22/05/2014
26 17 05’N 57 53 75’W
Today was a good day I awoke to 14 knots right on the beam and we were sailing well, I put out the fishing lines hoping for a tuna to supplement our food stores. A couple of hours later the reel started singing and I leapt to the rod, but there seemed to be nothing there. I told Karen who had raced out of her bunk in anticipation to go back and get some sleep. Reeling in the line suddenly went solid and then the reel started screaming as the fish on the end decided it wanted to go the other way. Looking back in the wake the fish jumped and tail walked across the water, the splash on re-entry was impressive. I was convinced that this was my Hemmingway moment and it was a marlin on the end. I shouted to the crew to get out of bed, stop the boat, help me and mix the Mojitos. The fight was epic and as soon as I had the fish close it either tried to go under the boat or took off on another run, the line that I had spent the last 10 minutes retrieving gone in an instant. Run after run the fish made and I must admit I was getting tired when eventually we could see the colour of the fish in the water. One last run and I could tell the fish was tired and I eased it along side. Now marlin is a seriously tasty fish but was so much more than we could eat, the decision whether to boat the fish or not had not been made prior to it arriving alongside. A marlin is one magnificent fish and I decided if I could get the hook out cleanly then I would let this beauty go. I leaned over the side and held the bill of the fish in one hand and removed the hook with the other getting a sound beating in the process. Once we had a measurement and the fish had recovered I let it go. I do not know how much it weighed but measured 2.5 meters from tip to tail. The pictures are slightly out of focus as Karen is unfamiliar with my Nikon SLR and I was unable to give coherent instructions during the battle!
The fishing gods were smiling on me as a couple of days later I was rewarded with a yellow fin tuna of a manageable size. The take was just before dark and was typical of a tuna as they tend to dive rather than dance around on the surface. We had three good meals off this catch, I even tried some of it raw and it was very tasty, you cannot get fresher!
We have been making our way to 35’.00.00N 40’.00.00W and we have been making good time one of our best days logging over 160miles in 24 hours when the wind starts to die. We turn the motor on and wish we had more fuel. We are getting the weather via our sat phone and Mailasail which seems very reliable.
I awoke this morning to the good news that not only had Karen caught a tuna but had boated it, despatched it semi humanely, gutted it and placed it in the fridge. I was impressed but this was short lived as she also said that it was my watch and to vacate the warm bunk pronto!