More about tuna fishing....July 6

Day 4 - Beasts of the Sea
Yesterday we left you off shortly before midnight while
we were in extremely dense fog dodging freighters criss-crossing their way to Astoria. We could only see about twenty feet in any direction with the boat humming along under white sails at near 10 knots. Our lone source of light was the mast light telling us where the wind was coming from, casting rays in the dense fog down to the deck.  

We got through the night unscathed and the morning met us with a heavy gray mist, consistent breeze, and a moderate sea state.

Darin was rudely awoken this morning by Travis hovering over him in his bunk with a monstrous grin on his face and the news "WE CAUGHT A TUNA!".  

Earlier that morning, we sat staring at nothing but grey cloud from floor to ceiling and lifelessness in every direction. We were making headway but needed something to break things up because we had not seen another boat in over a day. Ty suggested that we start up the fishing derby again. Unfortunately our lone cold-water Tuna lure was snapped off the line yesterday (when Adam hooked a massive beast). 

Adam took this as a challenge to McGuyver something together. His first stroke of genius was to take some electrical tape and the wrapper from a KitKat and fashion some sort of flasher with a Japanese fishing hook hanging off of the back. The crew's response to his initial design was not strong but they said the same thing to the Write brothers.

Cruising at about 8 knots we dropped the lure and left it skipping and jumping on the water's surface about a hundred feet behind the boat. About ten minutes later Travis stood up sharply and announced "Something  is chasing it!". The reel began screaming as something had a good hold of the line. We had hooked our first fish! Travis jumped over to help Adam bring her in and they slowly wore the big fish out while Steve T. slowed the boat down to bring her close. Travis demonstrated his extreme skill in filleting on the back porch of the boat and easily quartered the fifteen pound beast. It was a very good mood on the boat and the crew were ecstatic with their catch and teamwork!

Darin, a much more experienced fisherman, was keen to take the new fishing lure for a spin. Fifteen minutes later he had another monster on the line. Darin claimed it was at least forty pounds, and from looking at the bend of the rod nobody disagreed with his assessment. 

Darin's skill at fishing shone as he slowly coaxed the massive beast to the boat without strain on the rod or himself. The second fish came in at a meaty eighteen pounds and threw Steve and Darin's meal planning for the rest of the day out the window. It was most certainly going to be tuna for dinner. After some mild repairs to the lure Adam filed a patent for the design and the back of the boat got a good wash down.

With all of the excitement surrounding the fishing adventures we almost completely forgot that we are very much still in a race. The wind shifted for us to a more favorable angle and our upwind beat walked around to the downwind reach that we had been anticipating for days. 

Steve C. came up to find out why there were so many hatches banging around, just in time to avoid getting covered in Tuna shrapnel and get a kite on deck. He made quick work of throwing up the big-boy kite that got us humming along very comfortably. Our next step is to hooking into the Pacific Tradewinds after making a hook out to Maui near San Francisco. 

The water has transitioned from the deep Emerald green of the Pacific Northwest to a rich navy blue and has warmed up to eighteen degrees. We are all keen for an opportunity to jump in for a dip but the boat keeps moving so fast that swimming will have to wait (til Maui hopefully!).

Darin's birthday dinner was pushed back until today and we celebrated shortly after getting the kite up with a tuna sashimi feast. Cake was served for desert and we are back in our groove cruising down wind. We all feel very lucky to be able to be a part of this!

Fishing Derby Score Board:
Adam - 15 lbs - Big Eye Tuna
Darin - 18 lbs - Big Eye Tuna
We will try to get another update out soon! 

Miss you all tremendously,
The boys on Turnagain