Fish on

This looks like a pole that has a Fish On!!!!!

Paul and Cathy Eugina were fantastic crew on the trip from San Diego to Cabo. They had taken their own boat down to Mexico on the 2006 Ha Ha and spent the better part of two years cruising so we were anxious to pick their brains about cruising the Sea. We feel very comfortable sailing in Banderas Bay and south to Zihuatanejo but wanted to learn more about the Sea. For ten days we discussed various anchorages, where there was cell phone coverage and what to fish for. Fishing may have been the number one topic of discussion on the entire trip as we were running five lines at all times. Rog had two tickler lines and three poles just looking for fish and fish he found.

Our first major strike was at the exact moment we crossed the finish line right outside of Turtle Bay when we caught two yellow tail at the same time. Captain chaos was aboard Di's Dream!,, not only did we have to bring in the other three lines but where were we going to put the fish and who was going to clean them?... And the sails were up, what do we do first. We furled the jib in order to slow the boat, Di emptied an ice chest so we could store a fish and the boys started reeling them in. Of course we announced to the fleet that we had landed both fish at the finish. Great cheers were heard and plans for dinner that night were made.

Filleting the fish did not prove to be a problem as our boat was approached by a small boat as soon as our anchor went down. The locals offered to take our trash but agreed to fillet the fish in exchange for two beers instead! Di was a very happy camper, no blood on board and fish for dinner. Could the day get any better.

On the next leg of the Ha Ha we continued to fish with mixed results. We had one line out with 150 lbs test and cedar plug that attracted a very large fish that took the bait and just about ran the entire spool out. Rog fought it for the at least 30 minuets before we got our first look at it and quickly decided we wanted nothing to do with that particular fish. It was large, fighting hard and had a big fin- probably a shark! Eventually it snapped the line and we were free to sail again. No pictures were taken of the fish.

We also briefly caught a sailfish on the final leg of the ha ha. We were flying the spinnaker at the time and had no way to slow the boat downs the line snapped. Again, what would we do with a fish that large on board Di's Dream- better to loose it.

There were various other smaller fish that we caught including a barracuda and small tuna. Rog is getting much better at getting them on board while under full sail which is not an easy task. Having the locals fillet the fish is still the way to go as far as I am concerned and I hear no complaints from Rog. I am sure we will continue to improve as we catch more fish

Kathy and I are ready to BBQ our first fish of the trip!!!!

Post

No problems on Di's Dream except....

Rog and I arrived in Cabo San Lucas feeling very smug. No problems on di's dream on our trip down from San Diego although there had been numerous problems on other ha ha boats. There were dislocated hips, bow sprit that broke, spinnakers lost overboard or blown out, and a broken boom. Tragicly onene boat was lost when it when ashore just north of Bahia Santa Maria. It was not on the ha ha but was out of the San Francisco area. We were not able to assit in the recovery due to my physical limitations but our positive thoughts followed our friends that went to assit with the dismantling of the boat.
We sailed into Cabo around 9am on a thursday morning under rather blustery conditions after a beautiful third leg of the ha ha. Just the afternoon before we had been sailing the spinnaker for over four hours at eight knts in very smooth seas. Overnight the conditions became very light and we had to motor until suddenly we saw 20 knts with gusts to 25 knts as we rounded Cabo Falso. I was feeling very lucky to have a slip inside the marina. There was no rest and no trips into Squid Row for the boats out in the anchorage that night.
After a quick trip to the harbormaster and an expensive stop with the immigration officer we were free to do whatever we wanted. Well--- the fist order of business for di was to was all the sheets and towels on board. Two loads went without a hitch and then load number three went in, no so good. The washer just said no more! So now we were stuck with very wet and soapy sheets that could not go back on our forward berth for our next guests. Not a good situation and no sympathy could be found when other boats really had more serious problems or so they thought. Di could not do the wash on her boat and the thought of having Roger take all the cabinets out in the shower was not good. For now the washer is just looking pretty and will be fixed if possible once we reach Puerto Vallarta.
So at the end of the day Rog and I are very happy with our trip from San Diego to Cabo. We had great sailing conditions with hours on end of spinnaker runs under ideal conditions. We arrived in every anchorage with some daylight left, Rog had promised me we would always arrive in daylight, caught lots of fish along the way, and ate great meals the entire way.

Volcom Rocks

I know I like to color co ordinate everything but I promise you that I did not dress Rog for the party in Bahia Santa Maria and believe me he got quite a few coments about the outfit!!

I am not entirely sure when Joe gave Rog these great swim trunks but they sure worked for us this year. Dad was always styling in Volcom!!

Even our ponga driver was sporting Volcom. Now we just have to get the stock back up but we love the dividend this quarter.