Underway, Journey toward the Marquesas (#5)
Carl Strange Feb 13, 2025
6 June 06 22S / 111 51W.
We’re more or less halfway there and all is well on-board. Stories to follow if I can pry Rebecca’s computer away from here during daylight hours. Don’t know if I reported mine has a keyboard problem and is useless right now.
10 June 2002 – 07 46S / 123 41W
The Galapagos are 2100 miles and thirteen days behind us. The Marquesas are 900 nautical miles and about one week ahead. We’ve seen nothing on the horizon but blue water and white clouds for days and days. Except for the occasional night squalls, our weather has been picture-perfect for the trip.
We have had great luck fishing and are enjoying Mahi Mahi (or Dolphin or Dorado) again this evening. Today’s catch was just over three feet and will keep us in fish for a couple of days. Most of the fish will be baked but a few nice pieces have been put aside to have
as a sashimi (okay, thinly sliced, cold, raw fish) appetizer. Our lockers always have a good supply of Wasabi, the hot mustard that goes with sushi or sashimi.
For fishing, we had been using our only “store-bought” lures, two very nice Rapalas which over the last couple of years have helped us to catch a lot of fish. However, a few days ago, they did their job too well. Both lures were trailing behind the boat. Each had a few feet of 120-pound test, nylon-coated stainless wire for a leader. One lure was on our Penn Senator saltwater trolling rod and reel. The other was on our “meat line”. The rod and reel got the first strike. I tightened the reel break but the fish kept stripping the line (i.e. pulling more lines out). Karen released the headsail sheet to slow the boat down and I added a bit more tension to the reel. The reel never reached the smoking stage but definitely started getting hot before the fish broke the wire leader. We reeled in our empty line and wondered just how big “the one that got away” had been this time. Later in the day, I rolled up our meat line to discover the wire had been bitten or broken as well. All in all, we are lucky those two fish didn’t make it on board.
Now we are back to fishing with homemade lures. Honestly, it is a lot more fun to catch fish on our own lures. A typical lure is assembled from stainless wire and crimps, a couple of bullet weights, a serious stainless hook, a store-bought plastic squid-looking thing, and anything else that strikes our fancy and looks “fishy”. Our latest creations include the thin Mylar lining from the inside of cardboard wine boxes (only the best you know) or pretzel bags. We cut a four or five-inch square including the corner of the liner or bag. The corner is always heavily reinforced and makes a good “head” for our lure. The lure is assembled with the following steps. Loop the leader wire through the head of the hook and secure it with a crimp. Slide a bullet weight down the wire to the hook. Push the wire through the corner of the Mylar bag so the hook is hidden inside the bag. Put a second bullet weight into the head of the store-bought squid (green and orange squids have been working well lately), poke the wire through the squid, and slide it down to cover the bag. Measure a few feet of wire for a leader, make a second loop in the end, and secure with a crimp. Finally, cut the Mylar bag into strips to mimic the legs of the squid. Attach your creation to your line and troll a boat length or so behind you. Set it out in the morning and start planning your menu.
Our meat line deserves a description. This is sixty feet or so of 1/4″ three-strand nylon line. A large stainless swivel is tied to the “fishing end”. Ten feet or so of 120-pound stainless wire follows that with a second swivel and snap hook crimped on the end. The leader of a lure is attached to the snap hook and the line is trolled behind the boat. Since the 1/4 line won’t give when a fish strikes we use a four-foot piece of heavy bungee as a shock absorber. One end of the bungee is tied to a loop in the 1/4 line and the other end is tied to the aft rail of our boat. Finally, the 1/4 line, with a good bit of slack, is attached to a large cleat on our aft deck. Now when a fish strikes, the bungee will stretch giving the fish a bit of play. Should the bungee break, the 1/4 will take the load. Much like Tom Sawyer tying a fishing line around his toe, we use a clothespin to hang the slack loop of 1/4 line up in the rigging so we can keep an eye on it from the cockpit. When a fish strikes, the bungee stretches, the loop pulls out of the clothes pin and we eventually notice. It’s a crude but very effective way to fish.
16 June
We spotted Fatu Hiva at 1800 Z or 9:30 AM local. Actually, it was Revision II who called us on the VHF and pointed it out. It’s about 1:30 and we have at least an hour or 2 to go before we are anchored. I hate that it takes so long after you’ve started celebrating to actually get anchored. All in all, it has taken 19 days. Not bad. An average of 161 miles a day.
The island is gorgeous. Definitely a sight for sore eyes. Can’t wait to go on shore tomorrow and explore. They supposedly have a lovely waterfall, though it is quite a walk to get to it. We’ll only stay a few days and then go to Hiva Oa to officially check-in.
Paradise at last! YEA!
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