer of three years was finally answered, we caught a fifteen-pound yellow fin ahi tuna. Kenny and I have wanted to catch one of those ever since we delivered Rosinante from Seattle to Hawaii. During that passage we caught seven mahi mahi, resulting in mahi tacos, mahi burritos, and grilled mahi every meal of every day for two weeks. Ever since then every hook up we ever get we say that it's an ahi as we pull i n the line.we were finally right and it sure tastes good! In a brief forty minutes we reached Whaler's Anchorage, lined up with the conspicuous Norfolk pine, and dropped the anchor onto the sandy bottom twenty feet below. On shore was a small but beautiful white sand beach lined with small canoe outriggers. Our only problem was that the wind was blowing from the northeast, making the anchorage much choppier and rougher than normal. After a brief discussion we decided that we'd check out the beach for an hour and then head back to our old mooring, returning to Whaler's once the easterly trades kicked in. With that we took the skiff to shore to check the beach and look for shells. In the first couple minutes of being on land, two young boys came over to say hello, their exact phrases being, "Hello, thank you, good-bye", which we were pretty sure was the total extent of their English. After taking pictures with them and giving them high-fives we headed off down the coast to do some beach combing. Ginger found another bi g soap dish clamshell, Riley found a couple neat coral rocks, and Kenny grabbed a few hermit crabs in hopes of booting them out of the nice shell homes that they were squatting in. At one o'clock we lifted anchor, put up the Genoa, and headed back down the coast. As we motor sailed the four miles back to the pass we came across a few fisherman in their outrigger canoes and were amazed at how fast those twelve-foot canoes move. We were doing about seven and half knots with an engine, while they were sailing at about six knots with just a small sail about the size of a bed sheet. They waved and gave us big grins as we sailed along side them before passing them by. Shortly after our regatta with the fisherman we ran into the melon heads again, except this time they were going north while we went south. A couple of them came and checked out Rosinante but didn't stay long enough for us to get some shots of them riding the bow.not as playful as the spinner dolphins in Hawaii. As we rounded the corner of the pass to pick up our old mooring Capt. Rand asked for all the fishing lines to be brought in. It was at that moment that Riley realized that the lure was either stuck on the reef or there was a really big fish at the end of the line. As I was in front tying the boat back up to our mooring lines I could hear everyone shouting and guessing as to what fish we had hooked; I even heard Ginger say, "Shark", at one point. When the fish was brought in close enough everyone saw that it was a four-foot long barracuda weighing around forty pounds. A skiff with four of the local guys must have seen it too, cause they came over in a hurry and asked if they could have it, which worked well for us cause no one was very excited at the idea of fighting that big of a barracuda on the small aft step. The local guys brought the barracuda into their skiff, grabbed a small axe, and soon they were off yelling thank you with big smiles on the faces and we were happy to know we had fed a few families for days with that one. After the some of the best ahi sashimi we had ever had, Riley, Kenny, and I paddled out to catch some waves. We surfed solid overhead surf for a couple hours before heading back in for seared Cajun ahi dinners.three years of waiting in every bite. After that it was movie time quickly followed by bedtime, and with not a cloud in the sky we knew it was going to be a good nights sleep without any worry of having to close the hatches, sabo - dc