Nov 7, 2012, at sea,  Bahia Santa Maria

After a windy night, the morning was still and calm.  Up at 5, radio net at 6 and the fleet was underway at 7, with absolutely no wind.  All day we motored along down the coast.  For once we mostly kept up with the group, although the bigger boats with bigger engines and bigger fuel tanks gradually began to pull ahead.  Late in the afternoon we finally got enough of a breeze to put the sails up and turn the engine off for a while.

 As the sun goes down and it starts to get dark, I decide to clean the deck for the night.   I have had a fishing line out all day with no luck.  No one seems to be catching anything.  Speculation is that the water is too warm, it is close to 80 degrees.  As I start to  pull the line in to put it away I realize that there is a fish on it!  I have no idea how long it has been there.  As I start pulling, it is seems really big.  Alan was sleeping and comes on deck half awake and half dressed when I start yelling.  When I finally pull it to the back of the boat and start to hoist it up, I realize that this is a really big fish.  I can hardly lift it.  It is now full dark.  Thank heavens the autopilot is steering the boat.  There is hardly any room to move on the back of the boat.  The mizzen sail is up so we have to keep ducking under the boom.  Finally we pull it aboard.  It is indeed huge, at least by our standards, 44”.  We think it is a dorado.  In the flashlight it is all yellow and green, with a sail fin on it’s back.  Now what?  First find the spray bottle of booze.  Forget spraying, just dump it into the gills.  It works, giant fish is now lying quietly in the cockpit.  It is really too big for the 2 of us to eat and it won’t keep in this weather but I am not going to throw it back.  First take a picture (which unfortunately did not come out).  Cut off it’s head.  Hang it by the tail over the bucket to let the blood drain out.  Now cut it into frying pan sized pieces.  There is a lot of fish here.  Some gets fried for dinner, some made into ceviche  and some cooked and deboned for sandwiches tomorrow.  The rest I am sorry to say goes over board.  We both stuff ourselves on fish.  It has a really sweet flavor.

After dinner it is Alan’s watch, my turn to sleep