OUR FIRST FISH!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

It was nearly midnight when we weighed anchor and slipped quietly out of Prickley Bay.  With Salt and Light in the lead, we put Grenada behind us and motor sailed into the moonless night.  The seas were calm, the winds light, but we did see several fishing boats.  Early the next morning, Salt and Light started fishing.  Dan put a pink cedar plug on our hand line.  As he was putting the lure in the water, he noticed a $5.00 EC bill on our back transom steps.  It wasn’t ours as it wasn’t there earlier, and we had given all our EC to Salida.  This money had been floating in the water, and with the following seas it washed onto our transom.  Nice!!!!! 

 

Soon Salt and Light caught a tuna.  Nothing for us.  Dan went below to sleep while Salt and Light caught another tuna.  Unbelievable!!  Even though we were very happy for them, we were disappointed in our lack of fishing (catching) abilities.  They graciously offered to share, but we hoped our luck would change.  Maybe we needed a new lure.   I rummaged through the tackle box and found our “Tuna Tamer”; a green and yellow squid like bottom, with big fish eyes on it.  I tried to put it on our line, but after realizing I was doing it with my back to the watch I was supposed to be keeping, I had Tristan wake up Dan.  Dan was not happy.  He got over it.  The “Tuna Tamer” was attached to our new fishing pole and set off our stern.  Not much later, a pod of dolphins came over to say hello and ride our bow wake.  We were doing over 7 knots, and they had fun racing us.  About 30 minutes after they left, we had a bite on our line.  TUNA!!!!  Dan reeled it in, onto the transom steps, and I ran for the bottle of rum to pour in the fish’s gills to calm it down.

 

 Hmm!! What alcohol to use?  I looked into our liquor storage cabinet.  Decisions, decisions. First I grabbed a brand new bottle of the new Mount Gay rum.    That would not go over well.  I put it back.  How about that flavored vodka I bought when Karon and Alan were down?   My mind wandered.  What was the name of the store I bought that it in the Bahamas?  A yell from Dan to hurry it up brought me out of my reverie. I couldn’t find it anyway.  What else?  Finally I grab the cheapest, quickest thing I can find; a bottle of mango rum. I race back to the transom steps aiming for the tuna’s mouth.   Not very accurate, but with nearly half the bottle gone, I think the tuna got most of it.  The tuna was absolutely beautiful and it was sad at first to think we killed it.  This was the hard part of fishing.

 

I quickly called Salt and Light for instructions on what to do next.  Dennie relayed instructions on bleeding it (yuck!) and cutting it up (double yuck).  The kids and I turned away while Dan did the cutting.  All was good until I threw a pitcher of hot soapy water on the fish guts left on the transom.  I threw the water a little too hard and washed some fish innards up Dan’s shorts!!  My Bad!!!!  I guess that was the fish’s revenge!

 

Around 1:30, we pulled into the bay at Los Tostigos.  After our anchor was secured off a beautiful white sandy beach, Dan and Dennie dinghied to the Coast Guard on Isla Guana to let them know of our arrival.  You can’t check in here, you are simply informing them of your arrival and asking permission to spend a few days.  They were very nice and gave us a 3 day pass.  When that was done, we snorkeled on the reef close to our boat.  The snorkeling was pretty good.  The coral was very unique, with large fans, sponges, and huge brain coral.  The fish were impressive too, with two very colorful eels.  Soon we were all exhausted, and after a sundowner and filet lessons on Salt and Light, we headed back for an early bedtime.  What a great day in Venezuela!!