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!!!!